200°

GameStop to close stores in Puerto Rico

Joey Mooring,

GameStop Official Statement:

Given the ongoing business challenges and increased governmental restraints we have experienced in Puerto Rico, GameStop has made the business decision to close all of its video game stores and operations located on the island. As a result, GameStop will be exiting the Puerto Rican market by the end of March 2016. Until that time, we will continue to conduct normal business operations.

Joey Mooring | Director, Public Relations |

Read Full Story >>
translate.google.com
-Ikon-3391d ago

and it starts.. they going the way of circuit city and raidoshack

VerdicLinwe3391d ago

Should probably research what the island is going through before jumping to that conclusion.

BattleAxe3391d ago

The economy isn't good there, and the government has gone bankrupt from the sounds of things. I'm sure that Gamestop wont be the last business to close shop in this territory.

realprgamer3391d ago

Aparentemente por nuevos impuestos del gobierno, Gamestop decide irse de la Isla.

crazychris41243391d ago

Probably because Puerto Rico is in economic hell. High unemployment, high minimum wage, underfunded pensions, almost half the people on welfare, population moving to the continental US and no bailout in sight. Surprised they didnt leave sooner.

FlameBaitGod3391d ago (Edited 3391d ago )

Nordstrom did 1.5 million in 4 days of opening in PR and I personally live here lol, believe me when I say money problems aren't as bad as many uninformed people believe lol.

JC Penny, Sears and Macy's have all ranked #1 in sales from time to time in PR. You can google this, people are still so uninformed about PR its crazy. The majority think we're like a third world country Lol.

DVAcme3390d ago

I live in Puerto Rico too, and I think you're VERY misinformed about how money works. Yes, US chain stores make a lot of money here when they open, but that money is charged on credit cards by people recklessly head-diving into debt. Money moves in Puerto Rico, but it doesn't move anywhere constructive.

GameStop does a lot business in Puerto Rico, but the overall costs are too high for the company to like. Import of goods is expensive, taxes are through the roof, etc. And yes, we ARE a third-world country. Education is distressingly sub-standard, crime is high beyond anything that can be seen in the States, government corruption is rampant and we have a brain drain from all the professionals jumping ship to the States in search of a better life. Just cause people like Wal-Mart and Walgreens do big business in PR doesn't mean the economy is healthy, since the money made by those companies doesn't stay in the island beyond paying their employees' laughably low salaries and paying taxes that politicians spend recklessly or outright steal anyway.

At least we have options like Steam and ordering online for our games, but yeah, GameStop leaving PR is a tough blow to PR gamers, especially those with lesser budgets who depended on used and discounted games for their fix. It's not surprising, but it is regrettable.

Rimeskeem3391d ago

It doesn't have a high minimum wage.... but everything else is true.

rainslacker3391d ago

There is spending power there though. I sell quite a lot of games to PR...maybe 10% of all my stock, and some of my stuff isn't exactly cheap.

Kind of like China. There is a large percentage of the population which is well below the poverty level, but there is enough of the population to support business. Granted, PR is a fairly small territory, and I have read that a significant number of people are migrating from there. Don't really care to look up the other stuff, but have heard similar things from people I know from there. Seems like a huge disparity in social classes more than anything.

DVAcme3390d ago

"Seems like a huge disparity in social classes more than anything."

You inadvertently hit the nail on the head, my friend. PR basically has no middle class anyomore. People are either stupidly rich or generations-long welfare families. Imagine an island-size South Central LA circa 1991 and you get an idea of how badly PR is doing.

The middle class in PR has disappeared bexause the cost of living, abusive taxes, government corruption and lack of jobs have pushed them below the poverty line. In response, they have jumped ship to the US with their families to look for new opportunities, which they find handily, since they are trained professionals with years of experience and bilingual to boot. I'm planning on doing the jump myself once I'm done with nursing school, especially since I'm a veteran. Another aspect of PR culture is that veterans are worth jack and squat here. People don't respect them and many of the benefits veterans enjoy in the States don't exist here.

ScorpiusX3391d ago

Guess Puerto Rico is going all digital, if all similar store follow suit.

DVAcme3390d ago (Edited 3390d ago )

I'm afraid that's not an option. Many PR gamers have no internet connection to speak of, let alone one fast enough that they can comfortably download digital games. PR is also overwhelmingly tech-dumb, making physical media-based consoles the more popular gaming choice and PC gaming a really small niche market composed of the more tech- and money-savvy consumers. What will happen is that gamers will buy their games in chain stores like Wal-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, etc., and their game options will shrink dramatically. Say what you want about GameStop, they at least stocked all kinds of games, even obscure ones, and could serve consumers by special-ordering games not in stock. Now, gamers are basically limited to the more popular games that the bigger chains stock and no access to used games. If anything, I expect for gaming piracy to explode in the island.

FlameBaitGod3390d ago (Edited 3390d ago )

DVAcme I think you live outside the city ?

Because here in San Juan we have Liberty, and they are cheap. Basic Internet download is 40MB/s with HDTV package plus unlimited phone line calls for $113. All my friends and my self buy games digitally. It takes 3 or less hours to download a full game and since we can preload games b4 they release we don't lose anything.

Show all comments (26)
1240°

Gamer Tries to Sell PS4 Pro to GameStop, Ends Up Being Asked to Pay the Store

A gamer tried to sell his PS4 Pro to GameStop USA and found out that he would actually have to pay the store.

