GameCrazy
Encyclopedia
GameCrazy was a video game retailer based in Wilsonville, Oregon
. It was a subsidiary of Movie Gallery
. The stores were often, but not always, located adjacent to Hollywood Video rental stores.
All except two of GameCrazy's locations have closed after parent company Movie Gallery's bankruptcy
and liquidation.
concept called GameCrazy. It featured the ability to buy, sell, and trade video games, systems, and accessories inside of Hollywood Video Stores , while Movie Gallery launched a similar initiative called Game Zone. Each respective location offered video games for all "next generation" platforms in both new and used conditions. Select locations offer product for older systems such as the NES and Sega Genesis titled "classic plastic". GameCrazy enabled customers to play a particular title, new or used, prior to purchase. This "try before you buy" option was a staple GameCrazy policy.
Both Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video brands have rolled out special "store within store" video game areas. Game Zones are developed and implemented for use within Movie Gallery locations while GameCrazy was generally used within Hollywood Video stores. While many locations operate these areas as completely separate brands (i.e. Both Game Zone / GameCrazy operated with segregated staff and management), others operated using a single unified staff. While the majority of GameCrazy's were located within their respective rental partner, standalone GameCrazy retail chains are expanding.
As of December 31, 2006, there were 634 GameCrazy locations which were generally located within the same building as Hollywood Video. The construction of standalone "concept stores" are ongoing with the most recent being opened in Las Vegas, Nevada. GameCrazy contributed 13% to Movie Gallery's revenue for 2006, with 70% of its revenue coming from new and used software and 30% from new and used hardware products. GameCrazy competed with both other specialty retail video game stores, such as Game Stop and the fast-growing video game franchise, Play N Trade
, as well as big box retailer such as Target
, Walmart, and Best Buy
.
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy code. Because of these troubles, the stock price fell below $1 per share and were removed from lising from the NASDAQ
stock exchange in November 2007.
On September 28, 2009, Wilsonville, Oregon
based Movie Gallery
, which owned GameCrazy, announced it would close 200 of its 680 stores by the end of October 2009 due to financial problems brought on from the failing video stores.
Movie Gallery's stock price fell from $1.25 at close in October 2009 to $.05 at close on December 2009, and many locations fell behind on rent. As a result, the company hired restructuring firm Moelis & Company
, giving it a 60-day grace period to negotiate with lenders and landlords. But it was forced into bankruptcy a second time in February 2010.
During a company-wide conference call on April 30, 2010, it was announced that all U.S. Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, and GameCrazy stores would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May 2010 and wind down business. Analysts generally believe that Movie Gallery & Hollywood Video's unprofitability, caused by competition from Blockbuster Inc. and online retailers such as Netflix
and Redbox
, was one of the major factors in the company's decision to close the retail chain.
As of August 7, 2010 the GameCrazy.com site shows that it is in the process of selling the domain and other intangible assets, linking only to the details of the bankruptcy and a self-service portal for former employees.
Midnight launches for highly anticipated titles were common but not compulsory.
GameCrazy instituted a "Wishlist" and "Special Order" feature which allowed the gamer the ability to procure elusive video game related product. The wish list notified the staff once a desired product has been traded in by flagging that particular item in the Point of Sale. For immediate action, a special order could be placed where the desired item was shipped from the nearest GameCrazy to the consumer's local store.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) was a service offered by GameCrazy which provided customers with a 10% discount on used games and accessories as well as a 10% increase in video game trade-in value. Recently, GameCrazy launched an upgraded discount card called MVP Plus. This not only provided the 10% discount on used games and accessories, but also could be used at other businesses. It also provided a 5% cash back incentive to a member, through the MVP Plus login website, where a form was printed out, and relevant purchase receipts were mailed off. The card member then received a check in the mail for the 5% cash back. There was a monthly fee to carry this card.
Competitors with a similar business model include GameStop
and their subsidiary EB Games, which also specialize in new and used video games. In addition to customer trade-ins, the store sold used games once offered for rental in Hollywood Video stores.
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
. It was a subsidiary of Movie Gallery
Movie Gallery
Movie Gallery, Inc. was the second largest movie and game rental company in the United States, behind Blockbuster Video. The company rented and sold Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and video games...
. The stores were often, but not always, located adjacent to Hollywood Video rental stores.
All except two of GameCrazy's locations have closed after parent company Movie Gallery's bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and liquidation.
History
In late-2003, to compete in a growing video game market, Hollywood Entertainment launched a store-within-a-storeStore-within-a-store
A store within a store is an agreement in which the owner of a shop lets a part of the shop site to be used by different company to run another shop. This agreement is popular among filling stations and supermarkets. Many bookstores partner with coffee shops, as customers often desire a place to...
concept called GameCrazy. It featured the ability to buy, sell, and trade video games, systems, and accessories inside of Hollywood Video Stores , while Movie Gallery launched a similar initiative called Game Zone. Each respective location offered video games for all "next generation" platforms in both new and used conditions. Select locations offer product for older systems such as the NES and Sega Genesis titled "classic plastic". GameCrazy enabled customers to play a particular title, new or used, prior to purchase. This "try before you buy" option was a staple GameCrazy policy.
