Major Bad News for Rhino Shoppers - Rhino Bought by GameStop

[FSUEagles]

CONFIRMED (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070105/daf017.html?.v=84)

I found out this afternoon that Rhino has been bought out by Gamestop. It was announced to the Store Managers this afternoon. Starting January 14th, Rhino's will be converted to Gamestops. If you have any games you're saving for the 2 for 1 deal you have a little over a week to get it done. Today my Rhino let me do the 2 for 1 on Pre-Order games. There is a meeting in Chattanooga tomorrow for all the Rhino Store Managers to let them know how the transition will take place. I almost cried when I heard the news.......

UPDATES:
Okay, got some info. Treat it as hearsay, but I have no reason to doubt the authenticity.

- Rhino HQ in Gainesville, FL is dead. Sacked. Gone. I understand that district leaders are being kept, but anything higher appears to be no more.

- Inventory teams will be going to Rhino stores and starting fresh with the inventory counts and the Gamestop POS. The Rhino software and data will not be used at all.

- Meetings are being held in each district. The Chattanooga meeting mentioned is just one for that district.

- It seems that no one had any idea. Not the majority of HQ, not district leaders, certainly not store managers. Apparently it was a shock to everyone.

- Store credit is safe. I understand that there will be an incentive to convert it to Gamestop credit, i.e. you will get a 25% bonus for converting your Rhino credit. (Don't hold me to that percentage, though). So you may want to instead HOLD ON to your Rhino dollars and even trade in some things now for more credit later.

- Kiss 2-for-1 and free lifetime warranties goodbye.

- I expect all prices and trade values to mirror Gamestop's by the 15th. That's just my speculation based on the other information, however.

- No word on the merchandise that GS doesn't sell. It will probably go to clearance or simply be removed from stores and sold on other markets.



Again, none of this has been officially confirmed. Treat as speculation until official word is out.



In the words of Jack Bauer, "DAMMIT!"

[WhipSmartBanky]

Seriously? Can any other Rhino employees confirm?

Damnit.

[Blade70]

Thanks for the deal....

Edit: Wow, looks like gamestop is absorbing everything like Walmart. :applause:

[Roufuss]

Um... what?

Since when?

If this is true, it's going to take alot longer than a week to transform all the Rhino's into Gamestop's, and what are they going to do with all old school systems and games, since GS dosen't sell those at all?

[darth007]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO There's already an excess amount of EB/GS's around here in the same small area. I actually liked how Rhino doesn't go through the usual sell preorders and magazine subscription during the checkout process. Now they're gonna be the same...

[suko_32]

Wtf

[Roufuss]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO There's already an excess amount of EB/GS's around here in the same small area. I actually liked how Rhino doesn't go through the usual sell preorders and magazine subscription during the checkout process. Now they're gonna be the same...

This is fucking bullshit if it is true. Rhino was a great store all around, I shopped there so I didn't have to shop at EB / GS.

Even when I had my differences at their store, their customer support came through for me in a big way, much more than fucking GS ever did.

I really really REALLY hope this is some kind of huge misinformation on the OP's part.

[mtxbass1]

I'm calling BS here until I see a press release. Why would GS buy something owned by blockbuster?

[suko_32]

Well, guess I'll ask tomorrow to see.

[Roufuss]

I'm calling BS here until I see a press release. Why would GS buy something owned by blockbuster?

Easy... they are further eating the competition. Aren't most Rhino's in great locations? The one here is in a great spot.

And Blockbuster has been hurting for money for awhile now... Gamestop comes, offers to buy Rhino from Blockbuster, Blockbuster agrees and gets a nice fat check from Gamestop.

Gamestop has now eaten another competitor, one that isn't big but is still big enough to draw away business.

All that's left now is Gamerush (not a threat at all), Gamecrazy (a threat but there is nothing they can do), and places like FYE (again, not a threat).

This actually makes some sort of sense as Rhino is potentially a threat to EB / GS. A standalone video game store with great trade-in deals and tons of games available? That's not too good for them.

I really hope this is fake though... the good news is, if it's true, I'd expect Rhino to clearance out all their old video games.

[CocheseUGA]

While I won't call BS, as Blockbuster is a giant turd and I expected them to do something like this, apparently this guy has scoop of the year, because Bloomberg and everyone else has no clue.

RIP Rhino if true, I guess I'll be paying my final respects soon.

[Roufuss]

It would be really easy to call BS, but Gamestop has been absorbing regional chains for years now...

First Software Etc, then Funcoland.

We all know of EB, even though they aren't regional.

It seems Gamestop likes to kill off its competition before it gets too big.

I just want to know how the OP knows.

[62t]

Dont have a Rhino around here, but from the Rhino topic i can see they have great trade in. This is a very logical move for gamestop, as they already got funcoland, EB, and other game store. Gamestop can charge extra for games like they are currently doing, and they can probably get away with it because big retail store like Best buy and walmart are not going to carry some of the lesser known games.

[Caliburn]

It would be really easy to call BS, but Gamestop has been absorbing regional chains for years now...

First Software Etc, then Funcoland.


Funcoland itself absorbed Software Etc and Babbages, I think. When it was bought out by Gamestop, it further grew, and then added EB Games.

Too bad there isn't a Rhino in my state. Closest store is 2 states away. :cry:

[Roufuss]

Funcoland itself absorbed Software Etc and Babbages, I think. When it was bought out by Gamestop, it further grew, and then added EB Games.


Well, according to the Wiki, the chain first started with Babbage's... eventually, they merged with Software Etc, and only after accquiring Funcoland did they take the name Gamestop.

It's an interesting read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamestop

[62t]

The other thing I am wondering, can the US gov. do something about this? I mean it can't be good for the customer when one company buys up everyone. Now video games is far from a necessarily so they are not likely to do anything.

[Roufuss]

The other thing I am wondering, can the US gov. do something about this? I mean it can't be good for the customer when one company buys up everyone. Now video games is far from a necessarily so they are not likely to do anything.

They will step in if it is a monopoly, but it's not.

As long as Gamecrazy, Gamerush, FYE, anyone else still buys and trades used games it's not a monopoly at all.

Now, FYE and Gamerush suck ass, but that dosen't matter. As long as there is a competitor somewhere out there.

[schuerm26]

If this is true, it's going to take alot longer than a week to transform all the Rhino's into Gamestop's, and what are they going to do with all old school systems and games, since GS dosen't sell those at all?

Agreed. This seems extremely odd. You would think you would hear about this just like we heard about the Gamestop EB thing for awhile before it happened.

[Roufuss]

Agreed. This seems extremely odd. You would think you would hear about this just like we heard about the Gamestop EB thing for awhile before it happened.

I want to think its fake but the OP isn't someone who made an account this month and this is his first post... he's been here for over two years, has a few posts to his credit, and is pretty detailed in the OP about some meeting going on tomorrow.

But still, if the managers found this afternoon, they have to drop everything they are doing to go to Chattanooga (why there? Corporate HQ is in Gainesville?) the very next day?

[WhipSmartBanky]

I want to think its fake but the OP isn't someone who made an account this month and this is his first post... he's been here for over two years, has a few posts to his credit, and is pretty detailed in the OP about some meeting going on tomorrow.

But still, if the managers found this afternoon, they have to drop everything they are doing to go to Chattanooga (why there? Corporate HQ is in Gainesville?) the very next day?
Yeah, I was just reading through the OP's other posts, and he majority of his posts are in the Rhino Trade 2 thread. I'm inclined to believe that this would be a pretty bizarre board suicide if it isn't true, though of course I'm not totally convinced until there's a link or multiple reliable confirmations.

[kjauburn]

I am hoping his in wrong, but it makes perfect sense. Blockbuster has been trying to slow losses for over 2 years thinking they can catch NetFlix in time. Last year they dumped 4 chains in January including Mr Movies, Movie Trading Company. Any asset that can get BBV a penny that isn't part of the core is for sale right now. As for gamestop it blocks any other chain from getting into the southeast market really. There was a rumor gamecrazy was considering buying Rhino last summer.

[mcgavin27]

This is a very sad day if it is indeed true. R.I.P Rhino, R.I.P 2 for 1's.

[Roufuss]

I am hoping his in wrong, but it makes perfect sense. Blockbuster has been trying to slow losses for over 2 years thinking they can catch NetFlix in time. Last year they dumped 4 chains in January including Mr Movies, Movie Trading Company. Any asset that can get BBV a penny that isn't part of the core is for sale right now. As for gamestop it blocks any other chain from getting into the southeast market really. There was a rumor gamecrazy was considering buying Rhino last summer.

I would have rather have had that, to be honest.

Gamecrazy needs to spread into the SE ASAP.

[argyle]

If this is true, then it's a horrible start gaming-wise to my year. I'm gonna hit my Rhino tomorrow, see what the manager says.

[kjauburn]

I would have rather have had that, to be honest.

Gamecrazy needs to spread into the SE ASAP.


Yeah that would have been nice. But I would understand why gamestop would pick Rhino up just to block them and add a few stores at the same time...

[Roufuss]

Yeah that would have been nice. But I would understand why gamestop would pick Rhino up just to block them and add a few stores at the same time...

Yep, it's like I wrote way in advance, Rhino is the last sort of major competition Gamestop has that they are able to buy.

Blockbuster needs money, Gamestop sees this is a golden opp. The stores can all be EASILY converted into Gamestop's too.

Hell, most of the fixtures are in place.

[Ziv]

This has been the worst kept secret if you have a friend inside EB or GS. They've known about it for months. I can't believe it wasn't mentioned before. I really don't think it's final though. It could still fall through. Keep hope if you don't want it to happen.

[adamones]

Rhino isn't that great. They take an extra one or two weeks to get new games in. Their prices are just decent... there's one in my area. I stop by every now and then, but I'm not going to miss the place.

It's nice they carry old systems, but how many people (who don't post on CAG) actually go around looking for Nintendo 64 games? The store is just decent at best. I remember the one thing that I did like about their store, when they first opened, was that you could return a new/opened game within five days if you did not like the game. Do they still do that?

[Roufuss]

This has been the worst kept secret if you have a friend inside EB or GS. They've known about it for months. I can't believe it wasn't mentioned before. I really don't think it's final though. It could still fall through. Keep hope if you don't want it to happen.

Crazy, I've had numerous managers who were friends and I've never heard anything about this, I've even told them I've flipped games to Rhino because they wanted to know why I was buying such shitty used games.

And to the dude above me who thinks Rhino isn't that great, you obviously never used the store the right way ;)
My Rhino always got in games pretty close to release, and I could wait if they didn't since I paid half price or under on every new release.

[suko_32]

Dang, then it sounds like it's true. Time to dump off all the 2 for 1's before the 14th.

[Roufuss]

Dang, then it sounds like it's true. Time to dump off all the 2 for 1's before the 14th.

If it's true I will abuse the shit out of Rhino like no other, cause what are they going to do, ban me?

What is going to happen to any credit we have at Rhino?!?

[Scorch]

See? This is what happens when you trade in four copies of Ape Escape 3!

[kjauburn]

If it does turn out to be true I guess Roufuss and myself will be back posting on every single page of the GR thread again.

[Roufuss]

If it does turn out to be true I guess Roufuss and myself will be back posting on every single page of the GR thread again.

Fuck no, I refuse to shop there... I have only gone in there twice in the last year + only because friends wanted to go in.

High trade-in values don't mean shit if your store completely sucks a giant asshole.

I was going to trade in Monster Rancher Evo to Gamerush, but they never got in Elite Beat Agents, they never had any Wii Accessories, they barely had any Wii games.. sure, $24 in credit would be nice, but there isn't shit to spend it on. Rhino gives $20 for it, my copy went there.

I just started going to Rhino a few months ago too, this sucks ass... this is the worst news I've ever heard. EVER.

[argyle]

If this does turn out to be true, then Gamestop can kiss my white ass, I'm done with them. Rhino was the last dedicated gamestore I could go to and not be harassed to preorder everything in the store, or buy a guide for everything, or "insure" my games. My Rhino is staffed with very friendly people, and is run from a perspective that you don't have to pressure gamers to buy stuff, they'll do that on their on.

If this is true...and I'm still holding out hope that it's not...but if so, then it looks like Target, CC, TRU, etc. will be where I get games from now on. Sure, my loss won't hurt GS a bit, but I can't in good conscious support those pricks, and I won't.

[Roufuss]

If this does turn out to be true, then Gamestop can kiss my white ass, I'm done with them. Rhino was the last dedicated gamestore I could go to and not be harassed to preorder everything in the store, or buy a guide for everything, or "insure" my games. My Rhino is staffed with very friendly people, and is run from a perspective that you don't have to pressure gamers to buy stuff, they'll do that on their on.

