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On May 12th, GameStop launched a new Twitter profile: @GameEsports.
This is in line with GameStop’s goals to expand into Esports, a market that RC Ventures described great opportunity in during the November 2020 letter to the board.
Significantly upgrading e-commerce can provide for greater revenue capture across larger gaming catalogs, digital content and community experiences, online trade-ins, streaming services and Esports.
So far, there isn’t much to see besides a tweet announcing the creation. The gaming retailer states that the profile will offer chances to compete, win prizes, and more.
It seems the same customer service team responsible to responding to fans on @GameStop is running this account as well, as there are a few comical replies, including a Cohen-inspired South Park gif.
We’re going to keep this Twitter profile on our radar, as we look forward to seeing what’s next for GameStop within the growing Esports scene.
At some point last night, Ryan Cohen felt the obligation to unfollow Elon Musk while #dontbuytesla and #FuckElonMusk trended on Twitter.
Bitcoin speculators are outraged that the Technoking of Tesla caused the “digital gold” to fall almost 17% to its lowest point since the beginning of March by axing the ability to accept Bitcoin as payment.
It seems Ryan wants nothing to do with that.
The incoming GameStop Chairman of the Board has also unfollowed Steam, PC Gamer, and Geekwire. He has added NintendoAmerica, as to be impartial.
This leaves Cohen with only 4 follows: Xbox, PlayStation, NintendoAmerica, and GameStop. How fashionable.
Let us know when you want to make it 5, Ryan. Check us out on Twitter @GMEdd.
At 9:13 PM EST, Ryan Cohen has shared a photo visiting an Arlington, Virginia GameStop location. Cohen is checking out the Xbox section, reminding us of the Microsoft deal struck in October 2020.
Cohen appears to be holding a bag, but there is no way of telling what is in it.
Cohen’s thumbs-up emoji could indicate he was pleased with the service he received as a shopper. We have to wonder if these GameStop employees know who they’re dealing with.
Despite 67 degree weather by the Nation’s capital today, Cohen opted for a slick $1,000 Moncler jacket, zipped up three-fourths the way. The jacket is paired with some black joggers, offering a tight fit. His black disposable face mask compliments the ensemble nicely.
el3ment#7127 on the GMEdd Discord has determined that Ryan Cohen is holding a Micro Mobility e-scooter, possibly for zipping around the city or mall.
On Nov. 16, 2019, the Arlington County Board adopted regulations for Micro-Mobility Devices (e-scooters) that allow their use on sidewalks (with limitations), trails, and bike lanes, unless specifically signed or marked otherwise. It is possible that Ryan Cohen was breaking the rules by bringing it inside a GameStop.
The filter used appears to be similar to iPhone’s “Dramatic Cool” set to about 30% with a boost in contrast to bring out the black in his fit.
At 2:00PM EST today, the official @GameStop on Twitter has tweeted a man on the moon.
Been away for the past few months. What did I miss?
The photoshopped image depicts an astronaut relaxing on the moon with a cold glass of Carlsberg beer in his grip. The astronaut is lounging with his feet also on a Carlsberg branded cooler.
GameStop took the opportunity to photoshop their shortened “GS” logo onto his armband.
The tweet was sent out via Salesforce Social Studio, which indicates it was likely posted by a social media manager put in place under the transformation team, as this platform wasn’t utilized by GameStop until recently.
Source: GameStop on Twitter
May 12, 2021 Editorial Update: A Reddit user claims to have spoken with GameStop’s SVP of Customer Care Kelli Durkin, who stated that the Marketing team made the post, and her customer service team has been trying to have fun and keep up with the responses.
Investors can learn a lot about the transformation brewing behind-the-scenes at GameStop by looking at the company’s latest hires on LinkedIn.
GameStop has recruited two new Vice Presidents, Marc Dellisanti and Josh Krueger. Dellisanti was brought on in April 2021, and Krueger in March 2021.
Marc Dellisanti will serve as GameStop’s Vice President of Technology Operations, and Josh Krueger as GameStop’s Vice President of Fulfillment.
Both individuals have a shared background in working at Zulily, an American e-commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
Zulily describes itself as:
Since its launch in early 2010, Zulily continues to reinvent itself, providing a fun shopping experience full of products millions of customers around the world love, at prices they can brag about. We’re a fast-paced, data-driven and down-to-earth company, dedicated to defying expectations. Our unique business model is just one example.
Another notable hire is Gaby Herrera, a former Learning and Development Manager at Chewy. Herrera has been recruited for a similar role at GameStop, becoming the Director of Learning and Development.
Gabby’s LinkedIn biography states:
Experienced Human Resources professional with a knack for Learning and Development. Fast thinker, strong willed, people focused and process oriented. Experienced and skilled in hospitality, luxury and retail, specifically, but adaptable and open to any fields and always expanding horizons.
GameStop will likely continue to hire individuals skilled in e-commerce to support the transformation, and GMEdd will be keeping eyes out for further hires.
Sources: Josh Krueger on LinkedIn, Marc Dellisanti on LinkedIn, Gaby Herrera on LinkedIn
At 6:32 PM, Ryan Cohen has retweeted an April 28th, 2021 tweet by GameStop SVP of Customer Care Kelli Durkin. Kelli Durkin was the mastermind of the award-winning customer support over at Chewy, and has since been brought onto the GameStop team by Cohen.