Both Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video brands have rolled out special "store within store" video game areas. Game Zones are developed and implemented for use within Movie Gallery locations while GameCrazy was generally used within Hollywood Video stores. While many locations operate these areas as completely separate brands (i.e. Both Game Zone / GameCrazy operated with segregated staff and management), others operated using a single unified staff. While the majority of GameCrazy's were located within their respective rental partner, standalone GameCrazy retail chains are expanding.
As of December 31, 2006, there were 634 GameCrazy locations which were generally located within the same building as Hollywood Video. The construction of standalone "concept stores" are ongoing with the most recent being opened in Las Vegas, Nevada. GameCrazy contributed 13% to Movie Gallery's revenue for 2006, with 70% of its revenue coming from new and used software and 30% from new and used hardware products. GameCrazy competed with both other specialty retail video game stores, such as Game Stop and the fast-growing video game franchise, Play N Trade
Play N Trade
Play N Trade is a video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters are in San Clemente, California, United States currently operates stores throughout the United States and Canada and is referred to itself as in press releases as "the fastest-growing video game retail...
, as well as big box retailer such as Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
, Walmart, and Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
.
Downfall
The company began having financial difficulties despite its major efforts to respond to business challenges. In October 2007, Movie GalleryMovie Gallery
Movie Gallery, Inc. was the second largest movie and game rental company in the United States, behind Blockbuster Video. The company rented and sold Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and video games...
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy code. Because of these troubles, the stock price fell below $1 per share and were removed from lising from the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
stock exchange in November 2007.
On September 28, 2009, Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
based Movie Gallery
Movie Gallery
Movie Gallery, Inc. was the second largest movie and game rental company in the United States, behind Blockbuster Video. The company rented and sold Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and video games...
, which owned GameCrazy, announced it would close 200 of its 680 stores by the end of October 2009 due to financial problems brought on from the failing video stores.
Movie Gallery's stock price fell from $1.25 at close in October 2009 to $.05 at close on December 2009, and many locations fell behind on rent. As a result, the company hired restructuring firm Moelis & Company
Moelis & Company
Moelis & Company is a global investment banking and merchant banking firm. The firm provides advisory services related to mergers & acquisitions, recapitalization & restructuring, capital markets advisory and risk advisory...
, giving it a 60-day grace period to negotiate with lenders and landlords. But it was forced into bankruptcy a second time in February 2010.
During a company-wide conference call on April 30, 2010, it was announced that all U.S. Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, and GameCrazy stores would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May 2010 and wind down business. Analysts generally believe that Movie Gallery & Hollywood Video's unprofitability, caused by competition from Blockbuster Inc. and online retailers such as Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
and Redbox
Redbox
Redbox is an American company that specializes in the rental of DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and video games via automated retail kiosks. As of the end of June 2011, Redbox had over 33,000 kiosks in over 27,800 locations....
, was one of the major factors in the company's decision to close the retail chain.
As of August 7, 2010 the GameCrazy.com site shows that it is in the process of selling the domain and other intangible assets, linking only to the details of the bankruptcy and a self-service portal for former employees.
Store information
As a video game specialty store, GameCrazy dealt primarily in new and used video game related products such as consoles, accessories, and games. Remuneration for video game and accessory trade-ins was provided in the form of cash or store credit. Consoles were provided with a credit value as cash was not given for previously used video game systems. Noteworthy was the GameCrazy price matching policy whereby the retailer will generally exceed the trade-in value offered by a physical retailer and/or competitor by 5%.Midnight launches for highly anticipated titles were common but not compulsory.
GameCrazy instituted a "Wishlist" and "Special Order" feature which allowed the gamer the ability to procure elusive video game related product. The wish list notified the staff once a desired product has been traded in by flagging that particular item in the Point of Sale. For immediate action, a special order could be placed where the desired item was shipped from the nearest GameCrazy to the consumer's local store.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) was a service offered by GameCrazy which provided customers with a 10% discount on used games and accessories as well as a 10% increase in video game trade-in value. Recently, GameCrazy launched an upgraded discount card called MVP Plus. This not only provided the 10% discount on used games and accessories, but also could be used at other businesses. It also provided a 5% cash back incentive to a member, through the MVP Plus login website, where a form was printed out, and relevant purchase receipts were mailed off. The card member then received a check in the mail for the 5% cash back. There was a monthly fee to carry this card.
Competitors with a similar business model include GameStop
GameStop
GameStop Corporation is an American video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, United States, operates 6,500 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New...
and their subsidiary EB Games, which also specialize in new and used video games. In addition to customer trade-ins, the store sold used games once offered for rental in Hollywood Video stores.