If this is true...and I'm still holding out hope that it's not...but if so, then it looks like Target, CC, TRU, etc. will be where I get games from now on. Sure, my loss won't hurt GS a bit, but I can't in good conscious support those pricks, and I won't.

Yep.. the only time I support EB / GS now is if a) I'm flipping a ton of worthless games for massive amounts of credit, and I know they will sit on those games for a long time (re: K-Mart $2 sale on games) and b) they give a preorder bonus, so I preorder the game, get the bonus, return the game the next day to a different store.

I hate EB / GS very much and I've stuck to my guns pretty well about never shopping there again... there was a reason I liked Rhino so much since they also got the niche games (like Summon Night 2) that no other retailer touched.

My Rhino is also staffed by awesome people (except the manager), I was never pressured into buying anything, they didn't follow me around the store and hound me about stuff or constantly keep forcing their opinions down my throat.

Sometimes when I'm in EB / GS just browsing I feel like they want me to either buy something or leave... at Rhino it always felt like a friendly environment.

When you had the 2 for 1 trade-in deal on top of it, it just ended up being an amazing experience all around. I mean, I had a bad experience there, and they went above and beyond to fix it to keep me a loyal customer... Gamestop would have just told me to go fuck myself.

I shared alot of good moments with alot of good CAG's at Rhino.

[the_deej]

screw gs

[kjauburn]

Fuck no, I refuse to shop there... I have only gone in there twice in the last year + only because friends wanted to go in.

High trade-in values don't mean shit if your store completely sucks a giant asshole.


Off topic buy since the last $8.96 CC sale in July there hasn't been any killer easy to find GR credit builders. My GR nearby still gets a few copies of all the new games in, but with no credit I just pass on them.

Nowadays I just don't bother running around for the credit builders like I did at one time. Rhin's 2 for 1 is a little easier since I pass 2 EB games and a gamestop on the drive home everyday. Hell I buy a few games straight up at Rhino rather then avoid looking for credit builders. They are less then a mile from the house...

[suko_32]

Guess I should dump off some guides too.

[deadpool253]

It's true, deal with it, rhino wasn't that great of a store anyways

[hxhawkeye]

As an ex-Rhino assistant manager, I can confirm that the stores did a somewhat-unnecessary overhaul of fixtures and layouts a few months back that mimicked the GS/EB setup. Price stickers went to the same format as well. The buyout makes perfect sense all around. I'm going to call some friends tomorrow and see if I can scrounge up some details, but sadly I believe the OP's message is accurate.

Argh. This sucks loudly. Rhino was the one hassle-free dedicated game store left.

2-for-1 it while you can, folks.


I'll post more if/when I get details.

[anomynous]

never heard of Rhino before, but RIP

[jer7583]

Just want to take the time to mention how absolutely fucking retarded the names "gamestop" and "gamecrazy" are.

Anytime I have to tell someone that's where I am, or that's where I went, or that's where i am going, I feel like a god damn fool for being in such a place.

Maybe I just shouldn't go anymore.

[furyk]

Fucking hell. I loved Rhino. Hopefully this turns out to be fake mostly because Gamestop and Rhino haven't announced anything on their corporate websites yet.

[suko_32]

CheapyD frontpaged it.

[zerowing]

Ok people saying Rhino "wasn't that great" are probably not reaping the benefits of the 2for1 deal, I have never been to a Rhino but I know thats a place I would love to go to, before the GS/EB merger my EB had 2for1 also, and I would abuse the hell out of it, despite having never been to a Rhino, a part of me died inside if this is true. Now I will never experience the 2for1 again =[

[Roufuss]

It's true, deal with it, rhino wasn't that great of a store anyways

Guess what, you're an idiot.

Show me another store that gets me $7 Xbox 360 games... oh wait, you can't!

Plus, why are rumors going on the front page of CAG? Am I still on CAG, or did I somehow drift over to Kotaku?

[Kuros]

I hate to say this, but I think the only company that might stop GS is Best Buy. They have the power to and they have been experimenting with trade ins. Now only if they gave trade in credit and deals better than GS, we would really have more competition in the used game business.

[jollydwarf]

EBAgent* Smith 'Sez':

"This is OUR world...OUR WORLD!!" (http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rv_img/photo_rev_oct_11.jpg)

*--Not for "Elite Beat", obviously.

[Roufuss]

The more I think about this, the more I call BS... I mean, look at all these questions that would need answers before the 14th:

- What about the stock of old video games (NES, SNES)? Will it get clearanced? What about the leftovers? What about all the action figures Gamestop dosen't carry? Where will those go?

- What about preorders? Will those get transferred into Gamestop's computers? How are they planning on handling this?

- What about credit? Rhino printed credit on receipts, how is Gamestop going to handle this? I'm sure I just can't take my paper receipt into a Gamestop and get what I want.

- Are they going to close the stores to re-do them? You mean all Rhino's will start closing down on the 14th? What about people who have games pre-ordered that are coming out when the store is closed? Will that credit get refunded?

- Why would they let the managers know this afternoon, and then tell them all to go to Chattanooga tomorrow for a meeting? That is no time at all for them to prepare for a trip, that seems kind of odd.

- I asked this once before, but why are they going to Chattanooga? Rhino HQ is in Gainesville, Gamestop HQ is in Texas... if it's a Rhino meeting, why don't they hold it at their own HQ?

I mean, this is alot of shit to think about, and you mean to tell me all of this is going to be handled in a week and a half?

[hxhawkeye]

I agree, a lot of this doesn't seem logical, but Gamestop's buyout of Rhino was coming at some point. I'm thinking it's not that Rhino locations will magically convert to Gamestops on the 14th, but rather they will begin functioning under Gamestop then. The actual translation of Rhino-to-Gamestop would likely take place over time, probably months.

That's all speculation on my part, of course.

Chattanooga is odd, and I doubt it's all store managers. District managers would be more likely. If store managers know anything about this, I should have info tomorrow. I'd love for this to be completely bogus, but the fact is the buyout makes sense.

[neocisco]

It's true, deal with it, rhino wasn't that great of a store anyways
Go back in your hole, lurkerboy. And get an original username too.

The more I think about this, the more I call BS... I mean, look at all these questions that would need answers before the 14th:

1- What about the stock of old video games (NES, SNES)? Will it get clearanced? What about the leftovers? What about all the action figures Gamestop dosen't carry? Where will those go?

2- Are they going to close the stores to re-do them? You mean all Rhino's will start closing down on the 14th? What about people who have games pre-ordered that are coming out when the store is closed? Will that credit get refunded?

3- Why would they let the managers know this afternoon, and then tell them all to go to Chattanooga tomorrow for a meeting? That is no time at all for them to prepare for a trip, that seems kind of odd.

4- I asked this once before, but why are they going to Chattanooga? Rhino HQ is in Gainesville, Gamestop HQ is in Texas... if it's a Rhino meeting, why don't they hold it at their own HQ?

I mean, this is alot of shit to think about, and you mean to tell me all of this is going to be handled in a week and a half?
1- Like you said, probably clearanced or returned to the vendor/manufacturer if they can

2- They probably wouldn't close them. Most stores are about the same size as GS/EB and the floor layout is practically identical in some cases so a fixture/signage changeover would actually be pretty easy. The storefront sign could be changed in a few hours on a slow weekday.

3 & 4- As far as Chattanooga goes, hawkeye probably got it right. They'll have the DM's and store managers from each region go to a particular location for the meeting; or, they could be using Chattanooga as a central location for one single meeting since Rhino stores are primarily in the southeast. Anybody required to go has probably known long enough to make travel arrangements.

[Roufuss]

Damn it... corporate just sent me a gift card too, won't be here for a week. I really hope Rhino stores will keep using their credit for awhile longer, if this is true, and tell us something like "Make sure you use all your credit by March" or something like that.

I'll probably go to Rhino and ask tomorrow too... if this is true I am going to abuse the living shit out of the 2 for 1 one last time.

[Brodieman]

No. NO.

I feel like Darth Vader just told me he was my father and that now he would start raping me on used game prices.

Rhino was hands down the best enthusiast store out there. Period. As if I couldn't hate GameStop any more, they go and destroy the most gamer-friendly retail outlet bar none. This is horrible news for anyone who has tasted the sweet sweet nectar of Rhino, walked its Elysian floorspace and perused its legacy selection and then bought a used game in great condition at a reasonable price.

I cannot ****ing believe this.

[Zetec]

This is horrible new if its turns out true.I just started shopping a Rhino a couple months ago.It was strange not being hassled to buy crap I didnt want.There trade in vaues are second to none.

It really feels like the gaming stores of old.

[dastly75]

I've never been to Rhino but I know this is indeed terrible news. I absolutely hate gamestop. I have NEVER seen a gamestop that I've liked. The atmosphere is disgusting and so is everything else about them.

[zombies_are_coming]

I've been shopping almost exclusively at GameCrazy now, since Gamestop has put me out of a job TWICE first, by buying EB, and then by closing the EB stores that threatened their profits.
The EB higher ups knew about the takeover a year in advance ( so Rhino probably has too), and kept emailing the individual stores, "reminding" employees, that if any reporters called asking about "unsavory rumors" we should tell them "no comment" and give them the District Manager's phone number....I swear, gamestop is like cancer! It "...must be stopped, no matter the cost..." :bomb:

[zman73]

This is fucking bullshit if it is true. Rhino was a great store all around, I shopped there so I didn't have to shop at EB / GS.

Even when I had my differences at their store, their customer support came through for me in a big way, much more than fucking GS ever did.

I really really REALLY hope this is some kind of huge misinformation on the OP's part.


Same thing Roufuss said...

I really really hope this is not true... that would be the end of 2 for ones, and I prefer to buy from them, generally the prices on used items I WANT are cheaper there, it was bad enough to see the EB merger with them because they really used to have great online specials that lasted for a few hours... it made it fun to periodically check in on cag, but those dried up with the merger... if this happens, I would be greeted with crap about if I brought my fucking trade ins with me instead of the nice personal greeting I am used to from Rhino

please dont be true

[Brian9824]

Roufuss if its true i'm positive credit would still be valued. Remember you had credit printed on computer reciepts at gamestop/eb until they switched to the new POS machines. I've heard of Rhino but don't know alot about them.

Whats the 2 for 1 deal? maybe I can abuse it myself some.

[emd081603]

Why would people not believe its true? From a business standpoint it makes perfect sense. No one would of gained anything by creating some extravagant lie about this buyout occuring. All the issues anyone mentioned are very minor things that would be no problem at all. We still have tons of eb's/gamestops around here that are loaded with old hardware and games. They will either keep it in store till it sells or move it to stores where it will sell, just the way they do things now.

Lets just hope the madness stops and they quit buying out the competition. They are already the number two vid-game retailer only behind wal-mart. The less competition they have, the crappier the services and prices will become. I just hope TRU never gets out of the business.

[zman73]

Wierd becasue Rhino in my area just did away with the paper reciepts for store credit in favor of the Rhino gift cards

Another thing I would hate about this, no more 2 dollar used guides, I loved finding good guides there (La Pucelle, Oblivion, among others)

Ive been praising Rhino as long and as loudly as any other member on CAG, if this is true, it would be a great loss to me

[Brian9824]

Well the main problem I see with this is the one Roufuss brought up. They are going to change the stores over but only tell the store managers a week and a half before hand? We knew about the EB change a good year before the stores started to change. Also what has been mentioned about the meetings are also valid. You give your store manager less then 24 hours to make plans to attend a meeting in another state? It's possible that the OP misunderstood a few things or they weren't clearly communicated or its just bad decision's on Rhino's part.

Its possible that the buyout might become OFFICIAL but the actual change in stores might not be happening for a while. The concept as a whole is pretty believable just a few of the parts don't add up.

[fatherofcaitlyn]

They will step in if it is a monopoly, but it's not.

As long as Gamecrazy, Gamerush, FYE, anyone else still buys and trades used games it's not a monopoly at all.

Now, FYE and Gamerush suck ass, but that dosen't matter. As long as there is a competitor somewhere out there.

Also, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, K-Mart, Sears and thousands of other places sell video games.

The trading aspect of the business wouldn't concern the government in terms of a monopoly since anybody can trade a video game to anybody else.

[Brian9824]

Yeah plus you can count ebay, half.com, and amazon.com as dealers in used games.

[CocheseUGA]

Even if you didn't like Rhino, if you don't smell something rotten in the State of Denmark, you're a fool.

It is true they didn't have the greatest prices on used games, especially DC stuff. But they HAD DC stuff. And N64, and NES, SNES, etc. It was the only major chain left that did. Now we'll have to turn to mom & pop stores, another concept that is quickly fading in the EB/GS world.

I need to do the 2-1 trade one last time. I never abused it, probably got about 10 new games in the 18 months I've lived near one. It will be sad not finding used guides (let's face it, it's a cheap as trading for them on here without the hassle) and a decent amount of used accessories.

