Game Crazy: The Next Game Store to go under?

[HCHecxz]

Recently, I was in my local Game Crazy store and was talking with the manager there. Apparently Game Crazy has suffer some major and I mean major losses in the depression us U.S. citizens are facing.

Closing down 300 stores first....

Cutting back employees....

Cutting back on orders of games sent to store....

Now they have cancel the Price Comparison Deal they once had.

I heard some stores didn't do this but ours did, but in a recent conference they have abandon this idea altogether. Reason being is they are losing money of course. It was of course the best way to keep up with everyone else since Best Buy and Wal-Mart both do this and it also helps them with their business.

However the question is how can Game Crazy counter back against Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or even the monster known as GameStop?

They can't....

Only thing is, Game Crazy can trade match, as long as you have the ad, but how can you match trades, they are rarely ever in any ads.

Even more so, Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video, the owners of Game Crazy already hurting from losses caused by NetFlix, GameFly, RedBox even Blockbuster. They are running a Powerplay promotion to help steer some business back.

But over all, with the recession hitting hard, Millions without jobs, and now no chance of trying to fight against the big businesses. Game Crazy will have to be the next to fall.

Any Opinions or words on this or anything heard different in the loop?

[Mospeada_21]

Hey Newbie,

Welcome to CAG! You joined up just to post this? Cool.

Sad, I miss Circuit City already. Any place to get games is a good place. Hollywood Video already began shutting many stores down, including those with Game Crazy(s).

Aren't they public? Wouldn't be surprised if this 'leaked rumor' turned out to be true. Major retailer losses across the board. 2008 - 2009 year of the Sux.

[jkanownik]

Hollywood/Game Crazy is in the same position as Blockbuster. They could declare bankruptcy at any time.

[steve_k]

I like Game Crazy and prefer them over Gametop, so you're probably right. All good things come to a pre-mature end.

[Monsta Mack]

*waits for Scorch to chime in*

[Scorch]

:roll: Here we go again.

Closing down 300 stores first....Why wouldn't you close down underperforming stores?

Cutting back employees....Well yeah, if someone sucks numbers wise, they're going to get axed.

Cutting back on orders of games sent to store....This is everywhere. And it's wise of them to do this. That way we don't end up with fuckin ten thousand copies of Force Unleashed.

Now they have cancel the Price Comparison Deal they once had.Price comparison? As in price matching? Some districts (like mine) have never done price matching..

However the question is how can Game Crazy counter back against Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or even the monster known as GameStop?

They can't....

Only thing is, Game Crazy can trade match, as long as you have the ad, but how can you match trades, they are rarely ever in any ads.

Even more so, Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video, the owners of Game Crazy already hurting from losses caused by NetFlix, GameFly, RedBox even Blockbuster. They are running a Powerplay promotion to help steer some business back.Oh, this must be why Capcom signs a deal to give us exclusive pre-order items and why Square-Enix sends all of their games a day earlier to us.. because we're going under.

There's a phone. The employee calls to get the trade value. Simple as that.

Gamefly isn't hurting anything. Netflix has made a tiny, tiny change. Redbox is definitely not hurting rentals because even though they have $1 rentals, 99% of the time, the movie's going to be all rented out. Blockbuster's in worse shape that Hollywood is.

*waits for Scorch to chime in*You know I would :lol:

I just hate these types of post because a store in a district closes. Everyone's all "Oh jesus oh jesus Gamestop's buying out GameCrazy! Hollywood's going under because Netflix reigns supreme while RedBox gets the sloppy seconds!".. it's annoying.

In case you weren't aware, yes, Movie Gallery filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. What you don't seem to understand is that closing underperforming stores and getting rid of underperforming employees was part of their restructuring plan. MVP was costing them a ton of money, so they brought in PowerPlay. PowerPlay seems to be infinitely better, as there's a plan that includes rentals of games.

