A employee at the renowned retailer claims cutbacks have begun at the corporate office. After its share price skyrocketed to all-time peaks with the support of Reddit readers in 2021, the firm has been facing tremendous levels of volatility, and these oscillations appear to be extending into 2023.
In its 2021 annual report, GameStop said, “This past year marked the commencement of a systematic shift at GameStop,” and that the firm is “committed on changing into a customer-obsessed tech company.” Although GameStop is making an effort to become customer-centric, it seems that consumers aren’t as dedicated to the company as they once were, which has had a detrimental impact on working conditions.
A GameStop manager going by the handle redsonjattv on TikTok detailed the difficulties of operating in a physical store. The store manager states in the footage that “everything’s on discount” and “no one walks in anymore.” In the clip, she also reveals that layoffs have begun at GameStop. At now, the TikTok video has been seen over 6.4 million times, and it has sparked a discussion regarding GameStop and its employees’ potential in the future.
Ex-employees and management of GameStop have commented on redsonjattv’s clip to express their own memories of working there. Some were just shocked that GameStop had lasted this long, while other customers blamed the exorbitant pricing for secondhand titles for the company’s downfall. Favored remarks on the video include analogues to the late-night video rental chains RadioShack and Blockbuster.
RetailDive claims that GameStop’s recent decision to prioritize economics has resulted in widespread redundancies and the closure of the company’s distribution point in Kentucky. Almost fifty district managers were also let go from GameStop without any warning. Both short-term profits and long-term expansion have been cited by CEO Matt Furlong as priorities for the business. Business decisions are being made with extreme caution, and the company’s long-term success is the driving force behind all it does.
The TikToker followed up her video with a message to the Daily Dot in which she described the present state of her store. She continued by saying that there were hardly any clients, even on Black Friday and the week leading up to Christmas. She attributes GameStop’s demise to a series of poor business choices made by the company over the years. Nonetheless, there has been no mention of her business collapsing despite these worries. The fate of the once-famous video game store GameStop is uncertain as it undergoes a period of transformation.