[botticus]

Keep in mind that even when EB was taken over by GameStop, the stores didn't align until many months later.

Assuming Rhino stores stay open (in which case if the EB transition is any guide, most of the employees will stay on), they'll probably do what EB did - clearance off all the classic games, eventually get switched over to the GS POS and a few months down the road they'll be GameStops, with or without the Rhino name on the frontage.

It's not as if they can start converting stores to GameStops until a sale is final.

[lordwow]

Submitted the front page article to Digg.

[arthurRWD]

The reason for the Chattanooga meeting, is because the demons of bad luck know that I live here, and that I love Rhino with a burning passion, and hate gamestop equally. I hadn't planned on any 2-for-1ing for a while, but there's about 10 ape escapes and winback 2's at TRU that are about to get bought if this is true.

[schuerm26]

I just started going to Rhino a few months ago too, this sucks ass... this is the worst news I've ever heard. EVER.

Even worse than the Gamestop EB takeover? I've never been to a Rhino but I know that EB had better PS1 prices than Gamestop when the combined and I was pissed.

[FSUEagles]

Just had the opportunity to catch up on the replies since my original post. Believe me, this is not something I would joke about since I have taken advantage of the 2 for 1 numerous times. I just happened to go into my local Rhino as the manager was informing her employees because she had just found out herself. They were calling all the other employees to let them know the bad news. They were also calling Gamestop to find out about starting pay, benefits, etc.

I know the first emotion is going to be denial because that was mine too. I don't know if all the managers are going to Chattanooga today, but the store manager was told that she had to be there for a meeting at 2:30 today. She also called a mandator meeting with all her employees last night so she could get their questions and ask at the meeting.

I asked her to find out about Rhino credit, Rhino pre-orders, old school games, etc. My guess is all credit will be converted to Gamestop credit and pre-orders will still be valid since Gamestop does pre-orders also. I think the old school stuff will go on fire sale. The transition will not take as long since they just went through it with the merging of EB and Software Etc. They already know how to merge the different types of credit since EB used the card and Gamestop used paper receipts.

[argyle]

My Rhino is in the same shopping center as a Gamestop, and we already have 5 Gamestops/EBs in town. The odds of my Rhino staying open in any form if this is true are less than zero. :-(

[Tyga24]

Wow. Sad news indeed. I'll hold out hope that it's not true, but I'm not surprised if Blockbuster wants to dump the chain and GS wants to gobble up another competitor.

[Skylander7]

It could possibly be antitrust, especially in such areas like Montgomery in which there are no other merchants selling old games. However, in our time of oligopolies and corporate lobbying, nothing would ever come of it.

I wonder if Rhino will retain its name and logo, as EB did. Gamestop is such a predatory business though.. the way it treats its customers, employees, and competitors. When will the general public just stop putting up with the shit? They've had class action lawsuits, numerous filings with the BBB, etc.

The southeast has fewer competitive entities in this market than in other parts of the nation (few Gamecrazy stores, Gamerush stores, few mom and pop stores, etc.) Montgomery is reaching the point of market saturation with all the Gamestop/EB locations that we have now.. how are all these stores turning a profit, and when does the expansion stop?

[Archmagnus]

I just got off the phone with my Buddy who's a District Manager with Rhino. He and one of the Store Managers just got to Chatanooga. The meeting is at 3:30pm, not 2:30...And yes it's 100% Official. As of January 14th, All Rhno stores will be rebranded as Gamestop (unless something changes during the meeting...) Apparently Blockbuster is focusing on their Total Access program and getting away from Video Game sales and trades. They no longer have the resources or energy to grow the Rhino brand.

Another sad day in the Games Industry.

I was an EB Games Manager that left when Gamestop bought our Beloved Company. They're a Horrible Corporation that devours smaller companies to add to their disgusting girth.

Fuck.

[SaraAB]

Dont have a Rhino around here, but from the Rhino topic i can see they have great trade in. This is a very logical move for gamestop, as they already got funcoland, EB, and other game store. Gamestop can charge extra for games like they are currently doing, and they can probably get away with it because big retail store like Best buy and walmart are not going to carry some of the lesser known games.


In which case there is always online shopping to resort to plus game trading sites like this one, you never have to resort to buying from ebgames or gamestop, there is always another way to get your game, most of the time for less than what ebgames/gamestop is charging for the game. Most good online stores like gamesuniverse.com have even more lesser known titles than ebgames/gamestop carries, plus gamesuniverse has no tax to the state of ny at least and very cheap shipping (in most cases there is a few dollars discount on each game from the retail price with gamesuniverse and no tax, shipping is something like 3$ per game and 1$ per additional game, so it actually works out cheaper than buying at a retail store even without the 10$ off 30$ from google checkout). Plus ordering online means i do not get a shelf-beaten display copy from ebgames/gamestop, and my games actually come shrinkwrapped and new like they should.

Gamecrazy is even worse than ebgames/gamestop, and just has poorer service in general, plus they make you give your name and address and phone number just to purchase a game, then hassle you for 20 min about buying the worthless scam mvp card, this is not crap i will put up with from a retail store when i can shop online for less, but since we have all of 2 gamecrazy stores in my area, i just avoid them like the plague. Basically unless a price is too good to pass up, i do about 90% of my game shopping online in various ways, and if ebgames/gamestop continues to gobble up all the corporations selling video games, then i will move even more of my game shopping to online shopping.

Note: i am not some weird freak that does not go out of the house or anything like that, i do go to retail stores to browse but when i see prices that are much higher than what online stores are charging and the fact that shelves here are completely devoid of any games that i might want to buy for myself, it urges me to move more and more of my game shopping online.

[botticus]

I just got off the phone with my Buddy who's a District Manager with Rhino. He and one of the Store Managers just got to Chatanooga. The meeting is at 3:30pm, not 2:30...And yes it's 100% Official. As of January 14th, All Rhno stores will be rebranded as Gamestop (unless something changes during the meeting...) Apparently Blockbuster is focusing on their Total Access program and getting away from Video Game sales and trades. They no longer have the resources or energy to grow the Rhino brand.

Another sad day in the Games Industry.

I was an EB Games Manager that left when Gamestop bought our Beloved Company. They're a Horrible Corporation that devours smaller companies to add to their disgusting girth.

Fuck.Guess I should once again rethink building up any sort of GameRush credit stash... and use up the $100 or so I have there ASAP. Granted since GR shares space with BB stores, they're probably a hell of a lot cheaper to run than Rhinos were.

[Tenacious D]

This truly sucks, if it's true! I've done 100% of my trading at Rhino because of their 2 for 1 deal and their trade-in values for the last 3 or 4 years. Like other posters have said, I want to cry. I'm going to my local Rhino in a few minutes to find out if they know anything about this.

[Archmagnus]

Guess I should once again rethink building up any sort of GameRush credit stash... and use up the $100 or so I have there ASAP. Granted since GR shares space with BB stores, they're probably a hell of a lot cheaper to run than Rhinos were.

Believe it or not...As soon as a Month ago, I was told by the same friend that Blockbuster was going to test changing all of the Gamerush locations into Rhino...I'd be willing to bet that Gamerush dies with this purchase. That's pure speculation on my part though...

[Roufuss]

Does anyone know when they will stop taking trade-in's, or if they will? I can't imagine they will keep taking trade-in's much longer, espically on old generation product since it will all have to be clearanced out.

Ugh... I just wish we had some kind of firm details about when the 2 for 1 is stopping and stuff like that, so I know when to go dump a massive pile of games at Rhino.

[Surferflames]

Montgomery is reaching the point of market saturation with all the Gamestop/EB locations that we have now.. how are all these stores turning a profit, and when does the expansion stop?

I've often wondered this in East Orlando. Within ten miles there are easily a dozen+ EB/GS stores. Some of which were former competitors in the same plazas/malls. Hell I remember some locations in Florida that, back when there was Babbages and EBWorld and all the little subdivisions, ended up with 3 or 4 stores per mall.

We only have one Rhino, which sits just far enough away from an EB/GS to appear to be successful.

[Roufuss]

I can't wait for the day I go into Rhino and hear "HEY DID YOU BRING YOUR TRADE-IN'S WITH YOU?!?! Do you want to preorder Madden 08? Do you have our discount card? Did you see our magazine? Next time don't forget to bring your trade-in's!!!"

I look at every new release I could have gotten for 1/2 price, like Wii Play and Warioware: Smooth Moves and I'm just pissed.

[arthurRWD]

if anything ever was, this is

teh sucknig

[2Fast]

We are Gamestop, lower your standards and surrender your games. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own (without the distinctiveness). Resistance is futile.

[kjauburn]

When it comes down to it the only reason I hit eb/gs is to pick up cheap games to trade in to Rhino. I can't really stand the shoeboxes they have. If this goes through then EB/GS are going to be stuck with the Stubbs, winback 2, etc.

[argyle]

Well, if this needs any further confirmation: this is it. I just spoke with our local manager, and he confirmed everything that has been said. January 14th is the switch-over date. There was a meeting today, there's one tomorrow and I think he said another Sat. They are all supposedly mandatory, but he didn't go - said he's not sure if he's going to or not.

He didn't know anything about how credit will be handled (obviously, since he didn't go to the meeting). They were advising their regulars who had credit built up to use it just in case.

Something interesting, he kept telling me that in recent company conference calls they were talking about how many new stores they were going to open this year, how big they were planning to get, etc. He told me that this came as a complete shock to everyone. He said from the impression he got, the corporate office didn't even know this was coming.

Way to start the new year. #-o

[Roufuss]

Well, if this needs any further confirmation: this is it. I just spoke with our local manager, and he confirmed everything that has been said. January 14th is the switch-over date. There was a meeting today, there's one tomorrow and I think he said another Sat. They are all supposedly mandatory, but he didn't go - said he's not sure if he's going to or not.

He didn't know anything about how credit will be handled (obviously, since he didn't go to the meeting). They were advising their regulars who had credit built up to use it just in case.

Something interesting, he kept telling me that in recent company conference calls they were talking about how many new stores they were going to open this year, how big they were planning to get, etc. He told me that this came as a complete shock to everyone. He said from the impression he got, the corporate office didn't even know this was coming.

Way to start the new year. :|

I was wondering why, if this was true, that corporate just yesterday offered to send me a gift certificate for Rhino when I filed my complaint, knowing they would transfer over on the 14th. I can only hope that certificate gets mailed out ASAP so I can get it and use it before then.

What we need is someone who has been to these meetings to start feeding us info =/

[Joystick76]

4th of the year, and GS has already fucked us over again.

I even miss the old EB, even if the difference wasn't HUUUGE.

I've only been to one Rhino, and it kicked ass. One of my favorite game store's I've been to, maan.

Now I've got the ONE local mom and pop store left, then I'm screwed. No where to go.

[fatherofcaitlyn]

LONG LIVE GAMESTOP!

The greater the giant grows, the easier a mosquito can suck its blood.

[Tenacious D]

Well the manager at my local Rhino wasn't there today. So, I asked two of the newer regular employees about GS buying Rhino and they said, "Holy crap that's the news we're supposed to find out later" or something to that effect. They were shocked and worried, but could not confirm anything. I forgot to ask if the manager was gone to a meeting in Tennessee.

[kjauburn]

R.I.P. Rhino

Guess I will be buying my games through the Amazon Cag store link soon...

[fatherofcaitlyn]

GS is already too big. In Louisville, half of the Gamestops are around the corner from the EB Games.

The decision makes sense in markets with no or little GS/EB presence, but is completely pointless is larger cities with brand saturation.

[Roufuss]

GS is already too big. In Louisville, half of the Gamestops are around the corner from the EB Games.

The decision makes sense in markets with no or little GS/EB presence, but is completely pointless is larger cities with brand saturation.

Here in Tampa, there is both an EB and a GS two minutes up the street from Rhino. This will make three stores in such a tiny area, and that's not even counting the other 20 + stores all over the area.

The only reason Gamestop is doing this is to kill off Rhino which is their last bit of competition in the Southeast.

In Florida, there was no other direct competitors to EB / GS, just Rhino. Now, if I want a niche game that the big chains won't carry, I have to either buy it online or if I wanted it right then and there, shop at Gamestop.

I imagine it was the same in other SE states as well, where Rhino is their last bit of competition, and they are snuffing them out before they even get the chance to grow.

I'd be surprised if my Rhino stayed open at all, because why does the area need 3 EB's / GS's in a 3 minutes radius?

[such great heights]

That fucking sucks. I was just at my Rhino's today, and I wish I had said something to the guys there.

I think they might have gotten a call about it while I was there - one of the guys went into the back to get a game for me, but I guess he answered the phone back there. Came back out saying, "That was the worst phone call ever."

