GameStop to shutter stores as CEO eyes potential $35 billion bonus
NEW YORK (AP) — GameStop is closing more than 430 stores across the United States this month as the video game retailer ramps up an aggressive cost-cutting campaign.
The latest round of closures follows the shuttering of 590 locations during the 2024 fiscal year. The move is expected to result in thousands of job losses.
The downsizing is part of a strategic shift that could grant CEO Ryan Cohen a stock option package worth $35 billion if the company’s market capitalization hits $100 billion.
As of February 2025, GameStop operated 2,325 stores in the U.S.
The retailer is also retreating from the global market, having already ended operations in Canada, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, and Italy. The company plans to exit France within the next 12 months.
GameStop did not respond to a request for comment.
Saigon Sentinel Analysis
The GameStop saga has evolved beyond the simple narrative of a declining retailer, emerging instead as a high-stakes case study in the aggressive restructuring of the American retail landscape. Under the current leadership, the prioritization of shareholder value and executive compensation has clearly superseded workforce stability.
Notably, the company’s push for mass store closures comes even as its fiscal health shows signs of stabilization. This suggests a calculated move to prune its physical footprint in favor of a leaner, e-commerce-driven business model. This strategic shift is deeply rooted in the "meme stock" volatility that installed Ryan Cohen as CEO. The prevailing objective appears to be the conversion of market hype into hard financial performance, facilitated by a compensation structure that offers significant personal windfalls for the chief executive.
The central question for investors is whether sacrificing the expansive retail presence that defined the GameStop brand for decades is a sustainable path forward. While the strategy aims for a leaner balance sheet, the immediate cost is the displacement of thousands of workers—a stark reflection of the intensifying friction between corporate efficiency and labor stability in the modern U.S. economy.
Impact on Vietnamese Americans
The direct economic impact on the Vietnamese-American community is negligible, as video game retail falls outside traditional business niches like the nail salon industry or the phở restaurants that anchor Little Saigon. However, for many younger-generation Vietnamese Americans who grew up in the States, GameStop remains a nostalgic fixture of gaming culture. The company’s volatile saga and the "meme stock" phenomenon continue to be a significant point of interest, serving as a compelling case study in personal finance and modern consumer trends.