But will it be enough?
It’s not exactly a secret that GameStop’s been having a rough year of it. But they’re not giving up. And part of that attitude is the creation of a new store concept, meant to turn their stores into an “experience”. And they’re partnering with R/GA to do it.
Per their announcement:
The partnership with R/GA’s Austin and Chicago teams is part of GameStop’s broader business transformation strategy to evolve its efforts in cultivating innovative customer-centric opportunities to bring video game culture to life in every neighborhood. GameStop’s renewed customer-first focus stems from qualitative and quantitative research led by GameStop and R/GA that identified four major motivations gaming fans have for playing video games – immersion, achievement, creativity and community.
Together, GameStop and R/GA are developing and piloting new and streamlined physical store concepts, introducing new ways for gamers to try new titles before they buy them, and giving stores a unique layout and purpose that appeal to gamers. From store concepts that offer competitive sessions in home-grown e-Leagues to locations that sell strictly retro gaming software and hardware, GameStop will pilot the new store concepts in a select market to present something new to players both old and new, and searching for experiences in gaming beyond the console.
Essentially, they want their stores to accommodate the local customer’s wants. Some might feature a focus on retro gaming. Others might focus on the eSports scene in the area, or on giving you the chance to try a game before you buy. The overall idea, of course, being to supply the services desired from a given store.
It’s actually a pretty good idea. A mom and pop store near me, personally, actually featured a mini arcade in the entry to the store; things like Time Crisis, Joust and a Neo Geo cabinet, among a few others. It was a neat concept that was sadly doomed. Mostly because it was in a mall, but partly because it was in a mall directly one floor down from a GameStop. So, I’m actually interested in seeing how this pans out for the brick-and-mortar-game-store giant.
Source: IGN
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