That store's only...seven minutes-ish from the nearest Gamestop, but it's right by a Wal-Mart, so hopefully it'll stay open. I hope they all don't get completely fucking screwed over.

[Autumn Star]

Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust

In all seriousness though, this sucks balls.
No one company should have this much control over a market; especially Gamestop.

[Roufuss]

Oh, I also can't wait to call them and not only get refused for trade-in value's over the phone, but to also hear the long winded 35 second speech about preordering a game.

[dafunkk12]

...but it's right by a Wal-Mart...
Actually, it seems that a large percentage of Rhino stores are in the same shopping center or across the street from a WalMart. I don't know what kind of conscious business decision was behind that or if it's some massive coincidence. I only remember one non-mall Rhino not being near a WalMart (in the Jacksonville and Orlando area, anyway).

[captainfrizo]

I'd be surprised if my Rhino stayed open at all, because why does the area need 3 EB's / GS's in a 3 minutes radius?

One of the malls I go to have both an EB and a Gamestop inside and they are all of six, maybe seven stores away from each other (or 20 seconds in a casual walk). Don't be too surprised if there are three stores so close in your area. Apparently Gamestop isn't too concerned with over saturating areas and having truly un-needed extra expenses as a result.

I've never shopped at Rhino (none in my area), but the news of Gamestop growing bigger and eliminating more competition is not a good thing.

[Skylander7]

Well, if this needs any further confirmation: this is it. I just spoke with our local manager, and he confirmed everything that has been said. January 14th is the switch-over date. There was a meeting today, there's one tomorrow and I think he said another Sat. They are all supposedly mandatory, but he didn't go - said he's not sure if he's going to or not.

He didn't know anything about how credit will be handled (obviously, since he didn't go to the meeting). They were advising their regulars who had credit built up to use it just in case.

Something interesting, he kept telling me that in recent company conference calls they were talking about how many new stores they were going to open this year, how big they were planning to get, etc. He told me that this came as a complete shock to everyone. He said from the impression he got, the corporate office didn't even know this was coming.

Way to start the new year. #-o

There's no way they will keep that store open. The overlap is just too close, with a Gamestop in the same shopping center already. Guess I need to do 2 for 1 while I can.

[Roufuss]

So is anyone going to abuse the hell out of the 2 for 1 this last week? This may be your last chance to ever do it.

[twanky]

My friend who works at Gamestop Corp. in the Loss Prevention Department is one of the leads, and they're going out to Florida next week to make sure all the inventory and stuff from the take over will go smooth. Here's to Gamestop monopolizing the used/trade game market even more!

[hxhawkeye]

Okay, got some info. Treat it as hearsay, but I have no reason to doubt the authenticity.

- Rhino HQ in Gainesville, FL is dead. Sacked. Gone. I understand that district leaders are being kept, but anything higher appears to be no more.

- Inventory teams will be going to Rhino stores and starting fresh with the inventory counts and the Gamestop POS. The Rhino software and data will not be used at all.

- Meetings are being held in each district. The Chattanooga meeting mentioned is just one for that district.

- It seems that no one had any idea. Not the majority of HQ, not district leaders, certainly not store managers. Apparently it was a shock to everyone.

- No word yet on how credit will be handled, but personally I would advise you to use any you have before the 14th. It may be fine after that, but it may also be a nightmare. If I get word on this matter, I'll post.

- Kiss 2-for-1 and free lifetime warranties goodbye.

- I expect all prices and trade values to mirror Gamestop's by the 15th. That's just my speculation based on the other information, however.

- No word on the merchandise that GS doesn't sell. It will probably go to clearance or simply be removed from stores and sold on other markets.



Again, none of this has been officially confirmed. Treat as speculation until official word is out.



In the words of Jack Bauer, "DAMMIT!"

[HotShotX]

I'm glad I stopped shopping at GameStop long ago....I either do my trading at itradevideogames.com, or shop online or at Best Buy.

GameStop is to VG Retail as G4 is to VG TV. Fuck GameStop.

~HotShotX

[Roufuss]

Okay, got some info. Treat it as hearsay, but I have no reason to doubt the authenticity.

- Rhino HQ in Gainesville, FL is dead. Sacked. Gone. I understand that district leaders are being kept, but anything higher appears to be no more.

- Inventory teams will be going to Rhino stores and starting fresh with the inventory counts and the Gamestop POS. The Rhino software and data will not be used at all.

- Meetings are being held in each district. The Chattanooga meeting mentioned is just one for that district.

- It seems that no one had any idea. Not the majority of HQ, not district leaders, certainly not store managers. Apparently it was a shock to everyone.

- No word yet on how credit will be handled, but personally I would advise you to use any you have before the 14th. It may be fine after that, but it may also be a nightmare. If I get word on this matter, I'll post.

- Kiss 2-for-1 and free lifetime warranties goodbye.

- I expect all prices and trade values to mirror Gamestop's by the 15th. That's just my speculation based on the other information, however.

- No word on the merchandise that GS doesn't sell. It will probably go to clearance or simply be removed from stores and sold on other markets.



Again, none of this has been officially confirmed. Treat as speculation until official word is out.



In the words of Jack Bauer, "DAMMIT!"

So we have until the 15th to do the 2 for 1's still? You think they would stop trade-in's a few days earlier, because it's hard to do inventory counts when inventory keeps coming in.

[kjauburn]

Just enough time to get a few Wii games with the 2 for 1. Going today on the way home...

[CocheseUGA]

I wonder what the legal termage will look like with the lifetime guarantee on games I have already. I mean, guarantees are good as long as the store is still called Rhino, but can they legally revoke all warranties effective across the board?

As an innocent party, I don't believe the contract can be voided like that without due and proper notice.

[norkusa]

People that are always complaining about EB & Gamestop....now might be a good time to consider not giving them any more of your business. Keep supporting them and they'll just keep gobbling up more used game chains.

[such great heights]

People that are always complaining about EB & Gamestop....now might be a good time to consider not giving them any more of your business. Keep supporting them and they'll just keep gobbling up more used game chains.

I agree. I've been bad about this because my local Gamestop is great. I've never had a single problem in there, and it sucks so much that they're a part of the big Evil Corporation.

[norkusa]

I agree. I've been bad about this because my local Gamestop is great. I've never had a single problem in there, and it sucks so much that they're a part of the big Evil Corporation.

If you actually enjoy shopping there, it's not a problem then. My issue is with the people that constantly complain about EB/GS, yet still shop there. The only way they are going to improve there business model is if they see that they are loosing customers. Put your money where your mouth is and take your business elsewhere....that's the only way they'll learn. That's what I do.

[kjauburn]

I agree. I've been bad about this because my local Gamestop is great. I've never had a single problem in there, and it sucks so much that they're a part of the big Evil Corporation.

I hope your not talking about the one off 92 exit 7 because that one is horrible. You end up kicking over magazine racks and displays just walking through the place since its so cluttered. Only the eb shoebox at town center is worse...

[Zero23]

Looks like my Toys-R-Us clearance haul will be used up by the weekend to get 2 for 1 games before the deal is over. Ill have every PS3 game I didnt want... Time to use and abuse the 2 for 1 deal. ARGH! I HATE GAMESTOP!

On a side note: I pre-ordered Metal Gear P.O. at Gamestop to get the nice case cover thingy, and to this day, they have not called me for my game. Its so nice to know that fucking animated woman omitted my name from her call list. Oh how I love Gamestop.

[VAD3R or Fro]

I never found nothing wrong at my Gamestop at all really. I dont see why all the hate at a video game store.

[norkusa]

I never found nothing wrong at my Gamestop at all really. I dont see why all the hate at a video game store.

I don't like GS because of their prices. Trade-in's suck and used is usually only about $5 less than what you'd pay for new. I just buy/sell/trade online now and am much better off that way.

Another reason why I don't shop there any longer is because I kept getting 'New' games that were unsealed. I don't mind getting them like that once in a while, but after the 5th time in a row getting a new game like that, I got fed-up with and decided I was never buying anything from them again.

[Roufuss]

Another reason why I don't shop there any longer is because I kept getting 'New' games that were unsealed. I don't mind getting them like that once in a while, but after the 5th time in a row getting a new game like that, I got fed-up with and decided I was never buying anything from them again.

Rhino does this exact same thing too. 3 out of 5 new 360 games I got there were new but unsealed, so it wasn't really a GS specific thing.

[Surferflames]

Well I know rhino still lets employees check out games, and I know EB/GS used to back in the day. Not sure if they still do though.

I have seen one EB that kept most of the cases on the wall for new releases, and had a stack of paper sleeves with the actual game in them. I found this rather odd, then again it was the only EB I was ever carded at too..so maybe just a wierd manager.

[Cantaloup]

Here in Tampa, there is both an EB and a GS two minutes up the street from Rhino. This will make three stores in such a tiny area, and that's not even counting the other 20 + stores all over the area.


You must go to the same Rhino I do, Roufuss. I didn't do many trade-ins or buy any new games from them, but their selection of older and used games is way better than EB or GameStop. I'll definitely miss them if they become another GameStop. :-(

[Quarkus]

I move to Florida 1 week after the takeover. I was really looking forward to checking out Rhino too. :(

[CocheseUGA]

I hope your not talking about the one off 92 exit 7 because that one is horrible. You end up kicking over magazine racks and displays just walking through the place since its so cluttered. Only the eb shoebox at town center is worse...

Agreed. The other day it ranked of ass. I had to leave immediately before the glitter could be sewn.

[Otherguy676]

I havent done the 2 4 1 yet, due to money restraints and not wanting to screw over a good store, but now since Gamestop is going to own them, I think it is time to unload my crap games, and with all the pawn shopping I do, getting a crap game for cheap is not that hard.

[VAD3R or Fro]

I don't like GS because of their prices. Trade-in's suck and used is usually only about $5 less than what you'd pay for new. I just buy/sell/trade online now and am much better off that way.

Another reason why I don't shop there any longer is because I kept getting 'New' games that were unsealed. I don't mind getting them like that once in a while, but after the 5th time in a row getting a new game like that, I got fed-up with and decided I was never buying anything from them again.
I guess the service at your store isnt good. I just go up to the counter if I want a new game. They always give me a new sealed up copy instead of a opened case with a scratched game. I have to agree about trade-ins however.

[Joystick76]

There is nothing worth shit in a single EB/Gamestop I've been in in the past year. I still go in EB occasionally, but to talk to my friends that work there. They don't like the place either, but it still counts as a job dealing with video games for a living. It works.

[hxhawkeye]

UPDATE!

Store credit is safe. I understand that there will be an incentive to convert it to Gamestop credit, i.e. you will get a 25% bonus for converting your Rhino credit. (Don't hold me to that percentage, though). So you may want to instead HOLD ON to your Rhino dollars and even trade in some things now for more credit later.


Hope that helps.

[zman73]

People that are always complaining about EB & Gamestop....now might be a good time to consider not giving them any more of your business. Keep supporting them and they'll just keep gobbling up more used game chains.


The handful of times I actually bought from either store last years was trade bait for Rhino, and the DK Bongos one of the few times we benefit from a GS fuck up (buying too many of the damn things)

[zman73]

Looking over my games I counted between 35-40 2 for one's at Rhino in the 13 months Ive shopped there, plus many more through regular trading, and that amazing clearance sale they had last year

[mtxbass1]

Looking over my games I counted between 35-40 2 for one's at Rhino in the 13 months Ive shopped there, plus many more through regular trading, and that amazing clearance sale they had last year

131 games total for me over a 4 year span.

[CheapyD]

I just had an idea...

What do Rhino fans think about holding a candlelight vigil?
I think a few guys showing up Rhino locations at night with candles and flowers would be really funny.

It could even be CAG sponsored. Your thoughts?

[Roufuss]

I just had an idea...

What do Rhino fans think about holding a candlelight vigil?
I think a few guys showing up Rhino locations at night with candles and flowers would be really funny.

It could even be CAG sponsored. Your thoughts?

I was thinking of pouring a 40oz on the sidewalk outside of Rhino, but I'm pretty sure I could get arrested for that.

[kjauburn]

I just had an idea...

What do Rhino fans think about holding a candlelight vigil?
I think a few guys showing up Rhino locations at night with candles and flowers would be really funny.

It could even be CAG sponsored. Your thoughts?

Candlelight Vigil to the end of a era. Really Rhino seemed to be the last old school game chain in the southeast. The 3 things that made Rhino special I don't think you will see again.

R.I.P

1. Return any game you buy within 7 days for any reason. If it sucked or you just felt it was to short take it back and choose something else.

2. Free lifetime guarantees on all games you purchased.

3. Trade in 2 qualifying games that receive $10 in credit for a new $50 game.

[neocisco]

I was thinking of pouring a 40oz on the sidewalk outside of Rhino, but I'm pretty sure I could get arrested for that.
:rofl: Do it!!!

