Let's discuss what's happened to Gamestop, whether or not their turnaround efforts could work, and why we should forgive and forget. Don't forget to leave your own thoughts down below.
You raise some good points. It’s easy to see a company like GameStop as a faceless conglomerate that’s making the rich richer and not see the good that they can do for gamers, the community, and employees. I won’t feel bat at all if a GameStop that mistreats its employees and in turn causes their employees to mistreat their customers goes out of business. However, if they can turn things around and make a visit to their stores a more positive experience I welcome the change. Unfortunately, I was in a GameStop earlier today (a rarity for me) and the experience was pretty much what I was expecting. Guy behind the counter wasn’t very friendly and he started really pushing the warranty on the Switch Lite I was buying. Even after saying no early on in the pitch, he continued trying to sell it to me and explain the value that I would be missing out on. I would like to see GameStop embrace the resurgence in retro gaming that we’re experiencing. It would be incredible if they could help to keep circulating old video games and systems, even employing technicians at their stores for customers to bring in their broken/damaged systems and games to have them repaired. They could refurbish old cartridges and replace dying components like the batteries. Of course, that’s a bit of a stretch because it would require investing in employees to teach them valuable skills and would also require GameStop to pay them a competitive wage.
I have hopes for Gamestop. They haven't asked me to make any purchases outside of what I am buying in a long time. They sometimes ask about warranty, but I only ever have to say no once. Admittedly, if they don't change their sales practices this whole turnaround won't do jack for them. I understand they have to make money somehow, but it can't be from badgering their own customers, because there are so many painless ways to buy things nowadays. When I order something from Amazon, I don't get 4-5 pop-ups prior to submitting my order that are like "would you also like to buy this? You sure? You sure? You absolutely sure??" One thing Gamestop always used to do that I hated was say "pre-ordering gets you $5 off a copy." I'm not sure if it was poor word choice or they honestly thought they were fooling people, but I always hated it. They absolutely have to turn around how they operate as a company or else no rebranding will save them.
Man, have I got some horror stories from back when Gamestop used to be super pushy with their business practices: "Really? There aren't ANY games you want to preorder? You have EVERYTHING you want?" "What do you mean you don't come here much, does your car use rocket fuel or something?" I used to dread going to Gamestop cuz of all the badgering they'd do. They'd ask you about preorders, then they'd ask you about the pro membership, then they had a credit card they were trying to push. Man, I'm just trying to buy 1 game!!! Thankfully, the few Gamestop stores left in my area don't seem to be anywhere near as aggressive as they used to be. However, I just don't go in there much anymore. I do most of my game shopping at Best Buy. They offer some ridiculous incentives. I got Mario Maker 2 for less than $20. I have $30 in reward certificates and 20% off that I'm going to use to pick up Link's Awakening this week. It seems like Best Buy will reward you very nicely for shopping with them, and they don't require a membership or for me to trade anything in. I don't want to see Gamestop go under, I'd like to see them turn into something else that offers a unique experience. In fact, one of the things you mentioned, about Gamestop being a "hangout" where people can come in and play games, sounds a lot like a local store in my area that does that with board games. They sell all kinds of tabletop games, and every time we go in there, there are always groups of people sitting at tables in the back playing different games together. If Gamestop could do stuff like that as sort of a way to advertise games, and let people try em before they buy em, that could be pretty cool.
Yeah, while Gamestop was sticking to the used video game like it was a bottomless pit of income, other businesses went on to find other ways to get people in the door. Almost immediately after making this video I can see the futility in hoping that they'll change their ways. I honestly wonder if they're just trying to get their stock prices up and then they'll just bail on the business as a whole and shut it down.
