Wikipedia

EB Games

This article is about the American division of EB Games. For the Australian division, see EB Games Australia.

EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique, EBX, and EB World) was an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim[1] with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prussia mall near Philadelphia, the company later grew into an international corporation. EB Games's parent company, GameStop, has its headquarters in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.[2] When Electronics Boutique was an independent company, its headquarters was in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania,[3][4] near West Chester.[5][6]

EB Games
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryElectronics Stores
Founded1977; 47 years ago (1977) (as Electronics Boutique)
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
HeadquartersGrapevine, Texas, U.S.
As an independent company: West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania
Key people
  • Dick Fontaine (Chairman, CEO)
  • Daniel A. Dematteo (Vice-Chairman, COO)
  • David W. Carlson (CFO)
  • Steve Morgan (former President)
ProductsVideo games, computer games, optical discs, video game consoles
ParentGameStop

The EB Games brand is defunct in the United States & Canada but still operates in Australia and New Zealand. GameStop also operates certain stores under the "EBX" brand.

History

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Originally, the operation mainly sold calculators and digital watches. Between 1977 and the mid-1990s, the company expanded to (and later stopped) selling computers, software, and other related items (according to the EB Games employee handbook). Electronics Boutique also operated stores under the name Games 'n Gadgets. The Games 'n Gadgets stores were more centered on entertainment and gaming, rather than business and productivity. In the mid-1990s, the company's focus switched to TV-based video games and consoles, though many stores still maintain PC game sections.

On April 3, 2000, Electronics Boutique made an offer to purchase rival business FuncoLand for $110 million, paying $17.50 in cash for each of parent company Funco's shares. CEO Joseph Firestone remarked that his company had been "stalking" FuncoLand for two years, and waited until the stock price was right.[7][8][9][10] On April 5, Funco received an unsolicited $135 million buyout offer from Barnes & Noble subsidiary Babbage's Etc., who offered to pay in either cash or a combination of cash and Barnes & Noble stock.[11][12][13][14] On April 12, Funco gave Electronics Boutique five days to raise its offer before they would accept Barnes & Noble's offer.[15] In response, Electronics Boutique matched Barnes & Noble's offer.[16][17][18][19] On April 26, Barnes & Noble raised its bid to $161.5 million, or $24.75 a share, leaving Electronics Boutique with another five days to respond to the bid.[20][21][22] On May 3, Electronics Boutique announced the withdrawal of its bid,[23][24] and Funco accepted Barnes & Noble's buyout the following day. Electronic Boutique's original definitive agreement with Funco included a breakup fee of $3.5 million, the cost of which was covered by Barnes & Noble.[25][26]

In May 2000, in order to unify their company, Electronics Boutique changed the vast majority of its current EB and EB Gameworld stores to the name EB Games. They also announced that they would be either closing or selling all of their EB Kids and Brandywine Sports Collectible Stores.[27]

For years EB Games' primary distribution center was in Louisville, Kentucky, with two smaller distribution centers and a World Headquarters all located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. With video games becoming increasingly popular, EB Games decided it was time for a new distribution center. In October 2004, EB Games opened its doors to its new 314,000-square-foot (29,200 m2) distribution center in Sadsbury Township, Pennsylvania. The world headquarter office in West Chester remained open, however anyone working at the old distribution centers were transferred to the new location.[28] As of July 30, 2005, the company operated 2,280 stores in the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Austria and Spain, primarily under the names EB Games and Electronics Boutique. The company changed its corporate name to EB Games but the retailer is often still referred to as Electronics Boutique. The company had stores named Electronics Boutique, EB Games, EBGameworld, EBX, Stop-N-Save, and EB Kids. The reasoning behind the multiple names is not known, but it is speculated that it is to get around a restriction in many malls that there cannot be two stores with the same name. It was believed that this was the same reason that GameStop had not commenced renaming EB Games stores, however this has been disproven since Gamestop has indeed rebranded all stores to GameStop beginning mid-spring 2007, after the acquisition of Rhino Video Games.

EB Games and GameStop merger

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On Thursday, October 6, 2005, shareholders from EB Games and GameStop agreed to a $1.44 billion takeover deal.[29] The deal offered $38.15[30] in cash as well as approximately ¾ of a share of GameStop stock for every 1 share of EB Games stock. This offer was a 34.2% premium on the $41.12 per share closing price of EB Games stock. GameStop decided to close EB Games's newly constructed distribution center in Sadsbury, PA, their call center in Las Vegas, NV, and their International Headquarters in West Chester, PA, eliminating more than 800 jobs. Only 65 former EB Games employees were offered jobs at GameStop's headquarters in Grapevine, TX.[31]

International

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An EB Games store (later GameStop) at Hillcrest Mall in February 2015
 
An EB Games store (later GameStop) in Edmonton, Alberta in February 2017

EB began its international expansion with the opening of three stores in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1993. The Canadian division was the largest of the international divisions with over 300 stores as of May 2008.[citation needed]

In 1995, the company expanded to the UK with the purchase of 25% of the financially troubled British game retailer Rhino Group. The name of the chain was changed from Future Zone to "Electronics Boutique" to match the new owner. John Steinbrecher, Electronic Boutique's VP of Stores in the US and Canada, was seconded to the UK to manage the chain. Store remodels, product mix changes and used video games combined to restore the chain's finances.