[Roufuss]

:rofl: Do it!!!

Shit, if I had a video camera, I totally would.

[such great heights]

I just had an idea...

What do Rhino fans think about holding a candlelight vigil?
I think a few guys showing up Rhino locations at night with candles and flowers would be really funny.

It could even be CAG sponsored. Your thoughts?

DONE.

[CheapyD]

By the way, I was 100% serious.
I just want to make sure we have a few guys show up at a location....

[kjauburn]

By the way, I was 100% serious.
I just want to make sure we have a few guys show up at a location....

I would say Nashville, Woodstock, or Tampa would be the 3 locations this could most likely happen based upon the loyal Rhino Cagers, but maybe a few areas could prove me wrong. Remember CheapyD isn't asking you to do something stupid or illegal. I can see it now 6 Cagers arrested outside Rhino for stripping naked with the words lick my balls gamestop. Before you know it one of them turns out to be underage and Cheapy is on trial next to the girls gone wild CEO.

[CocheseUGA]

I'd do it, but I don't know of any other Augusta CAGers.










...I mean, strip down and paint 'EB/GS lick my ->' on my stomach.

[CheapyD]

I would say Nashville, Woodstock, or Tampa would be the 3 locations this could most likely happen based upon the loyal Rhino Cagers, but maybe a few areas could prove me wrong. Remember CheapyD isn't asking you to do something stupid or illegal. I can see it now 6 Cagers arrested outside Rhino for stripping naked with the words lick my balls gamestop. Before you know it one of them turns out to be underage and Cheapy is on trial next to the girls gone wild CEO.
Good thing I've already fled the country.

If you are interested in being an organizer of such an event...please PM me (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=1).

[mtxbass1]

I'd do it, but I don't know of any other Augusta CAGers.


<-- Just moved to Disgusta about a month ago.

That being said, I would only go and shit on the front doorstep of that Rhino out there in South Augusta.

[CocheseUGA]

That being said, I would only go and shit on the front doorstep of that Rhino out there in South Augusta.

At least the employees are nice. Kiss that goodbye soon, too.

And if you took a dump on the doorstep, some of the hobos might gather around it next cold spell. Do them a favor.

[kjauburn]

DONE.

Well Such Great heights I live a mile from the woodstock Rhino and have a video camera. I know Neocisco drives past it on the way home from work. Find some large plastic tombstones and your ready to go...

[kjauburn]

At least the employees are nice. Kiss that goodbye soon, too.

And if you took a dump on the doorstep, some of the hobos might gather around it next cold spell. Do them a favor.

Yeah the employees are going to jump ship once gamestop benefits/pay is put into place. Plus you know they won't be allowed to test out the games all day like the do now. A few people have told me the best thing about working there is the ability to "check out" games from the store overnight, but they might have ended this awhile back...

[such great heights]

Well Such Great heights I live a mile from the woodstock Rhino and have a video camera. I know Neocisco drives past it on the way home from work. Find some large plastic tombstones and your ready to go...

Hahaha. I'm sure the Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree next door would have something suitable. Maybe get some good stereo equipment, blast "I Will Always Love You," return it the next day...

[sying]

It totally sucks for Jacksonville, with 6 area Rhino stores. A lot of my good buds work there. I hope they don't just can them, that would be the assholish thing to do, so I would not put it past them. RIP rhino RIP my good friend

[CheapyD]

CAG can cover reasonable expenses such as flowers, candles, etc...

[CocheseUGA]

Paper lunch bags - $1.00
Tea lights - $1.00

There ya go.

[kjauburn]

CAG can cover reasonable expenses such as flowers, candles, etc...

Okay this could actually make a cool contest. Best video on Rhino's End...

[mtxbass1]

At least the employees are nice. Kiss that goodbye soon, too.

And if you took a dump on the doorstep, some of the hobos might gather around it next cold spell. Do them a favor.

Most of them are, except one or two. I think they fired that assclown manager though. I've never seen him in there since the incident.

[zman73]

I hope GS doesnt fire off all the managers, I find the one near my home very courteous, yes I have taken advantage of the 2 for ones, spread out over 4 stores, but also purchased LOTS and LOTS from them as well

of course this gives me excuse to tackle the mountain of games in my collection, I would have loved to take advantage of this on PS3 games when I got a system

[hxhawkeye]

Regarding the vigil...who here lives in Alabama, specifically Huntsville/Madison, Montgomery, or Auburn-Opelika? I'd be up for a vigil at any of those locations. The Opelika store is closest to my heart, but I've worked at all of them at some point. I'd be up for it if we can get enough people.



Cheapy, maybe get something on the main page about this so we can better measure interest? Seeing as how it's official and no longer just rumor.

[Roufuss]

I would say Nashville, Woodstock, or Tampa would be the 3 locations this could most likely happen based upon the loyal Rhino Cagers, but maybe a few areas could prove me wrong. .

I'd have to pass, since the manager at the Tampa store dosen't like me at all, and I don't need to give him a reason to get pissed at me and do something stupid like call the cops (I wouldn't put it past this guy... people in my area know who I mean).

I'll probably go Saturday to trade my games since he'll be gone at that meeting if the sources are correct.

[caffolote]

Oh my god.....I can't believe they are turning Rhino Video Game stores in Gamestops now. This is just insane.....do you hate GS even more now for doing this?

[SleekerToy]

Don't believe they will can them.. Roomate is a SM at GS and they got an e-mail from the president of the company welcoming the staff currently working in the stores...

I'm guessing Cheapy isn't a fan of GS either? :lol:

[Troopa]

I was just wondering the other day when this would happen.

[CocheseUGA]

Most of them are, except one or two. I think they fired that assclown manager though. I've never seen him in there since the incident.

Incident? Do tell. And which one was it? I've seen at least two different people who I thought was the manager over the last year.

They don't currently have a SM, and the two guys there were so pissed about the takeover last night. Shame once it changes over I'll have even less of a reason to go there.

[CocheseUGA]

There's one thing I take solace from in this whole episode:


All those crap games the EB/GS beancounters thought they were selling are all now back in their inventory, and aren't going anywhere now.

Bwahahahahahahahaha.

[KungFuOpera]

Yeah the employees are going to jump ship once gamestop benefits/pay is put into place. Plus you know they won't be allowed to test out the games all day like the do now. A few people have told me the best thing about working there is the ability to "check out" games from the store overnight, but they might have ended this awhile back...
They still do that, though even more lenient than you think. Employees could borrow out games that were used, out for at least 30 days and keep them for a week to play. It was awesome. I worked there for two years, before, during and after the Blockbuster acquisition. The whole borrow out thing saved me so much money it's insane.

They haven't said so yet, but I have a feeling most of my buddies still working in our Rhinos (I live in Gainesville, FL, by the way, where it all began) are ditching the store, even though I think both locations are staying open. I don't blame them.

What upsets me more than anything, though, is how Rhino HQ was dissolved virtually overnight. The warehouse guys: gone. Marketing: gone. They're awesome people, and I think this is just such a horrible way of "thanking" them for years and years of blood, sweat and tears poured into what began as their own company, and they could do nothing but watch as it was slowly and inorexibly stripped out from underneath them. I should ask if they at least got a hefty severance package.

I will never shop at an EB or GS as long as I live. Burn in hell you capitalist pigs.

[botticus]

What upsets me more than anything, though, is how Rhino HQ was dissolved virtually overnight. The warehouse guys: gone. Marketing: gone. They're awesome people, and I think this is just such a horrible way of "thanking" them for years and years of blood, sweat and tears poured into what began as their own company, and they could do nothing but watch as it was slowly and inorexibly stripped out from underneath them. I should ask if they at least got a hefty severance package.

I will never shop at an EB or GS as long as I live. Burn in hell you capitalist pigs.You should probably blame Blockbuster for that. It's not as if GameStop forced them to sell Rhino yesterday, giving zero notice to anyone.

[KungFuOpera]

You should probably blame Blockbuster for that. It's not as if GameStop forced them to sell Rhino yesterday, giving zero notice to anyone.

This is true. I supposed it's a good thing I started boycotting Blockbuster years ago, eh?

We were all terrified when the BB buyout happened because we though exactly that, "what does Blockbuster know about video game stores???", but everything seemed to be running pretty much as it was before. And Karen, the BB-appointed president is a super nice lady and did her best to make the transfer as smooth as possible. Heck, it coasted for what, 2.5 years like that?

I just totally didn't see this coming. Not so suddenly. Though now that I think on it more, I'm really not surprised in the least that ol' BB got in over it's head and opted to dump it.

Still makes me mad and probably a bit too emotional, though...

[tickdude]

To all of the CAGers in the SE USA - my heart goes out to you.

When Gamestop swallowed up all of the Funcoland locations in Minnesota and the Midwest, I was truly pissed and sad. And after the EB Games gluttony, I am still seriously fucking mad. GS completely sucks balls - their sales suck, their online used game sales suck, their stores are rank (kinda like Kmarts), I could go on and on.
Is this the price we have to pay now that video gaming is so "mainstream"? Is it because gaming is not a small venture but a multibillion dollar, cutthroat industry? So be it...just expect the worse. Just like the Mom and Pop video stores and record / DVD outlets that disappeared, there is no reason to question that small gaming chains will NOT survive.
Now we have the department stores, the Best Buy "devils", and Gamestop. Welcome to the New World Order...Long live corporate hegemony!

[AnonymousRGE]

Changes have already started to occur. All stores received a memo last night instructing them to take all "Rhino Dollar" cards and place them back in their boxes, then tape them up and keep them under the counter. After a quick sync of the computers, they were instructed not to use Rhino Dollar cards again, but from now on, simply use the paper receipts they had used before the change.

[AnonymousRGE]

Another reason why I don't shop there any longer is because I kept getting 'New' games that were unsealed. I don't mind getting them like that once in a while, but after the 5th time in a row getting a new game like that, I got fed-up with and decided I was never buying anything from them again.

The reason why the new games are unsealed is because there needs to be one "display" on the store floor. So one game is gutted and the case put on the store floor. When you buy the last copy of a game, you get the gutted, "unsealed" copy. Your copy is still new.

[anomynous]

I like all the video game activists on this board. Speeches about the evil of gamestop.

[CocheseUGA]

Your copy is still new.

No, it's 'opened.' And opened games can't get returned. I know everyone is supposed to use the stickers, but not all stores do. You've handled the physical disc.

New - 8. Fresh and unused.

It's been used. It's been taken out of it's case. We've already discussed the benefits and drawbacks to their practices long before you ever thought about signing up. Every arguement in Gamestop's favor has been rebuked.

[KungFuOpera]

I'll have to admit that this happens at Rhino, too. Aside from the one display copy (which must be opened, there's no two ways about this), if a customer exchanges a new game within the 7 day window, it's placed back on the shelf as new. Yes, it's been handled. Yes, it's most likely seen the inside of a console. When it's returned by the first owner, we always investigated the disk, case and manuals to make sure it was still in mint condition. Any flaw whatsoever, that includes even bending the front page of the manual, meant that we could not exchange it back as new (though we'd be happy to do so as used, usually $10 less). Whether the other stores were as strict, though, I can't say. We also warned customers when they bought the games to keep them in mint condition if they thought they wanted to exachange it, so we never really had anyone argue the point.

It might sound crappy, especially to the hardcore game afficionados (of which I am one) but it was a small price to pay to allow the whole exchange thing in the first place. And if asked nicely, we would have been happy to either hunt down a sealed one, or pull one aside for you when more come in.

Honestly, the ratio of people who complained about buying an opened "new" game versus the people who complimented the exchange policy was like 1:100.

But GS has no real excuse. There were also other things about GS's methods that we hated, especially all their damn stickers. God how I hate their stickers! I got pretty good at removing them, though.

[AnonymousRGE]

No, it's 'opened.' And opened games can't get returned. I know everyone is supposed to use the stickers, but not all stores do. You've handled the physical disc.

New - 8. Fresh and unused.

It's been used. It's been taken out of it's case. We've already discussed the benefits and drawbacks to their practices long before you ever thought about signing up. Every arguement in Gamestop's favor has been rebuked. I was by no means defending GameStop, but Rhino Games--which, as KungFuOpera pointed out--does accept games that have been opened as new if returned in the last seven days--even the copies that they have gutted for display.

[Jayce]

Haha Rhino Gainesville employees represent.

Im a current employee at one of the Gainesville Rhino's and am also pretty sad to see all of this going down. I unfortunatley have bills to pay and wont be leaving or walking out, but its going to be hard to work for "the enemy". It really did suck that a lot of good people are out of work due to this. I enjoyed working for our HQ guys as they always asked for input from us on what customers wanted, what was hot and selling, where peoples interest lie, etc. It really was a gamestore for the true gamer.

