GameStop's Connecticut Profile Shrinks Amid Revenue Woes

CONNECTICUT — Slumping sales have led to the closure of a half-dozen GameStop stores in Connecticut.

It leaves the Nutmeg State with 16 of the once-mighty retail gaming hubs.

In an earnings report released on Sept. 10, 2024 GameStop indicated revenue struggles. It fell short of financial expectations for its second quarter, giving investors cause to hesitate, leading to a stock price decline. Earnings commentary also cited more gamers turning toward the use of online game stores that easily hook up with newer consoles.

GameStop shares were trading at $27.78 at 10:30 Wednesday morning. A half-hour later, it dropped to $27.57.

The opening price Wednesday was better than 40 cents from last week's price. It trades under the GME moniker on the New York Stock Exchange.

Calls and Web searches indicate that six store have fallen off the Connecticut landscape:

• Danbury
• Groton
• Naugatuck
• Rocky Hill
• Stamford
• Waterford

Calls to the stores in Rocky Hill and Stamford were on the mysterious side. The calls were answered by a centralized system, which asked for a prompt to speak with a store associate. The phone then rings several times before an automated voice suggests calling back in "a few minutes" because associates are "busy" with other customers.

Call-backs about 15 minutes later were met with the same go-around.

The same went for the Naugatuck location when a call was placed.

A second-quarter earnings report, indicated net sales at GameStop $0.798 billion, compared to $1.164 billion in the prior year's second quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $270.8 million, or 33.9 percent of net sales for the second quarter, compared to $322.5 million, or 27.7 percent of net sales, in the prior year's second quarter.

Net income was $14.8 million for the second quarter, compared to a net loss of $2.8 million for the prior year’s second quarter.

Challenges cited in the second-quarter earning report included "economic, social, and political conditions" in the markets in which GameStop operates, the "competitive nature of the Company’s industry" and the "cyclicality of the video game industry."

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After the closures, GameStop still had Connecticut stores in:

• Manchester
• Mansfield
• Enfeld
• Hartford
• Newington
• Southington
• New Britain
• Torrington
• Meriden
• Bristol
• Waterbury
• Killingly
• Norwalk
• North Haven
• Milford
• Lisbon