GameStop has had a rough few years. With the rise of online shopping, accessible games through online stores, and companies like GameFly where you can get games delivered to return, it’s not difficult to see that the games seller would run into trouble. “Digital downloads are becoming more and more prevalent, and people are buying their consoles on Amazon. The physical copies of the games that GameStop sells are becoming less popular because most gamers either download their games or order them online instead of going into stores”, FRAGHERO reports. Browsing for games and merchandise in a crowded mall and selling back your slightly used games for less than a fraction of their worth just doesn’t seem that appealing to everyone.
Except it gets worse.
The company has been plagued with scandals. An article on thegamer.com reports that workers are instructed to prey on those who are unfamiliar with games (encouraging them to purchase more without understanding what it may be that they are purchasing), push certain subscription agendas (GameStop Elite Pro memberships, PowerUp Rewards) to fuel the corporate circle of game purchases, and even price games differently in the same store. Same game. Same store. Same condition (new or used). This happened to me this weekend while trying to purchase a used copy of For Honor (one was $4.99, the other $9.99).
It’s no wonder the finances are an additional issue to the ethics of the gluttonous gaming giant. The company is set to close over 200 under-performing stores in the next year, with over 100 employees being laid off in the previous year. The company’s plan is to revamp the stores in a way that appeals to gaming communities and introduces a stream-lined concept. GameIndustrybiz.com says “While details are a little light, the firm has said it wants to introduce new ways for its customers to try games before they purchase them, as well as add other features that encourage people to visit their local branch more often”. They may also be adding competitive gaming areas (think e-sports) and retro-gaming consoles. Cool. I guess. Anyway, here’s my beef.
My Beef
Speaking of being interactive…my experience at GameStop is a little too interactive. While not anti-social, I do appreciate privacy while I’m shopping. Avoiding people is the name of the game when you’re busy comparing prices and trying to find a deal before the Fortnite-dancing 8-year old behind you finds it first.
In 10 minutes, three separate employees had asked me if I needed help. Because the store was empty, they had all seen the other one ask. But. They. Persisted. Why?
I had come to browse and pass the time before going out to eat and getting berated by salespeople with nothing else to do made me want to leave before picking out a game. Not a very good sales strategy but that’s just me.
Attack of the Merch
One of the local GameStops in my area recently moved some merchandise around. It happens all the time. No big deal. Except it became grossly apparent that now the store was 80% pop culture merchandise and less than 20% games and gaming accessories. Rows of t-shirts with anime images, marked down coffee mugs with Rick and Morty on the sides, and crudely cheap action figures assaulted customers as they made their way to the back where the games are kept. Before me was an entire wall of the most hated commercial nerd merch imaginable– Funko Pops!.
Why is it suddenly cool to own every item of merchandise for a particular show like Bob’s Burgers? Why are there seven different Rick and Morty shirt designs? Foam Fortnite weapons? Collectible Stranger Things spoons? While I initially enjoyed some of these shows or games or movies, the sheer volume of marketed brands pushing a product with the characters printed on it quickly pushed me away from anything other than mild curiosity.
You get banned, you get banned!
My husband received the phone call from an unfamiliar number. He answered, hung up, and grew quiet.
“They said I’ve been banned from GameStop…”
I shook my head in confusion. “For what?”
He had tried to pre-order a game from another store but sent it closer to our home for pick-up. We had gone into the store earlier to make sure everything was set up for the pre-order of Control.
He had pre-ordered Control in another city while visiting family. He attempted to transfer to another store an hour away closer to his workplace for pickup. After some debating, he switched it back to the original store.
In the store an hour away, a female employee was on the line with the GameStop employee in front of us who was inquiring about the transfer. The employee hung up and politely informed us that the girl on the other end had banned him from pre-ordering anything else at that store. My husband had “clogged up the phone lines for other customers and had cost them business”.
Over the phone, she nosily inquired why my husband hadn’t returned to her store and acknowledged that she had memorized his name and his order. And seeing how the store was empty most of the time, it was a surprise that we had caused any business to be lost, especially with a fully-stocked Walmart across the street.
The flirtatious, green-haired teenager who had shamelessly giggled at my husband while she rang up our past order had banned him. To say we were upset was an understatement but after researching the management issues at GameStops across the U.S., I can’t say I’m surprised.
No offense…BUT
As mentioned before, I’m not anti-social but I am socially wary. Crowds scare me, people who get to close to you when you’re shopping are scary, but the thing that horrifies me the most is body odor.
We all know the plague–I mean, coronovirus is going around–but the scariest thing about it so far is the amount of people who weren’t washing their hands (at all or correctly) PRIOR to the breakout of COVID-19.
Personal hygiene is difficult for someone people. It could be a cultural thing as well. But I have not met anyone who said that they enjoyed smelling someone’s body-odor while shopping. In the south, it’s hot most of the year and everyone is sweating almost constantly. However, the only place I seem to notice atrocious B.O. is inside GameStop. The stores are so small that all it takes is one person to quick fill up the space with noxious fumes of odor.
It’s not just sweat though. While body odor is pretty rough, the second most powerful scent that sweeps through is the powerful odor of skunk weed or pot. A man walked in with a gaseous cloak of weed fumes that quickly had most of the store coughing. I watched the man walk over to the Nintendo Switch display where a man and his child were searching for a game. I looked around. There was a lot of children in there, having to inhale that skunk weed marijuana. Many began to leave. The man was undisturbed.
Call me old-fashioned. I don’t care. GameStop is a place for nerds, gamers, consumers, really anyone who is interested in what the store has to offer. But seeing how historically nerds or gamers are seen as filthy or couch-potatoes, it’s really uncomfortable for the store’s consumers (not all but back to the space thing. It only takes one person’s B.O. to trash a store.) to adhere to these prehistoric stereotypes.
If you feel like you could be one of those smelly customers, it’s okay. It’s awkward to talk about but there’s always room for growth. Whether you’re a guy or a girl, there are definitely steps you can take to smell better and feel better.
Summarizing the Beef
In summary, my beef is as follows:
- Too many bored salespeople, make me uncomfortable
- Way too much merch, most of it unsold and taking up room for more games
- Got banned
- THE SMELL
Will I still shop at GameStop? Probably. At least to take some of my trade-ins to die in peace. But the experience has rapidly changed in the past decade. Walking into GameStop went from a favorite store experience to something to dread. With the changes proposed by the company, maybe the future has more to offer consumers instead of over-priced used games, terrible buy-back policies, and questionable sales strategies. I am cautiously optimistic for the future but the store will have to change drastically for me to actually enjoy shopping there again.
Cover pic: Shutterstock / LukeandKarla.Travel, beef: https://riverwatchbeef.com/store/grass-fed-beef-club/grass-fed-beef-club-subscription/, https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-08-26-control-critical-consensus, GameStop pic: https://www.dreamstime.com/editorial-photography-game-store-london-england-circa-july-shelves-games-sale-shop-london-image42762682,
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