GameStop to Close 120-130 Stores as it Shifts Focus on Phones and Tablets

CEO Paul Raines heralded the dawn of what he called GameStop 3.0, a new phase of the company's lifespan that will see it aggressively expand its footprint into gaming-adjacent tech fields.

The two biggest fields GameStop is pursuing right now are mobile and Apple devices. While it already buys back smartphones and tablets at its GameStop locations, the retailer is focusing more on stand-alone chains to do the same: the AT&T-branded chain Spring Mobile and Apple retailer Simply Mac.

In the current fiscal year, GameStop plans to open between 200 and 250 Spring Mobile stores, more than doubling the 164 locations it had last year. Simply Mac will see another 20-25 stores added in markets underserved by Apple's own retail chain, bolstering its 23 existing stores.

At the same time GameStop is pushing into these new fields, the company plans to scale back its gaming operations slightly. In the current fiscal year, the company expects to shutter somewhere between 120 and 130 of its 6,457 gaming retail locations worldwide.