You guys may see one side of it, but I've sat in on conference calls about business plans and restructuring plans so I can see where they're heading. Thanks to shutting down underperforming stores and getting rid of underperforming employees, a ton of standalone GameCrazy stores and Game Zone stores will start appearing through the later half of the year (and this is evident, as many posters have started to notice that their Hollywood Video store is starting to sell games as well).

As a matter of fact, GC is the only division of Movie Gallery that's turning a profit. Despite the economy, games are pretty recession proof (systems.. not so much). The company isn't hurting. Right now, anyway. And with this year's huge blockbusters starting to release on DVD, I doubt the company will hurt anytime soon.

*Goes to step off soapbox but trips and falls flat on face*

[johnnyRingo]

This brings up something I wanted to ask the CAGmunity. My wife and I want to start a gamestop style store, but the economy scares her. My question to CAG, WHAT DO YOU THINK.

[VipFREAK]

I'm surprised they lasted this long.

[Scorch]

This brings up something I wanted to ask the CAGmunity. My wife and I want to start a gamestop style store, but the economy scares her. My question to CAG, WHAT DO YOU THINK.

Online? Sure. B&M? Absolutely not.

[johnnyRingo]

Is your answer based on Gamestops dominance or the situation with the economy. Used game sales in the Gamestops i frequent are huge. How do i know? I'll stand around browsing and watch all transactions. I've never seen anyone buy new always used. Only new purchases are pre orders.

[HCHecxz]

I'm guessing Scorch is a Game Crazy employee :P

I'm not trying to dog Game Crazy, I actually love them better then GameStop x10 times over. I go in and hang out alot there and check with employees and games. They just been talking about how bad they been doing and it just makes me wonder....

Also I think it doesn't help that across the street from them in the Mall is a GameStop, behind them is a Super Wal-Mart, and soon to be right next door to them is yet another GameStop. So yeah, 2 Gamestops across from each other in the same town. If anything, i'm sure things aren't looking good for our local Game Crazy.

But they way they was talking, according to their district manager, things have been pretty bleak.

It will just suck if Game Crazy shuts down....i'm still ticked even after all these years that Funcoland shut down cuz of GameStop :(

[hungryheepo]

FUNCOLAND WAS AWESOME. Electronic Boutique was pretty cool in the late 90's early millennium. I RARELY order from GS. reason being, most the employees think they know it all and are a-holes. i only pre-order with GS if they have a good pre-order bonus. anyone know what the COST is for a 59.99 game in todays market for a business like GS or GC?

[JJSP]

anyone know what the COST is for a 59.99 game in todays market for a business like GS or GC?
About $51-54. Stores don't make squat on new games.

[intoxicated662]

I think it's a good idea and about time gamecrazy went down under. They suck (from my experience) and i'm saying this from going to at least 5 stores within 5-35 minutes from me. They look run down & dirty and hardly ever have any good deals. Gamestop has their monthly 10% off used coupon which stacks with edge and that helps out alongside that every here and there they have other specials that are better.

[Blackout]

Gamecrazy sucks complete ass. It's probably one of the worst game stores I've ever been in. They make zero attempt to differentiate themselves from other stores. They do a piss poor job of promoting their stores. No one ever trades in any games. Every GC I've been too has a terrible used game selection. The last one I went to had a bigger collection of XBox games than 360 games, and had about 10 used PS3 games. That's it.

[Mr. Beef]

Locations vary, you know. The GC I used to frequent had good employees, a decent selection, and just had a good vibe.

[batman1939]

So yeah, 2 Gamestops across from each other in the same town. :(

I got a mall close by that has two Gamestops in it. One was an eb but after the buyout they didn't close one the converted it to another Gamestop.

I should go check out my local Gamecrazy. Only went like once when they were getting rid of PS1 used games for like 3 for 15. Got Tomba 1, 2, and Crono Trigger

[s2k]

um btw op we are in a recession not a depression.

[Monsta Mack]

My mall has a Gamestop and a "Software Etc." (they kept the sign up, despite both being the same store: Gamestop) they actually manage to both do well due to different inventories, new inventory etc. This is in a pretty small town btw, where the Mall is pretty much the only thing big (Meriden, CT).

