GameStop to close 120-130 stores; open 300-400 tech stores under new banners

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp. will close 120-130 of its 6,457 stores worldwide in 2014 and add 300 to 400 new tech stores under three different banners: Spring Mobile, Cricket and Simply Mac. The closures and openings are part of the company’s new “GameStop3.0” repositioning. The new strategy emphasizes mobile-gaming.



“The opportunities that have presented themselves we see as unique,” said GameStop CEO Paul Raines during an investor meeting last week.



In the current fiscal year, GameStop expects to open between 200 and 250 Spring Mobile stores. Simply Mac will see another 20-25 stores added in markets underserved by Apple's own retail chain. GameStop is expecting to add another 100 to 150 Cricket locations to the 31 it was running at the end of its last fiscal year.



Apple and AT&T will contribute to the cost of opening the new stores. GameStop thinks each of its three new technology brands can individually become a $1 billion business.