"Gamestop 2.0": A Retail Renaissance! Pt. 3

Hey there! By now, I hope you've seen my earlier article concerning an overview of Gamestop's experimental revitalization and rebranding project in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known there as "Gamestop 2.0". If not, this can be found here. I'd highly recommend you give it a look if you want an overview of what marvelous things await the gaming and game merchandise company, and through their unveiling, the consumers. Additionally, check out my latest article prior to this for detailed information about my trip to the larger Gamestop 2.0 store.

The "Co-op" couch of the second location. Source: Gamestop (photo credit: Josh Nelson)

On two occasions during my adventure to Tulsa, I visited a specific Gamestop 2.0 that wasn't on the itinerary. This second location was unique to the others in that it was mostly based in selling collectibles and prided itself, above other things, on Funko Pop! figurines. This article will give a look at this second location.

A panoramic shot of the back end of the second location. Source: Gamestop (photo credit: Josh Nelson)

This store has all of the typical Gamestop amenities like video games and helpful, knowledgable staff who can assist on any of the things you need to inquire about as a Gamestop customer, but as mentioned above, they are a Gamestop 2.0 store, and so they have a particular focus. In addition to the one Co-op Couch they have towards the front end of the store, this Gamestop 2.0 has:

• A lot of Funko Pop! figurines
• Collectibles that aren't necessarily Pop!-related
• Trading cards

The store really mostly markets all of the above, just magnified beyond what a typical Gamestop already has. Zach Shor, Head of Innovation with Gamestop and one of the big-name team members on the Gamestop 2.0 project in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said that this store is the model that's likely to be reworked the most.

Now, you may be wondering what that little display doo-dad is doing there centrally in the panoramic shot above. This is another feature that Gamestop 2.0's all possess – it's basically their version of an online kiosk. Dubbed "The Endless Aisle", it is designed to help customers find what they need at a certain store. I tried it out at the Retro model, and I'll get more into my thoughts on it when I discuss that.

Here's the biggest problem with this location: Location itself is everything, and most malls have at least one-to-two of these three things:

• Hot Topic
• BoxLunch
• ThinkGeek

This store in the Woodland Hills Mall is competing against all three. And, when you factor exactly what kind of merchandise these stores sell, you're talking about Funko Pop!s, gaming apparel, and neat game-related merchandise besides. And that's true for all three of these locations. Being that this Gamestop 2.0 is the "Collectibles" store model, this doesn't bode very well, even considering how ThinkGeek is part of Gamestop now.

ThinkGeek's awning, also in the Woodland Hills Mall. Source: Gamestop (photo credit: Josh Nelson)

Ultimately, this store could be a thriving one, if it were located somewhere with less competition. I'd be inclined, if it were up to me, to switch the "Collectibles" store model with the "Retro" model that I keep talking about, but that's just my opinion.

At any rate, it was still a pretty cool location and was quite fun to marvel at. But what do you think of this store model? Is it a tough sell for you, or could you see yourself buying exclusive collectibles here? Let us know!

If you'd like to visit Gamestop 2.0 at the Woodland Hills Mall, the address is: 7021 S Memorial Dr, Tulsa, OK 74133

The post "Gamestop 2.0": A Retail Renaissance! Pt. 3 appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

via https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/02/24/gamestop-2-0-a-retail-renaissance-pt-3/
Joshua Nelson

"Gamestop 2.0": A Retail Renaissance! – Pt.1

Gamestop has been a quintessential force in gaming retail. Famous for having a presence in almost every shopping mall and retail strip, and infamously joked about for providing heavily-diminished returns on trade-ins, people often say that Gamestop is on its last legs. However, despite anything that you may have heard, this could not be farther from the truth. This weekend, I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and in that very town, with facilitation from the company itself, I came across Gamestop's plans for "Gamestop 2.0", a complete revitalization of the retail chain.

Woodland Hills Mall's Gamestop store, just one of my stops this weekend. Source: Gamestop (photo credit: Josh Nelson)

The first store I went to, out of a total of four stores visited in Tulsa and the surrounding towns (which itself is out of thirteen stores as a grand total in the area), was their largest space in the highly-experimental rebranding test. Therein, I saw a massive space with a whopping 36 gaming monitors, "co-op" couches in front of massive television screens, and concessions in the back. They even had a community table where people were playing Dungeons & Dragons!

The first location – larger Social model! Source: Gamestop (photo credit: Josh Nelson)

But what's more, I saw people of various ages playing together. This to me was never something I would ever have considered for the Gamestop brand, and it's wonderful to see. And what made this even cooler was that this was only the beginning.

At the second location, which was nestled in the Woodland Hills shopping mall conveniently nearby my hotel, the Gamestop there, also part of the experiment, had and sold video games like the first and also had a co-op couch and screen, but they also had a major focus: Funko Pop! figurines and other collectibles.

The second location – Collectibles model! Source: Gamestop (photo credit: Josh Nelson)

This was neat to me because despite its immediate proximity to places like ThinkGeek, Hot Topic, and BoxLunch, I could imagine anyone looking for non-exclusive (or – let's face it – exclusives in equal measure) Pop! figures going there first above any of the aforementioned stores. This upheaval in strategy is novel of Gamestop, and I'm here for it!

That was all of Friday's fun. How grand! I could not wait to see what more lay in store for me as well as the other people invited to experience this amazing experiment firsthand.

On Saturday, I visited a smaller model store with similar specs to the first store visited. This store was equipped with twelve monitors, as opposed to 36, but virtually every other Gamestop 2.0 amenity was there. To top that off, space equaled what one might see of a typical Gamestop store as it stands now. That means there's more than just mere hope for this experiment to expand!

The third location – smaller Social model! Source: Gamestop (photo credit: Josh Nelson)

Finally, I visited a "retro" location, which was roughly an hour outside of Tulsa. This store boasts games from every generation of console from the original Nintendo Entertainment System onwards and has four CRT-televisions to play any number of these games on, in addition to the standard amenities that Gamestop 2.0 seems to offer (including the co-op couches and collectibles).

The fourth location – Retro model! Source: Gamestop (photo credit: Josh Nelson)

This entire experiment has untold potential behind it, and I'm more than eager to see what becomes of this project. In the coming parts of this massive feature, I'll be going over all the wonders of what I saw across each day this past weekend, and also detailing the hurdles that Gamestop faces at each store (and how they propose to face said hurdles).

But what do you think of the new store model types that Gamestop is testing out in Tulsa, Oklahoma? Do any of these particular models appeal to you as a consumer? Let us know!

The post "Gamestop 2.0": A Retail Renaissance! – Pt.1 appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

via https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/02/24/gamestop-2-0-a-retail-renaissance-pt-1/
Joshua Nelson