Gamestop Takes $7.1 Billion In 2007
What recession? Gamestop has reported its financial reports for the full year of 2007, in which its sales rose by one third to a record-making $7.1 billion. Profit from those sales nearly doubled from $158 million in 2006 to $288 million in 2007. Add to that the 586 new stores that Gamestop opened and these numbers make Gamestop the fastest growing retailer in the Fortune 500.
What products drove the sales? Call of Duty 4, Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero III and Super Mario Galaxy were the top five selling games in the fourth quarter - no surprises there. But hardware sales were thick as thieves this year, with competition from all consoles and handhelds conspiring to change the face of the games market: more gamers buying more hardware in larger numbers and with more persistence than ever before.
Gamestop's also projecting a further swelling of sales of 19-21% for 2008, an enormously confident estimate that's only slightly tempered by notions of limited growth or, indeed, the performance of the rest of the country's economy. With hardware sales poised to continue their competition en gallop for the foreseeable future, those kind of results seem not unimaginable.
GameStop Reveals Record $7 Billion In 2007 Sales [Gamasutra]
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Miscellany on 18 March 2008
· Comments (6)
Other stuff like this: 7 billion, gamestop, profits
Whilst working for Gamestop, I came into a love-hate relationship with the company. Sure, they've got a lot of your hardware, software, and peripheral needs right at your fingertips, but all of those used games translate to 0 percent love for the developers and publishers— if you can help it, guys, buy your games new (if you do, buy them from the GayGamer-Amazon website and kill three birds with a single purchase, figuratively of course!)
If you care about equality, you will at least support Gamestop over some other companies such as Wal-Mart and Toys R Us.
Gamestop has a 100% approval rating by the HRC, which evaluates companies based on whether they have written non-discrimination policies for G,L,B and T employees; offer benefits to same-sex domestic partners; support transgender health care; and offer diversity training that covers queer issues.
Wally World, Toys R Us and a few other companies failed the test miserably.
Amazon.com is in the green, though it has a slightly lower score than Gamestop.
http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide/Where_to_Shop.asp
>> Eshto >> True, true, but to play the devil's advocate, on the flip-side of equality, Gamestop also exist as a near monopoly.
Sure, we can buy our hardware and software from the likes of Amazon.com and Wal*mart, but if we're looking for another "games only" chain store, then we're out of luck— Gamestop bought most of them. Why isn't this a legal issue? The way I understand it, a high enough percentage of the store's revenue is acquired through trades. This places Gamestop among the ranks of pawn shops. As long as the big GS doesn't buy out the title pawn down the street they're free from monopoly charges.
I can't attest to the complete validity of the previous statements, but we can recognize the general lack of competition (with the existence of mergers and buyouts such as EB and Rhino). It's all just food for thought (I "learned" these blasphemous statements through the grapevine while working at Gamestop).
Heehee, and before any other posts arise, I'd like to say I'm not arguing Eshto or refuting the HRC in any way— I may not have been hired if such policies were not in place. I simply don't want Gamestop to appear as heaven on earth (or the next best alternative).
It's certainly a store worth supporting, but in moderation. A little competition never hurt (but the Cold War was pretty sucky).
@Eshto That's very true, they do have amazing policies, and I was very thankful for them for a few years. Also note that the past few years, they have been in the top 5 contributors to the Democratic Party and Candidates of ALL electronics companies. Not just retailers. So those profits are going for, at least in my perspective, the better.
@QueerOtter Good point, but untill they own a commanding chunck of the market, the monopoly argument won't work. Last I saw, they only owned somewhere between 30-40% of the overall market... not really close at all to other monopoly cases, like Microsoft's over 90% of the OS market.
>> Jesse James >> You're correct, there, sir! I guess what I really mean is that their particular type existence is sort of like a near monopoly, as chain gaming stores shouldn't be a disappearing trend (not as gaming begins to rake in profits that rival the revenue of the music industry).
I'm all for big business, but I do shed a small tear when the mom and pop card/comic shop is finally forced to close because Gamestop moved in (also forcing Rhino and Blockbuster to move out) . . . actually, I'm not a fan of Blockbuster— they're okay to go :D