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GameStop Swoops In To Buy ThinkGeek For $140 Million

Posted by Soulskill on from the will-pay-you-8-cents-for-used-annoy-a-trons dept.

Lirodon writes: Remember a few days ago, when Slashdot's former parent company was the subject of a $122 million takeover bid by Hot Topic? Well, another geeky retailer entered the fray in the battle for ThinkGeek, and won. GameStop will be acquiring Geeknet for $140 million. The video game retailer has promised synergies, such as in-store pickup and integration with its rewards program.

24 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Might make Gamestop a bit more relevant by spiritplumber · · Score: 4, Interesting

    haven't been to one since they did a closure sale and I was able to pick up a bunch of Kinects for $20 each. Now if they could also buy Radio Shack...

    --
    Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
    1. Re:Might make Gamestop a bit more relevant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Remember a few years ago when Source Forge projects were safe from being arbitrarily hijacked by DICE, and didn't have adware and crapware bundled in with their deployment packages by DICE, and stories of misdeeds by DICE would actually get posted on slashdot?

      Those were good years.

    2. Re:Might make Gamestop a bit more relevant by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 4, Funny

      Announcer: Do you remember a time when chocolate chips came fresh from the oven? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
      Fry: Ah, those were the days.
      Announcer: Do you remember a time when women couldn't vote and certain people weren't allowed on golf courses? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

      ---Futurama S01E06: A Fishful of Dollars.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
  2. RIP Think Geek by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Game Stop sucks. How are they even still in business?

    1. Re:RIP Think Geek by OhPlz · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's what happens when you buy all your competitors.

  3. Eh ... by ninjagin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think it's a better buyer, personally. Hot Topic just seemed like an organization that would not appreciate all of the little, goofy, technical-fun bits of TG that I like. GameStop is closer, I think, to knowing the TG target customer.

    --
    .. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
    1. Re:Eh ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Think Geek -IS- Hot Topic.

      If you've not been in a Hot Topic any time in the last 8 years let me summarize it for you: Bazinga shirts and Nickelodeon merch.

      Now just add in some token "nerd toys", and remove the black paint from the walls and you've got a place that's hard to differentiate from Think Geek.

    2. Re:Eh ... by bhcompy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Have you been on ThinkGeek lately? It's basically the modern Hot Topic in internet form. The front page of both websites contains Doctor Who, Marvel, Minecraft, Star Wars, and a number of other primary properties. The days of USB rocket launchers are in the past. Hot Topic was a great buyer for ThinkGeek(and awful for all of the other properties). Much better than GameStop from that perspective

    3. Re:Eh ... by cuncator · · Score: 2

      I can pinpoint it- when the Caffeine category started fitting on a single page. In fact, just went back for the first time in years and it's now "Food & Caffeine" but still fits on a single page. Sad really. Man, XTZ Tea was great.

  4. Ooooh synergies by bulled · · Score: 2

    I'll take two.

  5. Thank you Gamestop by freeze128 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think this is a good move. Gamestop can certainly use the power that thinkgeek has. Last year I redeemed some points that I earned from Gamestop to purchase something from their rewards store. Most of the things there are stupid Nintendo lanyards or bracelets - completely useless and hardly noteworthy. I opted for a Skyrim Daedric sword letter opener. It was cool, but badly made. If they offered a coupon for something in thinkgeek's catalog, I would have been much happier.

  6. You're doing it wrong by geekmux · · Score: 2, Funny

    "The video game retailer has promised synergies, such as in-store pickup..."

    Uh, in-store pickup?

    You already paid for that massive chain of brick and mortar locations you run already.

    Please tell me you're not going to forget that store is an actual store and offer a bit more than just pick-up service for what is now your own product.

    1. Re:You're doing it wrong by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The average Gamestop barely has room for their requisite 3 neckbeards and 40 copies of Gears of War 2 as it is.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  7. S word by puddingebola · · Score: 2

    Any time companies justify mergers and acquisitions with "synergies" the bullshit detector goes off. Yes, Hot Topic and GameStop are both retail outlets sometimes found in malls. I suppose that they are planning a buy out of the ice rinks, Orange Julius, and those shitty fast-food Chinese places.

