GameStop December sales fall; appoints exec

Grapevine, Texas GameStop Corp. Thursday said its nine-week holiday same-store sales fell 8.6%. The company said total sales during the period hit $2.86 billion, flat when compared with the previous year.

Sales momentum was impacted by the global economic slowdown and shortages of key products, including the New Super Mario Bros. Wii game, the Nintendo Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 consoles, CEO Daniel DeMatteo said in a statement Thursday.

In addition, video-game hardware sales fell 8% due to console price cuts and a drop in unit sales on a year-over-year basis.

In other news, GameStop Friday announced the appointment of Michael Mauler to executive VP GameStop International. This appointment will encompass the operational leadership of GameStop’s locations in 15 countries outside of North America.

Mauler was formerly the company’s senior VP supply chain and international support.