Electronics Boutique commenced operations in Australia in 1997 and rapidly became the number one video game specialty retailer in the country and the only one with a nationwide footprint.

Although the merger created a company separate from the U.S. parent, EB retained a 24% ownership stake in the merged chain for a period of time and, under the merger agreement, collected substantial management fees from it until 2004, when the companies agreed to sever the remainder of their ties with a one time settlement. The GAME brand replaced the EB name at all former EB stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The new company was the biggest video game retailer in the United Kingdom. However, GameStop is once again operating in Ireland under the GameStop brand.

On May 23, 2005, EB Games announced a definitive agreement to acquire Jump, a retailer based in Valencia, Spain that sells PCs and other consumer electronics. EB Games plans to begin introducing video game hardware and software into Jump's 141 stores over the next several months.[needs update] The acquisition provides EB Games entry into the Spanish marketplace and continues EB Games's aggressive international expansion.

In July 2008, EB Games announced an agreement to acquire The Gamesman, which was the largest independently owned chain of video game stores in New Zealand.[32]

On July 28, 2021, EB Games announced that its Canadian operations would be rebranded under the GameStop name, with the rebranding expected to be completed by the end of 2021. Stores began to be converted to GameStop signage by September 2021.[33][34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The World's Billionaires: #721 James Kim & family". Forbes. March 3, 2010. Net worth: $1.4 billion
  2. ^ "Contact Us Archived 2012-01-22 at the Wayback Machine." GameStop. Retrieved on August 11, 2010.
  3. ^ Moran, Sarah E. "County jobless rate worsens Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine." Daily Local News. Tuesday November 1, 2005. Retrieved on August 11, 2010.
  4. ^ "Contact." Electronic Boutique. June 11, 2004. Retrieved on August 11, 2010. "931 South Matlack St. West Chester, PA 19382."
  5. ^ "Corporate Office Positions." Electronic Boutique. June 9, 2001. Retrieved on August 11, 2010.
  6. ^ "West Goshen township, Chester County, Pennsylvania Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on August 11, 2010.
  7. ^ Moore, Janet (April 4, 2000). "Funco is sold to rival retailer". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Moore, Janet (April 4, 2000). "Electronics Boutique had been 'stalking' Funco for 2 years". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 38.
  9. ^ Woodall, Martha (April 4, 2000). "W. Chester firm is in the game". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 35 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Woodall, Martha (April 4, 2000). "$110 million deal to unite game firms". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Moore, Janet (April 7, 2000). "Funco receives higher offer". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 45 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Moore, Janet (April 7, 2000). "Two offers are 'a great situation' for stockholders". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Woodall, Martha (April 7, 2000). "Game-seller gets a higher bid". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Woodall, Martha (April 7, 2000). "$135 million is offered for Funco". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Phelps, David (April 14, 2000). "Funco receives higher offer". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 56 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Electronics Boutique ups bid for Funco". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. April 21, 2000. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Merger would create largest retailer of electronic games". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. April 21, 2000. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Fernandez, Bob (April 21, 2000). "Electronics Boutique matches competing bid for game retailer". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 33 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Fernandez, Bob (April 21, 2000). "West Chester firm raises its bid for a games retailer". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Moore, Janet (April 27, 2000). "Barnes & Noble raises bid, again, for Funco Inc". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 45 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Moore, Janet (April 27, 2000). "CEO could reap $35.2 million if Barnes & Noble deal prevails". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Schlisserman, Courtney (April 27, 2000). "Barnes & Noble increases its offer". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Moore, Janet (May 3, 2000). "Funco suitor drops chase". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Moore, Janet (May 3, 2000). "Shareholder suit filed Tuesday is now left in uncertain status". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 41 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Funco accepts buyout by Barnes & Noble". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. May 5, 2000. p. 48 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ Moore, Janet (May 6, 2000). "Fate of Funco's local operations unclear". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ EB changes name of game: rebranding a la GameStop.
  28. ^ "Video game retailer Electronics Boutique expects to break ground on a new 315,000-square-foot distribution center this spring". Archived from the original on 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  29. ^ "GameStop and Electronics Boutique Stockholders Approve Merger". US Securities and Exchange Commission. October 6, 2005. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  30. ^ "SEC Filings S-4 - Merger Agreement, GameStop Corp. and Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp". GameStop. May 23, 2005. Archived from the original on May 7, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  31. ^ "Hundreds of EB jobs will be cut". Archived from the original on 2012-04-14. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
  32. ^ Thompson, Michael (2008-07-02). "GameStop buys Gamesman chain in New Zealand". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  33. ^ "EB Games to rebrand as GameStop in Canada". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  34. ^ "Canadian EB Games and EBX Locations Start Rebranding to GameStop with New Store Signage". Retail Insider. 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
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