That and I want to say Rhino was one of the last bastions for old school gaming. It was always kind of cool to see all of that retro stuff come in, and even cooler to see people still get excited to play and see the older stuff. I havent heard word yet on whether a clearance is coming or if Gamestop is going to throw all of it in a pile and burn it or what.

[suko_32]

Any news about the incentive to convert Rhinos Credit to GS?

Edit: Jayce, which Rhinos do you work at?

[Jayce]

Any news about the incentive to convert Rhinos Credit to GS?

Edit: Jayce, which Rhinos do you work at?

The best one :P

Archer -

The 25% thing on credit holds true as of last night when I worked. If I hear anything different ill post a heads up.

[KungFuOpera]

Wait-- you had sticker spray?!? Hell, I just worked on it for a while with my fingernails. Even then I had to throw out at least a fifth of the cases. I counted eight (8!) different stickers on the cover of a game once. We could barely make out what the title was. So absurd.

[suko_32]

The best one :P

Archer -

The 25% thing on credit holds true as of last night when I worked. If I hear anything different ill post a heads up.

Then I have probably seen you a few times :)

[AnonymousRGE]

Wait-- you had sticker spray?!? Hell, I just worked on it for a while with my fingernails. Even then I had to throw out at least a fifth of the cases. I counted eight (8!) different stickers on the cover of a game once. We could barely make out what the title was. So absurd. It was this terribly sticky spray that got all over the place. I had to wipe down the counters like mad in order to get it off if it dripped off of the case.

Sometimes, the stickers were on so bad, I just had to get an entirely new case. One thing I'm totally not looking forward to after the change... those stickers.

If you use the heat gun, sometimes that'll take stickers off--SOMETIMES.

[Roufuss]

So, if corporate is gone, I bet "Heather" won't be sending out my gift card then :(

[Jayce]

Wait-- you had sticker spray?!? Hell, I just worked on it for a while with my fingernails. Even then I had to throw out at least a fifth of the cases. I counted eight (8!) different stickers on the cover of a game once. We could barely make out what the title was. So absurd.

You noobs must not have known about the wonders of heatgunning + Goo- B- Gone , : P

[AnonymousRGE]

So, if corporate is gone, I bet "Heather" won't be sending out my gift card then :(
That's worth wondering. Are we going to get gift cards from the various contests held earlier this year? How long do we have to cash in our Rhino Dollars? I'd better find all of mine now.

[CocheseUGA]

I was by no means defending GameStop, but Rhino Games--which, as KungFuOpera pointed out--does accept games that have been opened as new if returned in the last seven days--even the copies that they have gutted for display.

I've never gotten a game from them that was new that wasn't still factory sealed. I can say exactly the opposite about GS. I also never had to ask about manuals, all the used games I bought were perfect.

[KungFuOpera]

You noobs must not have known about the wonders of heatgunning + Goo- B- Gone , : P

Pish posh, that Goo-B-Gone just got everywhere and never worked, even after soaking the cases in it for hours. My mad label removing skillz were legendary and I needed nothing more than a long thumbnail and time. ;)

Oh, and once the conversion's done, Derek is screwed! Jayce, you should know who I'm talking about.

[AnonymousRGE]

I've never gotten a game from them that was new that wasn't still factory sealed. I can say exactly the opposite about GS. I also never had to ask about manuals, all the used games I bought were perfect. Generally, it's the last copy of a game that isn't sealed. We give out the factory-sealed copies first and the last person to buy the game gets the gutted copy. I don't mind shrink-wrapping if they request a sealed copy, but as a video game fan, I understand (and sympathize!) with the need for a factory-sealed copy of your favorite game.

[Jayce]

So, if corporate is gone, I bet "Heather" won't be sending out my gift card then :(

Chances are 'no' seeing that Heather and everyone else in our HQ are likely now out of a job. : /

What were you recieving it for?

[Graystone]

I've never been to or seen a Rhino store.

[Jayce]

Oh, and once the conversion's done, Derek is screwed! Jayce, you should know who I'm talking about.


LOL - my roommate is an ex- Rhino employee and we were just talking about that guy. Just couldnt remember his name. Derek will indeed be unhappy about this turn of events. Still though 25% of $1000 dollars in Rhino credit should make him a little happier with the situation.

[CocheseUGA]

Generally,

And there's where it all goes down the shitter for me. I've never received a new game from GS that they didn't start to hunt down the paper sleeve. I put up with it until about a year ago, but refuse it now. They'll usually pop back up with a sealed copy 'out of nowhere.' And it's not just one location, it's at least 5 I've been to in three states. So you'll excuse me if I look more highly upon the former Rhino than I do their new parent company, as I never had a problem with them.

Now, unfortunately, it's kinda hard to boycott EB/GS when they are the only game around. Internet is nice, but doesn't solve all problems.

[AnonymousRGE]

So you'll excuse me if I look more highly upon the former Rhino than I do their new parent company, as I never had a problem with them. Er, I wasn't defending EB at all. I actually work at a Rhino (or did, until we were bought out...), so I was defending them--not EB.

RGE = Rhino Game Employee

[hxhawkeye]

Well, I just got back from getting over $200 in credit, just so GS has to give me 50 bucks due to the 25% conversion promotion.

INFO ON OLD-SCHOOL MERCHANDISE:

GS will be ending trade-ins on everything from PS1 down. They will keep the buy2get1 promotion and move through existing stock till everything is gone.


And Goo-B-Gone sucked. I always just saved 5 minutes of annoyance and got a new case. Wasteful? Maybe. But faster and easier :)


My favorite uses of the heatgun that I have observed:
Heating up food
Lighting a cigarette
Drying off pants
Shrinkwrapping someone's head

I also had someone shrinkwrap the heatgun. I still can't figure out how he did it. Cord and all.

[Roufuss]

Chances are 'no' seeing that Heather and everyone else in our HQ are likely now out of a job. : /

What were you recieving it for?

The local store and I had issues, so I wrote corporate, and they offered me a gift card to make it up to me.

They asked for my info and I gave it to them pretty much the day before this happened.

[KungFuOpera]

And there's where it all goes down the shitter for me. I've never received a new game from GS that they didn't start to hunt down the paper sleeve. I put up with it until about a year ago, but refuse it now. They'll usually pop back up with a sealed copy 'out of nowhere.' And it's not just one location, it's at least 5 I've been to in three states. So you'll excuse me if I look more highly upon the former Rhino than I do their new parent company, as I never had a problem with them.

Now, unfortunately, it's kinda hard to boycott EB/GS when they are the only game around. Internet is nice, but doesn't solve all problems.

Yay! Another convert! Go Rhino go!

And I think you hit the nail on the head. Rhino employees were in no way ever encouraged to do underhanded things like selling opened copies first or push annoying products that the customer clearly has no interest in. It was a great environment for both customer and employee and we had so many regulars I didn't know most of their names (though they knew mine from the name tag).

GS/EB, however, does encourage annoying sales tactics. I've been victimized by them every time I'm dragged to a storefront by a friend.

I could bash GS all day. I really could.

[Jayce]

The local store and I had issues, so I wrote corporate, and they offered me a gift card to make it up to me.

They asked for my info and I gave it to them pretty much the day before this happened.

That sucks man. If I see them or any of the HQ people in our store this week or next , ill float the question their way and see whats up though.

[Vulcan2422]

Wow Sorry to hear this guys. I have personally never been to a Rhino store but from everybodys rants it seems like it was a great store. Just goes to show how GS is affarid of competiton that starts to build up quickly. There is a GS in the mall by me which is around 2 mins from my house. But yet i still make the trip to Game Crazy which is around half hour just because the people there are nice and dont really make fun of you if you ask them a dumb question or ask about a game. I love the Game Crazy store alot and i would probably even Travel a hour to get to one instead of a GS. Hopefully this rumor is false for you guys that love Rhino. But if it is im sorry indeed.

[AnonymousRGE]

And I think you hit the nail on the head. Rhino employees were in no way ever encouraged to do underhanded things like selling opened copies first or push annoying products that the customer clearly has no interest in. It was a great environment for both customer and employee and we had so many regulars I didn't know most of their names (though they knew mine from the name tag).
Exactly! If I didn't like a game, I could say that I didn't like it. If I could recommend a product that was better than the one the customer was interested in, I could offer them that instead. It wasn't about pushing the products the company wanted you to sell--it was about helping the customer find a product that they would genuinely meet their needs, at the lowest price possible.

My primary concern is that I'll be forced to push products the customer really doesn't need just to keep my job. Let's hope this transition isn't as quick as some people seem to think it might be...

[Roufuss]

That sucks man. If I see them or any of the HQ people in our store this week or next , ill float the question their way and see whats up though.

Thanks a ton, that's an awesome thing for you to do.

I'm not really stressing out about it, I just don't want to make the 45 minute drive to Rhino to spend the credit I have, only to get this in the mail and have to go back a second time, you know what I mean?

What sucks is I had some old school systems and some more next gen games I was probably going to dump there next week, but I'll be damned if I do it now since Gamestop is swallowing them.

[Jayce]

Exactly! If I didn't like a game, I could say that I didn't like it. If I could recommend a product that was better than the one the customer was interested in, I could offer them that instead. It wasn't about pushing the products the company wanted you to sell--it was about helping the customer find a product that they would genuinely meet their needs, at the lowest price possible.

My primary concern is that I'll be forced to push products the customer really doesn't need just to keep my job. Let's hope this transition isn't as quick as some people seem to think it might be...

The honesty thing was a big deal for me. I loved telling a customer a game sucked. The look on their faces was priceless as they never expect you to tell the truth. Im going to just maintain my integrity, and if I get laid off for it then, well, I guess me and EB wont be a good match.

[KungFuOpera]

I have to ask, are the HQ guys getting to run Rhino for this last week and a half or are they being pushed out the door?

If you can't tell, that's the part that steams me the most. I worked in the distribution center for a few months and got to know nearly all of HQ even better than I had while at the store and they're honestly the best group of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. So if it sounds like I'm taking the acquisition personally, well, I am.

[Jayce]

I have to ask, are the HQ guys getting to run Rhino for this last week and a half or are they being pushed out the door?

If you can't tell, that's the part that steams me the most. I worked in the distribution center for a few months and got to know nearly all of HQ even better than I had while at the store and they're honestly the best group of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. So if it sounds like I'm taking the acquisition personally, well, I am.

Not 100% sure man. I hear that they already left a farewell message to Rhino Employees on the RGO, so Im thinking they got the boot.

[PyroGamer]

It's tough seeing competition go down.

[Roufuss]

It's tough seeing competition go down.

It's even tougher when the competition was leaps and bounds above what's swallowing them up.

[furyk]

Checked at one of the local Rhino's up in Jacksonville. The employee didn't know anything about it, but it still wasn't enough to keep me from dumping the last of my games for Metal Slug Collection.

[twiztidjester]

I went to GS today to see a friend and get a few games for the trade 2 get 1 and as soon as i walked in the door he asked if i heard about rhino.

If any CAGs wanna goto the store in Marerro,LA im in.

[gamer602]

Can someone snap before and after pics of rhino stores?
I bet alot of CAGS have never seen a Rhino store.

[CheapyD]

It's official:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070105/daf017.html?.v=84

CAG maintains its 100% truthfulness status for "rumors" posted on the front page.

[Scorch]

A sad message from a friend who's a store manager in another state.


ha, i know, no more 2 for 1's. As far as I go, I'm quitting, Ive worked for big corps. and i'm not about to do GameStop....and old school games will be gone eventually

Great. Fantastic.

fuck.

[Scorch]

Wait wait.. does this mean massive clearances on older games? Because my Rhino has a shit ton of rare games. A TON. Kinda like when they clearanced out all those old XB games to $4.50 or less, picked up things like Metal Slug 4 & 5, Darkwatch, etc for $4.50 or less.. ooh, I hope.

Man, GS is like the EA of game stores

[kjauburn]

It's official:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070105/daf017.html?.v=84

CAG maintains its 100% truthfulness status for "rumors" posted on the front page.

Yeah and I heading out tomorrow to hit some stores for some clearance games to trade in on the 2 for 1 one final time. Figure I might as well grab as many as I can...

Added another tombstone next to software etc., babbages, funcoland, etc...

[such great heights]

Do we know when the clearance is going to start? ASAP? After the 14th?

[Roufuss]

What clearances? It was mentioned in the thread the b2g1 on older games will continue until they are gone, they will stop accepting trades on anything PS1 and under, and every current game will just get retagged at the Gamestop price.

They won't clearance anything, more than likely, they don't need to.

[suko_32]

Yeah, I heard they were going to do the B2G1 until all are gone.

Also, thanks for your help in advance Jayce :)

[Jayce]

They won't clearance anything, more than likely, they don't need to.