Lionsguard44d ago

Gamestop: And I'm taking a huge risk here.

1Victor44d ago (Edited 44d ago )

Well there’s no stop like GameStop I’m surprised they didn’t go deeper into the hole with their USED cables and controllers prices.
Edit:
For those that don’t know if you go to trade a console you need it to be ready to go with all the controllers and cables if you don’t have them they ask you to buy them and deduct the price from the monetary appraised for the console

Gamingsince198144d ago

That makes perfect sense really, why would you be selling your console without all the things it came with and needs to actually be used.

jznrpg44d ago (Edited 44d ago )

eBay.. not having anything for it makes it seems stolen though

Profchaos44d ago

Not always I've seen plenty of refurbished units go cheap because people have picked them up broken then repaired and onsold with no controller or cable. When they are this old many people just want to replace the main unit

jznrpg43d ago

I doubt those people are selling at GameStop

BeHunted44d ago (Edited 44d ago )

In the UK, eBay has removed selling fees, letting you list and sell any item for free.

andy8543d ago

Correct. This is why day one games cost me practically nothing now

Eonjay43d ago

They are gonna take that same console and sell it for $300.

Inverno44d ago

GameStop era ended in the teens. Let it die bruh.

S2Killinit43d ago

I love gamestop. I still shop there. I prefer buying a game from a game store than a department store.

Inverno43d ago

I preferred goin to Circuit City but that died out. Years back I'd go to Best Buy cause of Gamer Club, now Best Buy barely sells games and doesn't sell Blu-rays and looks dead most of the time. Same with GameStop, these stores look like a barren wasteland of Funko Pops and anime figures. These retail stores don't seem to care about pulling in customers. Those figurines are neat, I collect them too but they ain't pulling me into a GS. Rather than attracting gamers they've pay walled everything behind a subscription. As if they weren't already cheapskates back then with their trade ins.

FinalFantasyFanatic43d ago

I still go in there and browse, but never buy anything, the video game section is getting smaller and smaller, even the PS5/Series X/Switch game selection is getting tiny.

tiron843d ago

I miss Best Buy's Gamer Club, I used to get pre-orders for like 20% off often with other discounts then get points I could trade into discount rebates. It was so good, getting day 1 games for like $30.

When they shut that down I stopped buying games day 1 almost completely.

raWfodog44d ago (Edited 44d ago )

I stopped going to GameStop when they no longer let me use my monthly $5 rewards points towards PS network cards.

Knightofelemia44d ago

Weird I live in Canada and the Gamestop near me says you need the console, controller, controller cord, and an HDMI cord before they will take a console on trade. And if the console shows signs of being opened they still won't take the machine. And if you upgrade the PS4 HDD from 500 gig to a 1TB they will count that machine as modified and label it as a 500 gig model. Better to just sell it on Facebook Marketplace.

clevernickname43d ago

I also live in Canada. I had a similar experience trading in an Xbox One S. Gamestop would give me a pittance for it, so I sold it on Marketplace for almost as much as the original selling price.

Show all comments (39)
250°

GameStop plans widespread store shutdowns after closing 300 locations last year

GameStop has announced plans to shut down stores across the country after closing 300 locations just last year.

The popular gaming retailer says net sales have fallen 20 percent, now sitting at $860 million - a drastic change from its $1.08 billion in 2023.

Read Full Story >>
dailymail.co.uk
PRIMORDUS131d ago

Also giving you about $5.00 off for buying a used game is just bullshit. For example: https://www.gamestop.com/vi... New is $59.99, if your going to sell it for a used price it needs to be at least $10-$20 less. I hope GameStop just goes away.

OtterX131d ago

Same nonsense they were doing 20 years ago. 🙄

Time to take old yeller out behind the shed...

Grilla130d ago (Edited 130d ago )

One of the reasons I went digital. I used to trade games in back in the day when money was tighter. Trading a game in for 10-15$ isn’t worth the trouble. Especially when they turn around and sell it for almost full price.

RhinoGamer88131d ago

Not surprising, but sad. WooT is killing it with their game discounts...on new games.

raWfodog131d ago

This is just market forces adjusting for GameStop’s long-time practices of nickel and diming the consumer. I feel bad for the workers though. It’s not good that they have to lose their jobs over this.

P_Bomb131d ago

Unfortunate for the staff, but not unexpected.

46player131d ago

Not too surprising. Lots of people buying digital.

And GameStops trade in and resale pricing strategy is awful for customers. I will miss them when they are gone though.

Most I will miss being able to trade in a console, get a couple hundred towards the new model like PS5 to PS5 Pro.

SonyStyled131d ago

I’ll miss the midnight launch parties. Standing in line with strangers sharing our excitement about a video game. Digital took that from us. I wish younger audiences could experience how joyful it was

Kombatologist131d ago

I often think about times like that and how good we had it, before social media and smart phones gave way to a generation that expects instant gratification.

Show all comments (22)
50°

GameStop Retro: Too Little, Too Late? | 1-up Geeks

GameStop is one of the last remaining relics from a bygone era where stores like Blockbuster, Game Crazy, Hollywood Video, and many others were found on every corner. If you…

Read Full Story >>
1upgeeks.com