In the tweet, Kelli shared a LinkedIn job listing for GameStop looking to hire new customer care support associates. The job listing is located in Grapevine, Texas, but appears to be working remote as well, as several applicants were urged to apply from different locations such as Florida.
The job descriptions states:
GameStop’s environment is dynamic and fast paced. We work hard, but we have fun, too! We are not looking for order-takers or script-readers – we’re searching for those who can engage with our guests and think critically to help the guest find the right products, set up their accounts, track down orders and get creative with solutions.
Kelli also included several Cohen-esque emojis: Two ice cream cones, followed by a bear and a set of peering eyes.
The GameStop SVP has been a friend of the GameStop investor community, even sharing several “likes” on Twitter for GMEdd posts in the past. Kelli has been credited with the decision to begin responding to GameStop customers via their Twitter handle.
The transformation begins.
GameStop will be putting their recently raised $551M to use, announcing a new fulfillment center on the east coast.
This will begin the expansion of GameStop’s North American fulfillment network through its entry into a lease of a 700,000 square foot fulfillment center in York, Pennsylvania. This facility is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2021 and will support ecommerce and fulfillment needs. GameStop expects this fulfillment center in York, Pennsylvania will position the company to grow product offerings and expedite shipping across the east coast.
When Ryan Cohen was asked about fulfillment at Chewy during his TechCrunch interview in 2019, the founder discussed his opening of a fulfillment center in Pennsylvania, where, over the years, that warehouse has grown so much the company subsidized a Capital Area Transit bus route from Harrisburg and even opened a nearby recruiting office.
We hit an inflection point where three [third-party logistics companies] we were working with [were getting overwhelmed]. We’d give them weekly or monthly projections so they could plan ahead and have warehouse space, but they didn’t fully believe our growth and by the end of 2013, we had these 3PLs that couldn’t scale any more, so we had to bring fulfillment in-house.
We hired a bunch of people who were experts in fulfillment and we flew to Mechanicsburg, Pa. to lease a 400,000-square-foot space, and within nine months or so, we became expert at doing fulfillment. It was risky. It was totally outside of our areas of competence. But by August of 2014, after breaking everything first, that center was humming along, and then we launched another in Reno. At that point, we went national.
More recently, in March 2021, Chewy announced another, new, Pennsylvania fulfillment center, and this one is located in York, same as GameStop. Chewy’s new facility is also similar in square footage, at about 732,000-square-feet.
GameStop Corp. today announced that on April 30, 2021 it completed its voluntary early redemption of $216.4 million in principal amount of its 10.0% Senior Notes due 2023. This voluntary early redemption covered the entire amount of the outstanding 10% Senior Notes, which represented all of the Company’s long-term debt.
If the $551M raised through the share offering was funding this early redemption, GameStop still has ~$335M of that capital to spend towards transformation efforts.
In GameStop’s Q4 2020 Form 10-K filed March 17th 2021, these 2023 Senior Notes were cited as a restriction to the company’s ability to take advantage of certain business opportunities, such as:
With long-term debt eliminated, GameStop will be free to declare dividends, repurchase stock, make loans, sell assets, engage in mergers and acquisitions, and more. This action enables the company to remain flexible while undergoing the transformation.
The House Committee on Financial Services has announced the hearing schedule for the month of May. Included in the list is the third, and perhaps final, hearing on the GameStop-Robinhood-Reddit saga.
On May 6 at 12PM ET, the full Committee will convene for a virtual hearing entitled, “Game Stopped? Who Wins and Loses When Short Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Investors Collide, Part III.”
The first Committee hearing on GameStop included representatives such as Vlad Tenev of Robinhood, Ken Griffin of Citadel, Gabe Plotkin of Melvin Capital, and Keith Gill aka Roaring Kitty.
The second took place in Marchand heard testimony from from “experts” and investor advocates regarding regulatory gaps revealed by these events, and “assessed possible legislative steps to protect investors.”
This final hearing, as declared by Maxine Waters, will include testimony by:
GMEdd will feature a #regulatory channel on the Official GMEdd.com Discord server to discuss the hearing live.
Ryan Cohen really loves his comedies.
At 1:35PM, the incoming GameStop Chairman has tweeted a gif of Mr. Hankey, a talking poo, from South Park.
In the gif, the character simply blinks, without any closed captions. This meant GMEdd had to dig deeper.
The clip, featuring Mr. Hankey, originates from Episode 110 of South Park.
The friendly poo tries to convince South Park to all work together, and stop focusing on all the bad. pic.twitter.com/vkLTWyE4KH
— GameStop Due Diligence (@GMEdd) April 29, 2021
We found that the clip originates from Episode 110 of South Park, the ninth episode of the first season, titled “Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo.”
In the episode, the Jewish character Kyle feels excluded from the town’s celebrations during Christmas , and is comforted by Mr. Hankey, a talking and singing lump of feces wearing a red hat. Mr. Hankey does not come alive in the presence of other characters, so they think that Kyle is delusional. In another plot strand, the townspeople remove all religious aspects of Christmas from South Park to remain politically correct and inoffensive.
The segment of the episode that Cohen’s gif originates from is a scene where Mr. Hankey tries to convince the town of South Park to all work together, and stop focusing on all of the bad.