Actually, our manager said today that all of the old school stuff was being shipped out as soon as possible to Gamestop warehouses and then possibly to some 3rd party vendor or something. He told me to buy any old stuff that I wanted right away and that a clearance on it isnt coming.

[Jayce]

Also, thanks for your help in advance Jayce :)

Hey man, good to see you today, glad you got the chance to take advantage of the 2 for 1 and all. And youre definitely welcome.

[Scorch]

I had a friend that worked at the HQ, actually. Really nice guy. Managed to ship me out a Rhino hat and cup and a few other odds and ends as well as a $20 gift card.

I'll sit the hat and cup and remember a day when it awesome to get a good deal.

[Roufuss]

Man, I might make a trip up to Gainesville to go to this awesome Rhino.

[suko_32]

Man, I might make a trip up to Gainesville to go to this awesome Rhino.

Really? I should say hi while you're here if you're serious lol.

[Roufuss]

Really? I should say hi while you're here if you're serious lol.

Gainesville is only like two hours from me, right?

At least I know the staff wouldn't screw with me doing the trade 2 get 1 free :lol:

[KungFuOpera]

Right now I'm inclined to say any Rhino employee will try and squeeze the best deal they possibly can out of your trades as a small way of protesting the buyout.

My roommate works tomorrow, time to head in and buy up all the used stuff I want with his discount before it's all shipped out.

[Hilltop8203]

I'll be straight up honest and this post may sound really cheesy but I find myself disappointed and sad about this decision. I have a bright side to this. We are all sad and complaining about how the video game company is going to be ran, but I can assure you that most of the sales rep you are use to getting advice from should still be working for the company(unless you just totally hate gamestop and refuse to work for them!). Rhino can still live, if we help out. Rhino employees have the dedication and ability to make gamestop turn into Rhino Video Games. I believe that every Rhino employee should continue to work by their old core values and sooner or later there will be standards set for stores that are being out-performed on sales by these old Rhino locations. We as customers should continue to shop only at these old Rhino location. If they do this long enough, gamestop should have no other choice than to set standards for stores that are being out performed by the stores that employs some hard working Rhino employees. Customers love great customer service, they feel appreciated and respected when helped by a Rhino employee. They greet you when entering a store and they thank you evertime you finish shoping and they continue to this over and over again because they have a true dedication to their job and what the Rhino name means and stands for. This means alot. We as customers should start appreciating those who help us and provide great service to us. I think that would make those employee value their jobs a little more and start realizing that they are the reason for the Rhino success. If we can all do this, we can soon see great rhino service at every gamestop you visit.

[Scorch]

I'll be straight up honest and this post may sound really cheesy but I find myself disappointed and sad about this decision. I have a bright side to this. We are all sad and complaining about how the video game company is going to be ran, but I can assure you that most of the sales rep you are use to getting advice from should still be working for the company(unless you just totally hate gamestop and refuse to work for them!). Rhino can still live, if we help out. Rhino employees have the dedication and ability to make gamestop turn into Rhino Video Games. I believe that every Rhino employee should continue to work by their old core values and sooner or later there will be standards set for stores that are being out-performed on sales by these old Rhino locations. We as customers should continue to shop only at these old Rhino location. If they do this long enough, gamestop should have no other choice than to set standards for stores that are being out performed by the stores that employs some hard working Rhino employees. Customers love great customer service, they feel appreciated and respected when helped by a Rhino employee. They greet you when entering a store and they thank you evertime you finish shoping and they continue to this over and over again because they have a true dedication to their job and what the Rhino name means and stands for. This means alot. We as customers should start appreciating those who help us and provide great service to us. I think that would make those employee value their jobs a little more and start realizing that they are the reason for the Rhino success. If we can all do this, we can soon see great rhino service at every gamestop you visit.

No one goes to Rhino for the customer service, we go for the 2-for-1 deal, whch will be abolished.

Some Rhino employees are huge dickheads, actually.

[Roufuss]

Some Rhino employees are huge dickheads, actually.

Quoted for fucking truth.

I mean, in general most Rhino employees were nice and friendly but there is one guy in every store who was always a HUGE asshole.

I'd say 9 out of 10 times the employees at Rhino were great, as oppposed to like, 5 out of 10 at Gamestop, the difference is that 1 out of 10 at Rhino was worse than any experience at Gamestop.

But damn that post sure had some delusions of grandeur though.

[Demolition Man]

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Even tho I'm all the way up in MN reading this sucks since I still remember when Gamestop bought up Funcoland up here. Indeed Gamestop is turning quickly into too big of a giant. Which is not good for the game industry, the retail world, and certainly above all else is NOT GOOD for us consumers.

[utopianmachine]

God. I loved the variety in my area. Although there are four GameStops/EBs within 5 miles of me, I had Rhino on the border of the next town over. And right across the street, a little independent store. At least I'll still have that store. They sometimes get in boxed NES, SNES, etc. But Rhino, God, you'll be missed bigtime. I'm visiting that store tonight.

[mikeohara]

I've heard of Rhino Games ... none near me though. It's a goddamn shame that Blockbuster ended up selling the chain to GS.

RIP Rhino Games.

edit: if it were up to me ... I'd start emailing the FTC and your state's AG and politely asking them to investigate GS for anti-competitive practices.

[davidjinfla]

After running an EB for the last 8 years, until the mereger with gamestop determined I made to much money, I have come to a few observations.

1. Gamers who trade in crap they buy at k-mart to "work the system" are the reason stores like rhino's goes out of buisness. You never looked at the long term ramifications of trading in 20 copies of win-back. You left Rhino with crap inventory no one wants to buy.

2. Lifetime warranties are a bad idea for a gamestore. All data corrupts eventually no matter what the format. And what is with the assumption that if the customer scratches or damages the item the store should be responsible for replacing it.

3. Carrying old games in a brick and mortar store is a waste of space. You either have to many of the games people already own (35 goldeneyes were at my store) or the ones nobody wants(10 copies of antz anyone).

4. 1 used game has to pay for the 5plus copies behind it because they won't sell for a couple of months if at all. ammortization of goods takes a heavy toll on profit as well as price erosion on slow selling products.

5. Hardcore gamers won't take chances on new things. How many copies of psychonauts, odd world strangers wrath, and other titles did i try to sell to my hard core customers and they wouldn't go for it.

6. As much as I hated EB/Gamestop tactics the market seems to favor them
they survive until someone does a more profitiable way of doing things.

7.One day maybe the next generation of machines will be download content
only and there won't be any trades or stores that carry the games.

8. Customers try to scam as much as the company does. Really your brandnew ps3 with the missing cords came that way in the sealed box and now you want a refund? Oh that game of sega soccer slam offends you because of a team with a devil logo but you want to replace it with manhunt.

oh well flame me now

[Roufuss]

1. Gamers who trade in crap they buy at k-mart to "work the system" are the reason stores like rhino's goes out of buisness. You never looked at the long term ramifications of trading in 20 copies of win-back. You left Rhino with crap inventory no one wants to buy.



While this isn't the reason Rhino went out of business, not even close, if Rhino didn't want to get such shitty games they should have started dropping values like crazy.

Who gives $10 for Ape Escape 3 in the first place, and who charges something like $24.99 used for it anyways? Rhino was sold because Blockbuster is a sinking ship and will do anything for $$$.

There is a system to work because their system had huge holes in it.

To EB and GS's credit, their trade-in system almost NEVER has these huge holes for it, where certain games trade in for 2 and 3 times the value you pay for them. Even when EB / GS run a deal, you can still make some extra credit, but nowhere near the amount you can make at places like Rhino / Gamerush.

If they don't like it, I'm sure it was easy to easy multiple Ape Escape 3's were being traded in en masse, they should have just dropped the trade-in value for it.

At least for every shitty game I traded in, I also traded in a good one.

[andjuan]

Man. This sucks. I used to play football with the HQ guys. Couldn't have happened to a better group of people. They definitely don't deserve this.

[davidjinfla]

[quote=Roufuss;2546937]While this isn't the reason Rhino went out of business, not even close, if Rhino didn't want to get such shitty games they should have started dropping values like crazy.

Who gives $10 for Ape Escape 3 in the first place, and who charges something like $24.99 used for it anyways? Rhino was sold because Blockbuster is a sinking ship and will do anything for $$$.

There is a system to work because their system had huge holes in it.

To EB and GS's credit, their trade-in system almost NEVER has these huge holes for it, where certain games trade in for 2 and 3 times the value you pay for them. Even when EB / GS run a deal, you can still make some extra credit, but nowhere near the amount you can make at places like Rhino / Gamerush.

If they don't like it, I'm sure it was easy to easy multiple Ape Escape 3's were being traded in en masse, they should have just dropped the trade-in value for it.


So first you complain that EB/ gamestop doesn't give enough on trade and then Rhinos was dumb to give to much. Maybe Rhino's was trying to compete and got screwed by thier customers.

[argyle]

If anything with Rhino's business practices brought this on - which it didn't - but for the sake of argument, if it did, it would be that it took them an incredibly long time to get in new releases, they didn't get in all new releases, and they almost never restocked games once they sold through the initial few they received.

I'd say those issues hurt them FAR more than a few people taking advantage of a trade system they themselves put in place.

[davidjinfla]

Well it wasn't the only thing. But trying to cater to the hardcore gamer or collector just isn't the way to stay in buisness. Rhino's never seem to get the new releases fast enough for the hardcore, who cares if you could get them for trading in just 2 games if I have to wait a week I just go to BB, CC or worse EB.

[Jayce]

Gainesville is only like two hours from me, right?

At least I know the staff wouldn't screw with me doing the trade 2 get 1 free :lol:

I work all day Sunday. If you swing by say Hi

[Roufuss]

So first you complain that EB/ gamestop doesn't give enough on trade and then Rhinos was dumb to give to much. Maybe Rhino's was trying to compete and got screwed by thier customers.

I never once complained about EB's / GS's trade-in values since I don't shop there, ever.

Nice try though. Like I said before I traded alot of my own games in as well, and alot of my friends did the same, so I wasn't just dumping shitty games by themselves.

If by competiting you mean Rhino had extremly high used prices on shitty games, then they did a good job competiting.

And yea, what Argyle mentioned as well... the fact that they got new releases in late never bothered me, its the fact that once they sold out, they almost NEVER got games back in.

[Jayce]

After running an EB for the last 8 years, until the mereger with gamestop determined I made to much money, I have come to a few observations.

1. Gamers who trade in crap they buy at k-mart to "work the system" are the reason stores like rhino's goes out of buisness. You never looked at the long term ramifications of trading in 20 copies of win-back. You left Rhino with crap inventory no one wants to buy.

We sell so much "crap" inventory everyday, it would make your head spin.Sure there are some things people wont buy, but we had a lot of customers in our store who couldnt afford next gen or even current gen. Or people who decided to come back to gaming after years in school, military, out of country, whatever. Its good to give customers an option and thats what we did. If EB would get rid of DVD's and all of that other garbage they have cluttering up their floor maybe they could cater to more of the masses.


2. Lifetime warranties are a bad idea for a gamestore. All data corrupts eventually no matter what the format. And what is with the assumption that if the customer scratches or damages the item the store should be responsible for replacing it.

Having the lifetime warranty showed that we cared about our customers and backed our product. Sure some customers may milk the system, but we have a notes field under exchange's in our computers, if we feel thats happening, we'd leave a note and we'd take it on a case by case basis (for example the ring formed on 360 games from moving a system - we'd inform customers about the issue and to contact Microsoft, if they didnt take the advice we just wouldnt take the game back next time). That and with the amount of business we do, we just couldnt test every game obviously. This gives the customer the benefit of the doubt, and was a sound business decision, imo.


3. Carrying old games in a brick and mortar store is a waste of space. You either have to many of the games people already own (35 goldeneyes were at my store) or the ones nobody wants(10 copies of antz anyone).

I think I already commented on the amount of wasted space that goes on in almost every EB Ive walked in.


4. 1 used game has to pay for the 5plus copies behind it because they won't sell for a couple of months if at all. ammortization of goods takes a heavy toll on profit as well as price erosion on slow selling products.

I cant speak for all stores in our district but I know for a fact our store pulled in some serious profit, especially over the holidays. Unfortunately not enough to keep from being bought out by the suits, but it did well. If the product is selling slow then you arent pulling in the right customers to buy it or are overpricing everything to alienate those same customers. Sure you are going to have the oldest Madden games on the PSONE that few people want, thats, why they trade for next to nil and sell for the same.


5. Hardcore gamers won't take chances on new things. How many copies of psychonauts, odd world strangers wrath, and other titles did i try to sell to my hard core customers and they wouldn't go for it.

