GAME / Gamestation in Administration

RazWaz

aldredd wrote: »

Quite possibly. But I would have thought they'd pick the better performing stores from across the estate, and then perhaps re-brand them to maybe Game if there aren't enough to keep both brands going

Either way, GAME/Gamestation as we know it, are gone. Their current model does not work, so even if some of the same stores are kept, they will have to be run differently, or we'll be back to this point again soon enough.

aldredd

Yep, the business model no longer works, so they'd have to come up with something new. Look as HMV, they've diversified into consumer electronics and live entertainment which is just about keeping them going.

CoolHotCold

aldredd wrote: »

Yep, the business model no longer works, so they'd have to come up with something new. Look as HMV, they've diversified into consumer electronics and live entertainment which is just about keeping them going.

No, just no. The Live entertainment bit, which is really the big money spinner is being sold off to payoff debts, you are in deep trouble if you're selling off the only bit that makes money, and consumer electronics are margin restricted, some items like headphones are big margin earners.

the ONLY, and I really do mean ONLY reason HMV are still going is because the movie and music studios got together and redid their credit agreements and took a piece of HMV's equity. The Movie and Music labels have more to loose with HMV going bust than HMV does.

aldredd

CoolHotCold wrote: »

No, just no. The Live entertainment bit, which is really the big money spinner is being sold off to payoff debts, you are in deep trouble if you're selling off the only bit that makes money, and consumer electronics are margin restricted, some items like headphones are big margin earners.

Sorry, not sure why you're disagreeing with me...
HMV Live, like you say, is the only part of the business really making any money, hence it's keeping them going - if they didn't have it, they'd probably already be bust.
Selling it may help the rest of the business by spending less servicing debt, but whilst yes, it's pretty 'last ditch effort' to sell the part of the business which makes money, it's not uncommon to asset strip a company to secure its long-term future. Some major companies have done it, such as IBM.

And yes, whilst electronics make naff all margin, accessories do attract a very good margin, and they also generate cash flow - which is one best things for a company (why else do you think major supermarkets sell petrol - it's not the profit, that's for certain)

CoolHotCold

aldredd wrote: »

Sorry, not sure why you're disagreeing with me...
HMV Live, like you say, is the only part of the business really making any money, hence it's keeping them going - if they didn't have it, they'd probably already be bust.
Selling it may help the rest of the business by spending less servicing debt, but whilst yes, it's pretty 'last ditch effort' to sell the part of the business which makes money, it's not uncommon to asset strip a company to secure its long-term future. Some major companies have done it, such as IBM.

I'm not disagreeing with you in general, but your reasons for HMV to keep going are false, even with HMV Live making money they would still be bust except for the intervention of the music and movie studios.

aldredd

Ah ok, fair enough - don't really know much about the deals / intervention of the music studios or what impacts it's had/having.

Either way - Game should have realised long ago that it needed to do more than just sell games - the sort of product where the consumer usually already knows what it is they want to buy, and so are more likely to do so online.