I remember when there were three of their stores within a mile of each other (not long after they bought out Electronic Boutique/EB Games). Two of those are closed now; ironically, the one furthest from the mall in the area survived... right by the "local" Wal-Mart.
Anyhow, a big part of that I think was the opening of a local chain of stores that sold videogames.... and movies, and all sorts of electronics, along with miscellaneous goodies and the occasional import piece. Not just the latest and greatest, either -- they have old games for the NES, SNES, Genesis, GB/GBA, and more. Most of their stuff is second-hand (occasionally they sell new stuff, always below the "normal" 60$), but they actually give good turn-in values -- usually ~1/3rd of their retailing price -- and treat their customers like actual customers, not cashcows to be locked up and milked for all they're worth. One of my friends worked at one, and she enjoyed her time there from what she's told me.
Basically, I just want to say that actually treating the people you're selling to (and those that work for you) like real human beings is STILL a viable business strategy. This should be obvious, but apparently it wasn't to Game$top's corporate bastards. I'll be surprised if they last another decade... though they just might, if Sony, M$, and especially Nintenduh don't get their acts together digitally and keep stumbling drunkenly about on their digital storefronts.
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I remember when there were three of their stores within a mile of each other (not long after they bought out Electronic Boutique/EB Games). Two of those are closed now; ironically, the one furthest from the mall in the area survived... right by the "local" Wal-Mart. Anyhow, a big part of that I think was the opening of a local chain of stores that sold videogames.... and movies, and all sorts of electronics, along with miscellaneous goodies and the occasional import piece. Not just the latest and greatest, either -- they have old games for the NES, SNES, Genesis, GB/GBA, and more. Most of their stuff is second-hand (occasionally they sell new stuff, always below the "normal" 60$), but they actually give good turn-in values -- usually ~1/3rd of their retailing price -- and treat their customers like actual customers, not cashcows to be locked up and milked for all they're worth. One of my friends worked at one, and she enjoyed her time there from what she's told me. Basically, I just want to say that actually treating the people you're selling to (and those that work for you) like real human beings is STILL a viable business strategy. This should be obvious, but apparently it wasn't to Game$top's corporate bastards. I'll be surprised if they last another decade... though they just might, if Sony, M$, and especially Nintenduh don't get their acts together digitally and keep stumbling drunkenly about on their digital storefronts.