[gdjman68wasdigi]

went into my local branch today, i wont say which one.

anyway, for Game they are pretty good, helpful etc.

anyway March 9th, they are getting closed and werent told why?


hmm

[darkthunder35]

Any store that makes less than £100,000 profit gets closed.

The whole company made £20,000,000 profit since administration.

[WoodsMonk]

Hmmm What happened to:

Game, you are a disgrace and i wont be going back in

[redhatmatt]

Originally Posted by darkthunder35

Any store that makes less than £100,000 profit gets closed.

The whole company made £20,000,000 profit since administration.

Surely profit is profit why close profitable stores.

[gdjman68wasdigi]

Originally Posted by WoodsMonk

Hmmm What happened to:

that was a different store

[starsailor]

Originally Posted by redhatmatt

Surely profit is profit why close profitable stores.

Closing profitable stores make sense if a higher return on investment can funded by the capital used in them elsewhere.

If you've got a store making 5% return, but could start a store making 10% return then you close the 5% store (assuming you have limited capital).

[RealDonkey]

Originally Posted by gdjman68wasdigi

went into my local branch today, i wont say which one.

anyway, for Game they are pretty good, helpful etc.

anyway March 9th, they are getting closed and werent told why?


hmm

Could be something as simple as a rent increase. Shop units are usually rented on fixed term leases and when they expire teh Landlord offers a renewal, often at an inflated price. Strangely as times have got hard rents have increased by huge amounts. When you take this into account it can turn a profitable shop into an unprofitable one

[bob2005]

Game won't last long they will eventually go the same way as HMV and Blockbuster. The Internet has destroyed the high street.

[Aspartame]

We can only hope. I dislike Game's business practices with their retailer exclusives and forcing several publishers' games not to appear on Steam for months after launch.

[thomas2400]

Originally Posted by Aspartame

We can only hope. I dislike Game's business practices with their retailer exclusives and forcing several publishers' games not to appear on Steam for months after launch.

You want people to lose their jobs? and doesn't every retailer try to get exclusives, that why they get more customers

[darkjedimaster]

Originally Posted by bob2005

Game won't last long they will eventually go the same way as HMV and Blockbuster. The Internet has destroyed the high street.

In this financial age customers are going to go wherever it is cheapest. If Game think they can sell used games for about £5 less than you can get them new, then they have another thing coming. Even CEX stores which also have overheads to pay, sell used games cheaper than what Game does. Game only have themselves to blame for their downfall due to greed.

[Ladyxxmacbeth]

I went into my local game and there were quite a few people in there I had to queue. Got Army of Two 40th day for a tenner not bad really. couldnt find it cheaper other than ebay and that is hit or miss in my opinion could well still be waiting for it when the new one comes out. My other local second hand games cd films shop were selling their games at rip off prices. Terrible they were!

[thomas2400]

Originally Posted by darkjedimaster

In this financial age customers are going to go wherever it is cheapest. If Game think they can sell used games for about £5 less than you can get them new, then they have another thing coming. Even CEX stores which also have overheads to pay, sell used games cheaper than what Game does. Game only have themselves to blame for their downfall due to greed.

They are still bad on some preowned games though, it just depends what you are looking for

I was in CeX the other day and some guy was with his girlfriend and he wanted Fifa and the only reason he came in was because game was shut

He asked if the Fifa 13 that they had was preowned and the cashier said yes and didn't mention the need for an online pass before i could jump in and tell him that the £33 that he was paying was a ripoff he was already paying for it

I felt really bad when i over heard him saying how much he was looking forward to playing his mates online

[Seoulite]

Originally Posted by bob2005

Game won't last long they will eventually go the same way as HMV and Blockbuster. The Internet has destroyed the high street.

I would say the High Street has killed the High Street.

Poor marketing, uncompetitive pricing, poor service, numerous rip-off schemes (extended warranties, even disc warranties!), poor ranges (especially for PC) plus poor decision making (after the Game / Gamestation merger there were far too many shops - for example there were 4 in Liverpool City Centre, all within a 5 minute walk.

This isn't even mentioning their schizophrenic reaction to the used market - every time I went into HMV or GAME I could find find several games were the a used copy was even more expensive than the already over-priced new copy.

Funny how people keep saying retail is dead and yet CEX is booming and Grainger Games are still expanding - as was Gamestation before the merger. People are not as willing to be taken advantage of like they were before and they're are far more willing to wait for used copies or for games to be discounted.

With retail, Ii's all about positioning yourself best in the market, GAME, HMV, WH Smith (remember their games section - truly awful) showed complete indifference to market trends and were all about exploiting their customer base - it appears HMV's gaming section believed it was in some kind of bubble where they didn't even have to consider their competitor's pricing.

Ultimately retail will survive, albeit on a smaller scale than before as there will always be some demand for the physical product - especially the used market, physical hardware and collector's editions.

[gdjman68wasdigi]

Originally Posted by thomas2400

They are still bad on some preowned games though, it just depends what you are looking for

I was in CeX the other day and some guy was with his girlfriend and he wanted Fifa and the only reason he came in was because game was shut

He asked if the Fifa 13 that they had was preowned and the cashier said yes and didn't mention the need for an online pass before i could jump in and tell him that the £33 that he was paying was a ripoff he was already paying for it

I felt really bad when i over heard him saying how much he was looking forward to playing his mates online

thats his own fault for being tight-fisted, its only £30-something in ASDA

[Caltonfan]

was in game yesterday looking at the hitman hd trilogy, it was £24.99, on Amazon its £19.99 and on Shopto it is £15.85, why would anyone pay almost £10 more in shop when can get it cheaper online

[bob2005]

Thats part of the problem Game just can't get the pricing right. I don't even buy from game anymore when you can order online for half the price.

[gdjman68wasdigi]

i think its down to Tesco putting the rent up, who own the land

[Jason Perlow]

Originally Posted by darkthunder35

Any store that makes less than £100,000 profit gets closed.

How do you know that? Is it the law?

[Ambassador]

Originally Posted by Jason Perlow

How do you know that? Is it the law?

More likely the business plan of the new owners. Cut the fat.

[Jason Perlow]

Originally Posted by Ambassador

More likely the business plan of the new owners. Cut the fat.

What if it was just £1 under the target profit?

[Ambassador]

Originally Posted by Jason Perlow

What if it was just £1 under the target profit?

They'd still do it. Every penny literally counts!

[darkthunder35]

Originally Posted by Jason Perlow

How do you know that? Is it the law?

I work for GAME so I know loads of stuff