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GameStop history
GameStop company history timeline
GameStop traces its roots to Babbage's, a Dallas, Texas-based software retailer founded in 1984 by former Harvard Business School classmates James McCurry and Gary M. Kusin.
Late in 1986, however, Dayton Hudson sold B. Dalton to Barnes & Noble, Inc. (B&N), Leonard Riggio (the chairman and founder of B&N), and Dutch retailer Vendex International N.V. Riggio played a key role in separating Software Etc. from B. Dalton, and the former began operating as Software Etc.
1986: Dayton Hudson Corporation sells B. Dalton to Barnes & Noble, Inc. (B&N) and partners.
For fiscal 1987, the company earned $1.16 million on sales of $29 million.
1987: Software Etc. is split off from B. Dalton, begins operating as Software Etc.
Babbage's began selling Nintendo games in 1987.
The chain was also expanded to nearly 200 units by the end of 1988, and its product mix was altered, away from entertainment software toward higher-end PC and Mac software applications.
Babbage's became a public company via an initial public offering in 1988.
Fifty-three new store openings in 1989 (bringing the company's total to 160) and a barrage of new low-profit-margin products pushed the company's earnings and its stock's trading value down.
The company, however, generated only a 12 percent increase in sales, and, for the first time since 1989, increased revenues did not translate into higher earnings for the company.
By early 1990, Babbage's stock, which had debuted at $13, had plummeted to less than $5.
Software Etc. then broadened its product line in 1990, once again selling video game software.
By 1991, video games accounted for two-thirds of Babbage's sales.
In 1992 Babbage's added more than 40 new stores and began selling a CD-ROM peripheral attachment for the Sega 16-bit system that allowed interaction with digitized video footage.
Early in 1992, operating about 230 stores in 37 states and the District of Columbia, Software Etc.
In 1993 Babbage's opened 56 new stores.
Gary Kusin resigned as president of Babbage's in February 1995 to start a cosmetics company.
DeMatteo had served as company COO since 1996.
The time seemed right for B&N to partially cash in on its foray into gaming, and GameStop Corp. was incorporated in August 2001 in anticipation of an initial public offering.
B&N had intended to take GameStop public on the NASDAQ in the fall of 2001, but an adverse IPO market thwarted that attempt.
GameStop went public in February 2002 at New York Stock Exchange where it IPO'd at $18 per share.
The company had its best year ever in 2003, posting record sales ($1.58 billion) and record profits ($63.5 million). Perhaps most impressive, GameStop was profitable every quarter.
Through the first nine months of 2004, GameStop opened another 230 stores.
In 2004, GameStop took its first step in other media markets.
GameStop founded MovieStop in 2004 as a standalone store that focused on new and used movies.
GameStop acquired EB Games (formerly Electronics Boutique) in 2005 for $1.44 billion.
Apple officially authorized the company to do so. It was founded in 2006 and was stationed out of Salt Lake City.
Two years later, in 2007, GameStop acquired Rhino Video Games from Blockbuster LLC for an undisclosed amount.
In April 2008, GameStop acquired Free Record Shop's 49 Norwegian stores.
Daniel DeMatteo replaced Richard Fontaine as GameStop CEO in August 2008.
In November 2009, it acquired a majority stake in Jolt Online Gaming, an Irish browser game studio.
J. Paul Raines became GameStop CEO in June 2010.
In 2010, GameStop acquired Kongregate, a San Francisco-based website for browser-based games.
Prior to joining GameStop in July of 2011, Lisa held a variety of positions in HR and operations for Home Depot.
In 2011, GameStop acquired Spawn Labs and Impulse in separate transactions.
In October 2012 at Grapevine Mills in Dallas, GameStop introduced GameStop Kids, a pop-up retail concept.
GameStop purchased the minority stocks of the company in 2012.
GameStop spun off MovieStop to private owners in 2012.
In 2012, GameStop acquired BuyMyTronics, a Denver-based online market place for consumer electronics.
GameStop acquired the remaining 50.1% of ownership in November 2013.
Prior to joining GameStop in 2013, Angela served in a variety of technology roles spanning software development and support, portfolio and project management, and strategic relationship management at MetroPCS, GTESS, Sprint, Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation, and Computer Sciences Corporation.
In November 2014, Draw Another Circle LLC, a company controlled by merchandising executive Joel Weinshanker that also owns Hastings Entertainment, purchased MovieStop.
