GameStop to close ‘significant’ number of stores; invest in Bitcoin
GameStop Corp. continues to shrink its store footprint.
The video game retailer disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it anticipates closing a “significant number” of additional stores in fiscal 2025 as part of its ongoing store portfolio optimization review.
“This review, among other things, resulted in the closure of 590 stores in the United States in fiscal 2024,” GameStop stated in the filing. “While this review is ongoing and a specific set of stores has not been identified for closure, we anticipate closing a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025.”
GameStop has been exiting some markets completely. In 2024, it closed down store operations in Germany after shutting down operations in Ireland, Switzerland and Austria the previous year. It has also initiated a plan to divest its operations in Italy.
As of Feb. 1, the company had total of 3,203 stores across all of its segments, with 2,325 in the U.S., 193 in Canada, 374 in Australia, and 311 in Europe.
The company also said that it’s getting into bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, announcing that a “portion of our cash or future debt and equity issuances” might be invested in the digital currency.
Bitcoin
GameStop has announced plans to raise $1.3 billion through the sale of convertible senior notes due in 2030 to buy bitcoin. The planned bitcoin investment comes about a month after CNBC reported that GameStop was exploring Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency investments.
GameStop has not set a maximum amount of Bitcoin it could accumulate, and said it may sell any Bitcoin it acquires.
Fourth Quarter
GameStop’s net income fell to $131.3 million for the quarter ended Feb. 1, compared to net income of $63.1 million in the year-ago period. Net sales were $1.283 billion, down from $1.794 billion in the prior year's fourth quarter.
For the full year, net sales totaled $3.823 billion, compared to $5.273 billion for fiscal year 2023. Net income was $131.3 million, compared to a net income of $6.7 last year.