    1. Re:S word by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      I was at a company that one time started a new marketing gimmick with the word "Synergy" standing by itself. The next day Gartner Group upgraded our ranking from the bad quadrant to the good quadrant by saying "they finally get it". Never underestimate the ability of clueless analysts to believe your bullshit.

  8. Making ThinkGeek even less relevant, hmm? by JohnFen · · Score: 2

    At least Hot Topic owning ThinkGeek was amusing. GameStop owning them is disgusting, and ensures that I won't be purchasing anything from ThinkGeek anymore.

    1. Re:Making ThinkGeek even less relevant, hmm? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Interesting

      At least Hot Topic owning ThinkGeek was amusing

      I think, of the two, Hot Topic could have significantly grown the brand - and ultimately that would have been good for geekdom, writ large.

      Not sure how the deal is being structured, but if it's a stock deal, this is bad for shareholders. Gamers aren't going to spend their cash on a bunch of crap that they can't play and non-gamer geeks aren't going to go hang around in Gamestop shopping for stuff with all the smelly gamers in there. Whatever the difference per diluted share Gamestop is bringing, that'll all get pissed away within the first year.

      One presumes, though, that it's a partial cash deal and the extra dozen-million bucks or so will be split up among the managers. So ... good news for the competition. Around here we have a chain called Newbury Comics that competes in this space. Right now is the time for them to get a huge funding round...

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:Making ThinkGeek even less relevant, hmm? by gmhowell · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you weren't too fucking lazy to read the article, you might know that it's a combination of $37 million and $20/share. You don't deserve your low ID.

      While you were busy 'reading articles', he was busy getting a low ID. BTW, UID 1 never read an article.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
  9. Online competition by phorm · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They're probably looking at competing against other eTailers and minimizing floorspace (similar to BestBuy) by allowing such items to be ordered in-store. Hopefully they keep some of the new/popular stuff in stock though and don't underestimate the power of a shiny toy at eye-height.

  10. Not to be the different guy, but... by hawkbug · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Everybody seems to think this is a bad idea. However, I think it's awesome. There are gamestops everywhere around my house. Probably 5 within 10 miles in any direction. Imagine if those places carried more than used games and consoles. Imagine for a moment that they also carry the same cool stuff that you would normally want to buy, but the shipping costs might have turned you away.

    Personally, I think this is great news. My T-shirt collection will probably double in size over the next year.

  11. There goes the neighborhood by grasshoppa · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can't wait to see how these "synergies" torpedo thinkgeek.

    Of course we'll act shocked that it ruins thinkgeek.

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
  12. Re:Haven't been to a GameStop since they Stopped by RavenLrD20k · · Score: 2

    Funny...my local one still has used PC games on its rack, and gets additional ones. Unfortunately the local market for PC games seems rather small as GameStop has the largest selection of used PC games taking about a shelf and a half (estimated) on their PC rack. The local Goodwill stores will come in second by having maybe a few PC titles in their glass cage. Even for new PC game titles, GameStop here out-does Wal-Mart, BestBuy, AND Staples on what they carry in-store. Sadly, there just doesn't seem to be much of a PC market in brick & Mortar anymore. I think Steam might have had something to do with that.

  13. Preorder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did Gamestop pre-order geeknet?

    Will I now need to pre-order things on ThinkGeek, or not get them at all?

    Inquiring minds want to know!

  14. Re:Haven't been to a GameStop since they Stopped by Darinbob · · Score: 2

    Steam has utterly destroyed the used game market. That's what game DRM is all about, not anti-piracy but anti-resale. Of course Game Stop wasn't a good player in the used game market, with bad trade in values and miniscule discounts, but it was the most significant player still supporting used games. I only got Steam because of Fallout: New Vegas, naively thinking it was like FO3 with minimal copy protection.