GameStop is closing down the website ThinkGeek and rolling the brand’s collectibles business into the main GameStop website as a ThinkGeek section in its online store.
The decision was driven by GameStop’s ailing financial fortunes, and something mentioned in the company’s quarterly earnings call earlier this month. In that call, GameStop CEO George Sherman told investors that it planned to further streamline its ThinkGeek business by rolling its online presence into GameStop’s website.
“We have very successful collectibles business and need to harness the power of the team and the investment made in that team going forward,” said Sherman.
The FAQ shared on the ThinkGeek site notes that the brand itself isn’t being shuttered, and that its 40 physical locations will remain open despite the shift. A statement made to GameDaily last week though confirms that ThinkGeek suffered layoffs as a result of the consolidation. The company wouldn’t comment on numbers, a source told the site that those layoffs included ThinkGeek’s remaining marketing and website administration staff.
GameStop’s latest earnings release saw the company report a 13.3 percent decrease in sales, with notable year-over-year hits in its hardware, software, and pre-owned goods categories. Collectables were the only category that saw any significant growth in that report, marking a 10.5 percent increase in sales year-over-year.
While the company says it is refocusing its business to zero in on the “core elements…meaningful to [its] future,” declining numbers and its decision to cut costs by no longer paying out a quarterly dividend caused the company’s share price to take its largest single-day hit in 17 years.