I have nothing but compliments for game crazy considering all the deals they have, and back in the day when I traded in a few games they had much higher credit then Gamestop. Granted your still better off going the Amazon/eBay/selling on the internet route, but if you needed instant credit towards games then that was the place to go. Only FYE topped Gamecrazy because they gave insanely high trade in values for games that were on clearance at Target or would never sell :P

It's a recession regardless, and Gamecrazy is just doing the same cutbacks most of the companies are doing in the US to stay profitable. I work at Wal-Mart and even we had cutbacks during this economy. We froze hiring new associates outside of cashiers and we are a 120+ million dollar store!

[HCHecxz]

the recession might as well be a depression, for us that are hurting over the drop in the economy :(

(Fixed earlier post)

But it just sucks, I personally love them, because out of the blue they will have some great deal, like buy 2 New (insert console) Games, get 1 free, or their used games are like $10-$15 bucks cheaper then that of GameStop, plus the MVP card is really helpful there, and get my discs buffed if my 360 want to put rings in my disc (coughLEFT4DEADcough), they do it for free. Just my GameCrazy just very friendly and helping, though sometimes it's bad I got to help them when they are explaining things to customers when i'm in the store, lol. But that's just rare occasions.

[KingCrow02]

Hollywood/Game Crazy is in the same position as Blockbuster. They could declare bankruptcy at any time.

Hollywood & Game Crazy already declared bankruptcy and is on the road to recovery (hopefully).

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[jkanownik]

Hollywood & Game Crazy already declared bankruptcy and is on the road to recovery (hopefully).

I guess I should have clarified chapter 7.

[torifile]

This brings up something I wanted to ask the CAGmunity. My wife and I want to start a gamestop style store, but the economy scares her. My question to CAG, WHAT DO YOU THINK.
Don't do it. Why? With Amazon and Walmart starting to take interest in this space (because it's very profitable), things are going to get very ugly for a while, with companies with big pockets taking losses to establish a toe-hold. You probably wouldn't stand a chance.

[Nikadimas]

This brings up something I wanted to ask the CAGmunity. My wife and I want to start a gamestop style store, but the economy scares her. My question to CAG, WHAT DO YOU THINK.

Don't do it. Why? With Amazon and Walmart starting to take interest in this space (because it's very profitable), things are going to get very ugly for a while, with companies with big pockets taking losses to establish a toe-hold. You probably wouldn't stand a chance.

Why would you do it? Can you match Gamestop's prices? With the exception of some rarities at Game Crazy, every used game store I've been has horribly overpriced titles. Some people may hate them with a passion, but Gamestop is pretty much king. Find something that no one else is doing and do that. That way you might have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving the first year.

[lordxixor101]

Well 2 points:

Scorch, since you work at Game Crazy's, and seem to like the establishment (you defend them, nothing bad there). Is there any thought to putting inventory information for Game Crazy's (and prices) online? I would shop there more often, but I can go online and know what Gamestop has in stock (the site is pretty accurate for stores around my house), it's a crap shoot for Game Crazy's (and since i have to pass about 5 Gamestop's to get to my local Game Crazy's, I just don't go there as often.

For the game store, I think any store that is opened needs a way to differentiate itself. Why would I shop at your store as opposed to Gamestop (or Walmart/Best Buy, etc). What do you offer me.

You can throw price out the window. You can throw relative convenience out the window (even if the Gamestop's in your area are an out of order disaster, if you come in only offering better organization, your local Gamestop will get everything in alphabetical order).

So, what can you offer. You can offer imported games, you can offer older system games. Is there a market for Sega Saturn games in your area? Maybe there is, but most places, sadly, there isn't.

You can offer up a better atmosphere. Gamestop is a store, meant to pump out used games and magazine subscriptions. You could make a store/bar or something like that. Again, is there a market, I don't know.

