UK retailer Game closing remaining standalone stores
UK retailer Game is closing its remaining standalone stores after the company entered into administration.
According to The Game Business (paywalled) and shared via VGC, the Frasers Group-owned business will close its three remaining stores. The website will continue to operate as usual, while the retailer will still operate concessions within Sports Direct and House of Fraser stores, with over 200 positions currently.
In addition, managing director Nick Arran is leaving the company after almost nine years at the retailer.
Last week, Frasers Group filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, which gave it ten days of protection from creditor action while considering next steps (thanks, BusinessDesk). The retailer filed a similar notice of intention back in 2012, closing nearly 300 stores. It was then acquired by Frasers Group in 2019.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.Biz in 2023, Arran dispelled claims that Game would be pivoting to other items, such as toys, rather than video game sales. "We see our place in the market as proving that there is a place for physical, whether that be the collector's editions, which we see as the vinyl of video games, or the gifter who doesn't want to wrap up a download code for Christmas," he said at the time. "But we need to be realistic. We have a business to run and the expectation is this will decline. So we need to fill that gap."
Then, throughout 2024, the company bowed out of the pre-owned business by ditching trade-ins, dropped its Xbox All Access and reward scheme, stopped offering in-store pre-orders, issued redundancies as the majority of workers were moved to zero-hour contracts, and the majority of staff at the company's head office were let go.
In other retailer-related news, GameStop-owned EB Games reportedly closed all of its New Zealand stores on January 31, with the distribution center closing on February 28 instead. The company reportedly doesn't see the New Zealand business as commercially viable anymore after a multi-million dollar loss during the 2024 fiscal year.
