Global video game retailer GameStop Corp. is slimming its real estate as it seeks to become profitable by nixing stores that are underperforming and selling some of its international operations.
The company based in the Dallas area told investors it plans to continue trimming its U.S. real estate portfolio this year after it closed 590 locations throughout the country in the fiscal year ended Feb. 1. The closings were based on market conditions and individual store performance, executives said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Tuesday.
"We have initiated a comprehensive store optimization review which involves identifying stores for closure based on many factors, including an evaluation of current market conditions and individual store performance," GameStop executives said in the filing. "While this review is ongoing and a specific set of stores has not been identified for closure, we anticipate closing a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025."
GameStop, based in Grapevine, Texas, has been offloading some of its international business. GameStop announced plans last month to sell its France and Canada operations. The company has 311 stores in France and 193 locations in Canada, according to the filing. The company leases a 119,000-square-foot distribution and administration facility in Ontario and a 76,000-square-foot distribution center in Paris, according to the filing.
GameStop leases its real estate, the company told investors. The company had a total of 3,203 global stores in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe as of Feb. 1, according to the filing.
GameStop did not hold an earnings call after posting its fourth quarter and fiscal 2024 results this week. GameStop did not immediately respond to a media request from CoStar News.
The decision to sell its French and Canadian businesses comes on the heels of GameStop selling its Italian stores and e-commerce business in fiscal 2024, including a facility in Milan, the filing said. The company also shut down its Germany stores in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 and exited its Ireland, Switzerland and Austria operations in fiscal 2023.
GameStop's exit of hundreds of U.S. stores and portions of its international operations comes as part of a bigger strategy to optimize its expansive real estate portfolio — a move it has been making since the onset of the pandemic. Other retailers have been exiting their real estate in the last year, causing there to be more available retail space for would-be tenants, according to CoStar's analytics team.
GameStop closed its York, Pennsylvania, distribution facility in fiscal 2024 to consolidate its U.S. fulfillment operations in Grapevine.
During fiscal 2024, GameStop closed 11 stores in Canada while opening one in the country, according to the filing.
GameStop announced Tuesday it would add bitcoin as an investment reserve asset.