If you just come in under the "we're not Gamestop" premise, and offer games at slightly higher prices, you'll learn the hard realities. Sure, people cry about hating Gamestop (people hate Walmart too). People still shop there.

[Scorch]

Scorch, since you work at Game Crazy's, and seem to like the establishment (you defend them, nothing bad there). Is there any thought to putting inventory information for Game Crazy's (and prices) online? I would shop there more often, but I can go online and know what Gamestop has in stock (the site is pretty accurate for stores around my house), it's a crap shoot for Game Crazy's (and since i have to pass about 5 Gamestop's to get to my local Game Crazy's, I just don't go there as often.I'm thinking that they're working on this, but it's in the very early beta stages. They just now added an option on our FCC for GC stores to check local stores for certain items. It updates nightly. There's an option to search for the 10 closest stores in the district, and the 10 closest stores in the company. I like to use this option to see what store has what. For instance, on release day, a store in Indiana had 6 used copies of Bionic Commando.. and as of Saturday, not one store in the entire company had a used copy of UFC Undisputed on the 360, but 3 stores out there had copies of it on PS3.

If you want to find a rare title, I can look it up and tell you what stores have it, but keep in mind that I cannot search a specific store.. I can only search for the 10 closest stores that have it relative to my location (which is the KY/TN/AL area). If you PM me or post here, I'll get back to you when I can and let you know what I find if there's something you're looking for.

[J7.]

tagged, will comment later.

[62t]

Well 2 points:

Scorch, since you work at Game Crazy's, and seem to like the establishment (you defend them, nothing bad there). Is there any thought to putting inventory information for Game Crazy's (and prices) online? I would shop there more often, but I can go online and know what Gamestop has in stock (the site is pretty accurate for stores around my house), it's a crap shoot for Game Crazy's (and since i have to pass about 5 Gamestop's to get to my local Game Crazy's, I just don't go there as often.

For the game store, I think any store that is opened needs a way to differentiate itself. Why would I shop at your store as opposed to Gamestop (or Walmart/Best Buy, etc). What do you offer me.

You can throw price out the window. You can throw relative convenience out the window (even if the Gamestop's in your area are an out of order disaster, if you come in only offering better organization, your local Gamestop will get everything in alphabetical order).

So, what can you offer. You can offer imported games, you can offer older system games. Is there a market for Sega Saturn games in your area? Maybe there is, but most places, sadly, there isn't.

You can offer up a better atmosphere. Gamestop is a store, meant to pump out used games and magazine subscriptions. You could make a store/bar or something like that. Again, is there a market, I don't know.

If you just come in under the "we're not Gamestop" premise, and offer games at slightly higher prices, you'll learn the hard realities. Sure, people cry about hating Gamestop (people hate Walmart too). People still shop there.
Game Crazy offered tons of exclusive pre order bonus like the Bionic Commando Lunch Box and the upcoming BlazeBlue potion. I brought SFIV and RE5 from them because of bonus I cant get anywhere else.

[lordxixor101]

I'm thinking that they're working on this, but it's in the very early beta stages. They just now added an option on our FCC for GC stores to check local stores for certain items. It updates nightly. There's an option to search for the 10 closest stores in the district, and the 10 closest stores in the company. I like to use this option to see what store has what. For instance, on release day, a store in Indiana had 6 used copies of Bionic Commando.. and as of Saturday, not one store in the entire company had a used copy of UFC Undisputed on the 360, but 3 stores out there had copies of it on PS3.

If you want to find a rare title, I can look it up and tell you what stores have it, but keep in mind that I cannot search a specific store.. I can only search for the 10 closest stores that have it relative to my location (which is the KY/TN/AL area). If you PM me or post here, I'll get back to you when I can and let you know what I find if there's something you're looking for.


Thanks, I'm in Michigan, so it won't exactly help me. I'm sure I can just call my local store and ask, it would just be more convenient to go on the web and do it at my convenience.

Thank you for the offer though.