tenaciousdave

Link here



Now both stores can screw you in the exact same way!

RichC2

So yeah, about no changes what so ever.

nickdawgy

Are the EB's still going to be called EB or will they be changed to Gamestop?

My mall has both, so I doubt 2 Gamestop's in the same mall would make sense. Plus the fact that there's 2 more Gamestop's outside the mall in a 10 mile radius makes it even weirder.

RVP

I never realized they weren't owned by the same parent company. Their websites are so similar I just thought..

nickdawgy

I just noticed that says it's a merger, so it's not really Gamestop buying EB.

Josh H

Yeah, I'd say in your case they'll probably close one of the stores, unless they both can do good business offering everything at the same price and having the same specials at the same time etc.

Gideon68

There's 4 in one area around here, an EB and GameStop in the mall and 2 Gamestops down and up the street about 1/4 mile. I wonder how many they'll close.

amped

Yeah same here. One mall near me has a Gamestop, Electronics Boutique and an EBX. What's weird is the EB and EBX are in the same wing, just different levels, takes a minute to go from one to the other.

Shagrath

If they're going to be closing stores, then this may make for some good sales to get rid of used stock or whatnot. Or it could make it easier on us with more stock at each of the locations.

Within 10 miles, I've got 13 Gamestops and 11 EB's.

Jtnguyen12

in 5-7 miles i have 3 GS & 1 EB stores

dgmayor

I doubt it would result in good sales. Most likely the stuff would be distrobuted among the other local stores, and the rest sent back to the warehouse for distro to other stores.

Shagrath

Does used stuff get sent back to the warehouse? I thought it might get redistributed to the other local stores (dvds and games) and then they'd be overstocked and have to get rid of some quickly.

Josh H

I'm sure a lot would go back to the warehouse after they spread it out among local stores. Keep in mind that they sell used games online too, so they have warehouse(s) for that somewhere as well.

Groucho

The stores (and the websites) are clones of each other, they usually offer the exact same sales and deals. This will change nothing.

Josh H

Used game prices sometimes vary between EB and Gamestop, and the trade in deals are usually a little different.

Flay

It's not suprising. B&M gaming stores, while popular in the 1990's, are in a losing battle to major retailers like Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, etc.

The only true edge that they have left is being the first stores to stock an item. But that edge is 36 hours at the most. You can always find releases in major retailers within 2 days of release.

So it's either merge with your competitor or waste away.

Maxflier

I never saw much difference between the two anyway.

darkside

That pretty much covers it.

dgmayor

When I worked at EB years back, yes, used items were on our recall lists all the time. The recall lists were either items that they were taking out of circulation, or items that wern't selling at a given location and were sent back to the warehouse to be redistrobuted to other stores in the country.

Trigger

wow - this is like big news... but at the same time, it's so totally meaningless.

msdmoney

EB tends to have good online clearances, like the XBOX thread where they are selling a lot of games for $5-$10. I hope this doesn't affect those sales.

As far as B&M I see no change, except less competition is always bad.

ChrisHicks

this could suck for those of us who like to buy used games since EB guaranteed cases/instructions while Gamestop doesn't.

darkside

GameStop buying EB Games

Former retail rivals to merge in $1.44 billion deal; new company will be biggest game-store chain in America.
With the launch of the PSP, the unveiling of all three next-generation platforms, and the almost assured launch of the next-gen Xbox, 2005 was already shaping up to be a wild year for the games industry. Today, it got even wilder when the two top specialty game retailers in the US revealed they will soon become one.

At the beginning of the East Coast business day, GameStop Corp. and Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp., owner of EB Games, announced they had signed a "definitive merger agreement." In fact, the deal will see GameStop, which saw $1.84 billion in sales during its last fiscal year, buy Electronics Boutique, which sold $1.98 billion sales during its 2005 fiscal year.

A joint statement sent out by both companies outlined the deal, under which GameStop will pay $38.15 in cash and 0.78795 shares of GameStop common stock for each Electronics Boutique share. The cash-stock combination is worth $55.18, 34.2 percent over EB's $41.12 closing price on Friday. EB's stock rocketed skyward on the news and was up over $14.50 as of press time. GameStop stock also rose on the news, gaining more than $3.10 in value.

Upon its closing, the agreement will see the two companies merge operations under the GameStop banner, which will then fly over 3,200 stores in the US and 600 others in Europe and Australasia. However, to not disrupt plans for the 2005 holiday season, no changes will be made in either company's organization until 2006. Then, in mall locations where there is duplication in retail outlets, store closings will follow "when appropriate," according to a GameStop official.

Though technically a takeover, the GameStop-EB merger met with glowing approval from both parties. "This transaction makes a tremendous amount of sense from an operational, cultural, and synergistic perspective," said EB CEO Jeffrey Griffiths. "We will now be in an even better position to broaden our reach and generate further efficiencies for our business and our customers." Griffiths' role in the new company was not identified.

GameStop chairman and chief executive officer R. Richard Fontaine also had good things to say about the deal, which isn't surprising, as he will retain this top slot after the merger. "We are merging these two companies from a position of strength," he said in a statement. Fontaine also confirmed that one motivation was GameStop's desire to expand outside its traditional North American market. "This merger ... will enable us to enter new international markets and allow us to compete more effectively in the highly competitive US video game industry."

The new GameStop will be well suited to fight off competition from rivals like Wal-Mart and Blockbuster Video's Game Rush subchain. According to Reuters, the post-merger company will be the biggest game retailer in the US, controlling some 25 percent of the market.

CaptainMarvel

Well good riddens to them, if they do lose the battle. I think my brain shut down the first time an employee tried to explain to me why the opened game his employee just brought back from his house was still "new."

milo bloom

I kinda like the idea, I enjoy digging thru the used games and filling out my collection, and they both often carry used DVDs which I also enjoy digging thru. The used market is where the big chains fall down. They don't have the infrastructure to handle buying the good used games and refusing the two dozen copies of Elmo Does Something Annoying.


However, I have to share this story. There's also a place for the independents: wife and I were exploring our new neighborhood and I noticed a privately owned used game store. The left side was all used games and the right was car stereo equipment. There was no organization, and the prices were all over the place. But we walked out with Shining the Holy Ark and Shining Wisdom for the Saturn, $7.50 each