Were you force feeding a strat guide and a magazine sub down their throat at the same time? And have you ever played either one of those games? Ive played both and went over the best qualities of each game to the point that the customer really wanted to give them a try. If for some reason they didnt like it, hey we got the 7 day exchange. Sounds like you didnt have a good rapport with your customers, if you dont have that good luck selling GTA much less Psychonauts to them.

[Roufuss]

I work all day Sunday. If you swing by say Hi

Just need to find out how far Gainesville is from Tampa :lol:

Was there ever a note system in for trades?

[davidjinfla]

No I never forced a customer to do anything. Eb employess were encouaged to expand the sell by offering a related items. Latter when gamestop moved in we were given specific goals to meet on units per transaction, presell goals, and trade-in goals, used game goals, i quit in march 06 so I didn't have to deal with the Game informer. Most of what I would call Hard core customers couldn't leave the GTA, Halo, MOH, FINAL FANTASY, MGS, and such to try or support new things.

[davidjinfla]

[quote=Jayce;2547151]We sell so much "crap" inventory everyday, it would make your head spin.Sure there are some things people wont buy, but we had a lot of customers in our store who couldnt afford next gen or even current gen. Or people who decided to come back to gaming after years in school, military, out of country, whatever. Its good to give customers an option and thats what we did. If EB would get rid of DVD's and all of that other garbage they have cluttering up their floor maybe they could cater to more of the masses.



Having the lifetime warranty showed that we cared about our customers and backed our product. Sure some customers may milk the system, but we have a notes field under exchange's in our computers, if we feel thats happening, we'd leave a note and we'd take it on a case by case basis (for example the ring formed on 360 games from moving a system - we'd inform customers about the issue and to contact Microsoft, if they didnt take the advice we just wouldnt take the game back next time). That and with the amount of business we do, we just couldnt test every game obviously. This gives the customer the benefit of the doubt, and was a sound business decision, imo.



And yet having a lifetime warranty didn't help rhino stay in buisness. Back in the day when I started with EB we use to let people exchange open new items and we would watch as they would come and try every new release with just one purchase. We tried to restrict it to a one time exchange and then after a quiet agreement with gamestop (before the merger) EB home office determined we weren 't getting any new or repeat buisness by offering an exchange so we ended it. It's not that we didn't care about the customer there was no benefit to our company offering this service to our customers. Not to mention the "why is this game open" complaint . Of course I would take care of a customer If they had a legit beef.

[zman73]

Well it wasn't the only thing. But trying to cater to the hardcore gamer or collector just isn't the way to stay in buisness. Rhino's never seem to get the new releases fast enough for the hardcore, who cares if you could get them for trading in just 2 games if I have to wait a week I just go to BB, CC or worse EB.


I did, Id rather wait a week or longer (when doing 2 for ones on used 360 games) to get a game for 20 or less out of pocket as opposed to buying it $60 new from another store (can I afford 60... yes, do I if I can get it for a third of the price, you figure that one out). Yes there were some dedicated 2 for one traders here (myself included, but I spread a variety of games over 4 different stores), but Joe 6-pack doesnt know any better, it took months of praising this system before my friends finally caught on, the average gamer who knows no better would probable bring in 2 new released they just played for their 2 for ones (or get paid very low cash values, they dont care)

My talks with different employees yielded the info that Rhino's did very little of these 2 for 1's as opposed to straight up selling and trading, most people I'd seen go in there would trade for cash.

Rhino was one of the few stores (video games or not) in which I felt important buying from them, all GS is is a barrage of questions about game trades, discount cards, and pre-orders. Its the whole homogenization of America, everywhere you go you will see the SAME stores, over and over, for instance I have counted no less than 4 Starbucks locations going up in my area AT THIS MOMENT... its crazy

[suko_32]

davidjinfla, didn't Rhinos go out of business mostly because it wasn't part of Blockbuster's "core" business.

[Roufuss]

davidjinfla, didn't Rhinos go out of business mostly because it wasn't part of Blockbuster's "core" business.

Exactly, this is the ONLY reason it's getting sold.

Blockbuster is hemmoraging money in an attempt to catch Hollywood and Netflix and is selling off every asset that dosen't appeal to their two main goals - their total access program and their rental services.

Gamestop offers money, Blockbuster takes it in an attempt to keep afloat... they are throwing TONS of money at the whole online thing.

[davidjinfla]

yes that is the reason.

[davidjinfla]

I remember back when blockbuster bought them I didn't think it was a good move for either company. Sadly this looks to be the case.

[Roufuss]

I remember back when blockbuster bought them I didn't think it was a good move for either company. Sadly this looks to be the case.

Blockbuster went through a period where it bought a ton of assets in order to improve its standing... then Netflix got popular, renting in store kind of died, and Blockbuster got screwed.

From what I saw, Blockbuster bought the company but took a very hands off approach to running it until now.

[davidjinfla]

I did, Id rather wait a week or longer (when doing 2 for ones on used 360 games) to get a game for 20 or less out of pocket as opposed to buying it $60 new from another store (can I afford 60... yes, do I if I can get it for a third of the price, you figure that one out). Yes there were some dedicated 2 for one traders here (myself included, but I spread a variety of games over 4 different stores), but Joe 6-pack doesnt know any better, it took months of praising this system before my friends finally caught on, the average gamer who knows no better would probable bring in 2 new released they just played for their 2 for ones (or get paid very low cash values, they dont care)

My talks with different employees yielded the info that Rhino's did very little of these 2 for 1's as opposed to straight up selling and trading, most people I'd seen go in there would trade for cash.

Rhino was one of the few stores (video games or not) in which I felt important buying from them, all GS is is a barrage of questions about game trades, discount cards, and pre-orders. Its the whole homogenization of America, everywhere you go you will see the SAME stores, over and over, for instance I have counted no less than 4 Starbucks locations going up in my area AT THIS MOMENT... its crazy

Unfortunately Gamestop believes this is the most effective way to do things.
I've tried to tell them it's annoying and they looked at me like I was from another planet. I've had customers go off in front of my DM and he was blaming the employee for not being sincere enough when pestering customers. So until they lose money they won't change their motto is Every customer/ Every time. no matter they come in at least once a week ask about trades, used games, pre-orders, add ons.....

[davidjinfla]

Blockbuster went through a period where it bought a ton of assets in order to improve its standing... then Netflix got popular, renting in store kind of died, and Blockbuster got screwed.

From what I saw, Blockbuster bought the company but took a very hands off approach to running it until now.

They claimed they were going to start trading and selling games from the Blockbuster video stores and Rhino was going to show them how to do it effectivly. In return Rhino was supposed to get some of that Blockbuster Buying power and it looks like neither end of the deal was held up. Whenever a company merges with another watch out someone is going to lose it's almost never a win win for either company.

[Surferflames]

Local Rhino is normally pretty dead, but I know they did some sales this holiday season. They sold out of PS2s, which was a bit of a suprise to me, and there were actually occasions where I had to wait in line, which normally would be rare for rhino.

I suppose I am one of the lucky few who has a good EBGames. Short of the standard company wide stuff, the emplyee who practically lives there always helps me out, and even if only stop by every few months he still remembers me. The manager has on multiple occasions found ways to get me a better deal through stacking promotions. Hell my Edge card is printed bad and they don't care about it.

I suppose it's hit or miss. These guys were there prior to the GS takeover, and I have overheard them say how annoying things are now.

As far as Rhino's lifetime warranty went, sure people abused it, but if I buy a used game that has a few scratches, and it runs fine for a month until I do the one little thing that is located on a scratched area, I should be entitled to a version that works. Every Rhino game I own has the reciept inside the case for this very reason, even the new ones. I'm sure people remember days where rushed production times led to certain versions of a release that would currupt memory cards and the likes, this was one way to insure your investment.

A personal aside, to me it seems like Blockbuster has been in trouble since Hiesinga(sp?) dropped them years ago when pay per view started to take off. The only thing they have going for them is the mix of netflix style mail order and in-store use for subscribers. Their no late fees, as great of a marketing idea as it was, is probably being exploited more than they had hoped.

[kjauburn]

Its funny how a few people come out of the woodwork saying we killed Rhino by taking advantage of the system. I actually did a fair amount of shopping outside of the flips there as well...

For the record even thought Blockbuster sold them it wasn't because they were failing. They were actually set for a large expansion this year. They did close some stores last year that were underperforming or outside the southeast(Utah, Colorado). Overall blockbuster is trying to do whatever it can to have some cash to pay the debt while they try to catch Netflix. Last year the closed/sold 4 other chains in January for the same reason. They are doing whatever they can to try to ensure they have capital and don't have to chapter 11. Remember first they did no late fees and now the total access program. Both are cutting into revenues, but they are trying to catch customer from Netflix. Rhino was just not part of the business model for Blockbuster.

Blockbuster is pushing the hell in store with the total access program to try and add customers now and they add more in the 4th quarter then the last year. Netflix still outnumbers them 3 to 1 and the B&M stores are stilll not performing. The question really is do they have any assests or anything else to throw at Netflix...

As someone pointed out Gamestop and Blockbuster are just dinosaurs when it comes to content. As we move more to digital models both are screwed...

[Troopa]

Hey Jayce,

I was just in your store last night. Maybe I saw you, lol.

Personally, if I were GameStop, I'd just buy all the brands but let them stay as their own brand as long as they were profitable. If you own all the "competitors" then it's no sweat.

Question: does EB/GS/Rhino ever reject trade-ins? For example, if you have 50 copies of Enter The Matrix, will you not let someone trade it in? Or do you just give them 50 cents for it instead?

[hxhawkeye]

Enter the Matrix is worth about 50 cents at Rhino anyway, but the general rule at the stores I ran was one copy of a game only. We made an exception if it was a high-demand game and had none in stock, but we'd send you packing with 49 copies of Enter the Matrix left over.

[mcgavin27]

Enter the Matrix is worth about 50 cents at Rhino anyway, but the general rule at the stores I ran was one copy of a game only. We made an exception if it was a high-demand game and had none in stock, but we'd send you packing with 49 copies of Enter the Matrix left over.
He meant if the store already had 50 copies in stock, would you take the guys one copy or turn him away because you have excess inventory?

[CocheseUGA]

I'm actually considering going and trading all of my excess games that I know don't qualify and see what I can get for them.

You know...because no one is checking out my TL and I need to get rid of them.

[hxhawkeye]

Bah. I had just woken up, and apparently my reading skill was on cooldown.


Rhino never had any inventory limits. If we had 50 copies of Enter the Matrix, we'd take yours.

[kjauburn]

Posting this here and the bads new rhino thread just to make sure everyone sees it. I was told tonight Gamestop computer systems are going in Sunday and inventory is going to be done this weekend. The store manager said he was told to expect to box up all old school items to ship them out on Sunday. Last Saturday a manager at another store told me the old school gaming would be disappearing soon. As far as they know the 2 for 1 will be valid through Saturday.

[CocheseUGA]

Those fuckheads.

[Roufuss]

So um... where is the old school stuff going? Gamestop dosen't sell it in store or online anymore...

[kjauburn]

So um... where is the old school stuff going? Gamestop dosen't sell it in store or online anymore...

Not sure we heard alot of rumors the last few days on the old school items. He seemed pretty sure of himself telling me the gamestop crew was arriving at 8 to work with them on inventory and place new computer systems into the store. I asked about the old school directly and that is when he said they were told they would be boxing it up and sending it back. As with everything else there isn't a guarantee, but if you were holding off on buying something old school I would suggest grabbing it.

[jetsetmario]

So has anyone heard anything definitive on what will happen with Rhino store credit?

[GizmoGC]

Retro stuff goes back to the HQ and sold off to other places. I can't remember where eactly...damn. Remember years and years ago K-Mart used to sell used SNES, Genesis, NES, GB games in cardboard boxes?

[FSUEagles]

I was told credit and pre-orders would be honored.

Also, lifetime warranty will be honored with receipt.

[Scorch]

I'm hearing rumblings that the 2for1 will continue at converted Rhino locations for a month or two after they're gone. I immediately disregarded the rumor, but with the guy above me saying the lifetime guarantee will still be honored, who knows what's going to happen..

[kjauburn]

Found out All Rhino Stores will be closed on Sunday. Inventory is starting Sat and gamestop managers from local area stores will be helping out for inventory.

There is a call tomorrow morning for managers to go over things in general. Sounds like some things seem to be up in the air with no one really sure what is going to happen. The one store manager I know who is normally in the loop is sure of the fact they are boxing old school items up during Inventory, but I still hear the possible clearance rumor from some managers.

Although new systems are going in and some signage etc this weekend the Rhino signs are going to be up for some time. It will take them a few months to replace all the store signs. Expect to see a giant banner inside the store or something next week. Actually conversion of the way the stores are laid out won't be happening until the end of January when new fixtures arrive from what they were told.

No confirmation, but they are saying 2 for 1 is done as of the 13th...