(2) “GameStop Reports Second Quarter 2014 Results.” GameStop Investor Relations.
According to GameStop, the police department required them to take the fingerprints of those who trade in games starting in 2014.
In July 2015, it acquired Geeknet.
On August 3, 2016, GameStop acquired 507 AT&T store chains in plans to diversify into new businesses and less dependent on the video game market.
In January 2017, GameStop closed many Simply Mac locations.
The company has reported a large drop in sales since 2017.
In 2017, it was sold for $55 million.
Following these reports, GameStop announced it would close over 150 stores in 2017 and expand its non-gaming business.
On February 6, 2018, the company announced Michael K. Mauler as CEO and member of the board of directors.
On May 11, 2018, Mauler resigned due to "personal reasons" and chairman Dan DeMatteo was named interim CEO. Mauler did not take any severance package or separation benefits.
The net sales for fiscal year 2018 were down 3% year-on-year to $8.29 billion.
However, on January 29, 2019, GameStop reported it had stopped looking for a buyer for the company, due to a "lack of available financing on terms that would be commercially acceptable to a prospective acquirer", and was looking for other actions to help re-establish its financial ground.
In July 2019, GameStop partnered with an outside design firm, R/GA, to put forth plans to revamp stores to focus on competitive gaming and retrogaming, and to introduce new ways for customers to try games before buying them.
In August 2019, GameStop laid off over 120 people, including about half of the staff of Game Informer, as part of its "GameStop Reboot initiative".
In December 2019, GameStop announced that it spent $178.6 million to buy 34.6 million shares, or 34% of the shares outstanding, at an average price of $5.14 per share.
Instead, GameStop announced in early 2019 that it was no longer looking for someone to buy them because they had a lack of available finances.
In 2019, GameStop divested Simply Mac; at that time it had 43 stores.
In March 2020, four members of GameStop's Board of Directors - Dan DeMatteo, Gerald Szczepanski, Larry Zilavy, and Steve Koonin - stepped down and were replaced by Reggie Fils-Aimé, Bill Simon and J.K. Symancyk as part of the company's effort to turn around the business.
GameStop reiterated the safety measures that it had put in place, and also announced that it would reduce store hours and suspend all trade-ins until at least March 29, 2020, and offer curbside pickup.
She also serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer (CAO), the role she has held since joining GameStop in June of 2020.
On October 8, 2020, GameStop announced an agreement with Microsoft to migrate backend systems to Microsoft 365 platforms including Dynamics 365, also including in-store usage of Microsoft Surface products by employees.
However, with the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 still planned for release in the latter part of 2020, Sherman expected to be able to recover from these losses.
In January 2021, a short squeeze resulted in a 1,500% increase in GameStop's share price over the course of two weeks, reaching an all-time intraday high of US$483.00 as of January 29, 2021, on the New York Stock Exchange.
Elliott Wilke is Chief Growth Officer, a role he was appointed to in April of 2021.
In April 2021, George Sherman announced that he will step down as CEO of GameStop by July 31, 2021.
Also in April 2021, Ryan Cohen, founder of Chewy and a large GameStop shareholder, was named chairman, effective in June 2021.
In December 2021, GameStop posted a larger-than-expected loss in the fiscal third quarter, and investors are waiting to hear how the ailing company plans to restructure its operations and entice gamers back.
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GameStop competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dollar General | 1939 | $40.6B | 143,000 | 7,039 |
| Hot Topic | 1988 | $761.0M | 9,660 | 5 |
| Epic Games | 1991 | $500.0M | 1,001 | 105 |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment America | 1995 | $450.0M | 8,000 | - |
| The Home Depot | 1978 | $159.5B | 500,001 | 24,614 |
| Walgreens | 1901 | - | 210,500 | 19,345 |
| Electronic Arts | 1982 | $7.6B | 9,800 | 30 |
| Ross Stores | 1982 | $21.1B | 88,100 | 2,803 |
| AutoZone | 1979 | $18.5B | 87,000 | 6,587 |
| Sears Holdings | 2005 | $1.4B | 85,000 | 678 |
GameStop history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of GameStop, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about GameStop. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at GameStop. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by GameStop. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of GameStop and its employees or that of Zippia.
GameStop may also be known as or be related to Babbage's (1984–1999), GameStop, GameStop Corp, GameStop Corp., GameStop Inc, Gamestop and Gamestop Corp.