Month: March 2021

RC Ventures On Pace to Control GameStop Board

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

While GameStop’s shares fell 33.79% today due to a disappointing but expected Q4 earnings release, the market largely ignored the greatest news of all: RC Ventures is on pace to control GameStop’s board.

In Item 9B. Other Information, the filing reveals that, as of yesterday, the Board has not determined the definitive slate of nominees but currently expects that the following incumbent directors will retire from the Board at the 2021 Annual Meeting: Lizabeth Dunn, Paul Evans, Raul J. Fernandez, Reginald Fils-Aimé, William Simon, James K. Symancyk, Carrie W. Teffner and Kathy P. Vrabeck.

The contemplated retirements are not because of a disagreement with us on any matter relating to our operations, policies or practices.

This indicates that the only remaining board members will be: George E. Sherman, Alan Attal, Ryan Cohen, Jim Grube, and Kurtis J. Wolf.

Alan Attal, Ryan Cohen, and Jim Grube, all of which are former Chewy execs, were the board members put forth in the agreement with RC Ventures.

Kurtis J. Wolf was placed on the board in June 2020 following his Restore Gamestop activism. In May 2020, Hestia Capital Partners LP, Permit Capital Enterprise Fund, L.P, his investment group, issued a detailed 80-page presentation titled “More Change Is Needed,” advocating for stockholder representation and a non-retail centric turnaround.

Kurtis J. Wolf was also recently placed on the Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation Committee, alongside Ryan Cohen and Alan Attal.

It’s safe to assume that Kurtis J. Wolf will be siding with RC on any votes within the board.

With Kathy P. Vrabeck retiring, the Executive Chairman role will be freed up as well. Gotta wonder who will fill that role.

So that leaves the legacy board with only George E. Sherman. Diana Saadeh-Jajeh is currently the interim CFO, but does not hold a seat on the board. It is likely we will see Diana Saadeh-Jajeh retire once a permanent Chief Financial Officer is found as well. You don’t have to look far for who we expect it to be. Diana Saadeh-Jajeh’s retirement will also free up the Chief Accounting Officer position.

With George Sherman remaining as the only legacy board member, the Chief Executive Officer will be outnumbered four to one.

Unless GameStop nominates replacement board members ahead of the 2021 Annual Meeting, we will see the thirteen-member board fall to just five, with RC at the helm. 

Source: GameStop Form 10-K

GameStop Is Moving in the Right Direction

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

In this clip from What’d You Miss? on Bloomberg TV, GMEdd.com co-proprietor Rod Alzmann speaks with Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde and Joe Weisenthal about how GameStop is trying to look past lackluster Q4 results that sent the shares sliding today. Rod also discusses how the company has appointed a trio of new executives with tech experience to its ranks.

Source: Bloomberg 

GameStop Appoints Chief Operating Officer from Amazon, VP of E-Commerce from Chewy

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

GameStop Corp. today announced that it has appointed Jenna Owens to the role of Chief Operating Officer. The company has also appointed Neda Pacifico to the role of Senior Vice President of E-Commerce, and Ken Suzuki to the role of Vice President of Supply Chain Systems.

Ms. Owens brings approximately two decades of technology, operations, fulfillment, and supply chain experience to GameStop. Most recently, she was Director and General Manager for Distribution and Multi-Channel Fulfillment at Amazon. Ms. Owens has a start date of March 29, 2021.

Neda Pacifico, Senior Vice President of E-Commerce – Ms. Pacifico, who previously served as Chewy’s Vice President of E-Commerce, has a start date of March 29, 2021. She spent nearly four-and-a-half years at Amazon in a variety of customer insights and marketing roles prior to joining Chewy. In her new role, Ms. Pacifico will lead initiatives in areas that include analytics, UI/UX and product design.  

Ken Suzuki, Vice President of Supply Chain Systems – Mr. Suzuki, who previously served as Zulily’s Vice President of Supply Chain Technology, has a start date of March 29, 2021. He has more than two decades of experience in the e-commerce, informational technology and software engineering areas. In his new role, Mr. Suzuki will be responsible for all systems and software related to GameStop’s supply chain, including order management systems (OMS) and warehouse management systems (WMS).

Source: GameStop News Release

The Numbers Are Out — Q4 2020 Earnings Report

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

GameStop has reported the much-anticipated results for the fourth quarter ended December 31st, 2020 and fiscal year 2020.

 

Achieved 6.5% Increase in Comparable Store Sales During Fourth Quarter, With Global E-Commerce Sales Increasing 175% for the Fourth Quarter and 191% for Fiscal 2020

Expense Reduction Initiatives Drove $409 Million, or 21%, SG&A Improvement in Fiscal 2020

Strengthened the Balance Sheet and Ended Fiscal 2020 With $635 Million in Total Cash, Laying the Foundation for Transformation

Announces the Appointment of Technology Veteran Jenna Owens as New Chief Operating Officer

 

Global E-Commerce sales (included in comparable store sales) increased 175% and represented 34% of net sales in the fiscal 2020 fourth quarter versus 12% of net sales in the fiscal 2019 fourth quarter.

We’ll be going more in-depth on these results shortly. For now, all eyes are on the conference call @ 5 PM ET. Tune in here.

Source: GameStop News Release

GameStop Q4 Earnings Call LIVE @ 5PM

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

GameStop will report earnings after the market closes on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. This will be followed by an investor conference call at 5:00 pm Eastern. 

During the Q4 conference, the viewer cap was reached before it had even begun, so tune into GMEdd.com where we will be livestreaming the call for everyone.

Read the full transcript here.

Source: GameStop News Room

Ryan Cohen: Let Me Get to the Bottom of This

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

When New Jersey teacher Steven Titus sent emails to GameStop Corp. complaining about the slow shipping of an order, he received a late night call to apologize – from a director on the video game retailer’s board.

Ryan Cohen took it upon himself to speak with the New Jersey teacher.

“I just got your email, I’m so sorry this happened. Let me get to the bottom of this,” Ryan Cohen told Titus.

Ryan Cohen then asked GameStop’s new customer service chief Kelli Durkin, who spearheaded initiatives at Chewy that included written personal notes to customers, to look into the matter.

Titus was reimbursed for his purchase, even though he had not requested a refund and was only complaining about the tardiness of his order.

This phone call is stated to have occured in early March.

As previously speculated, it’s safe to say that some of Ryan’s first initiatives at GameStop will be to revamp the customer service experience, as proven by his recruiting of Kelli Durkin into the role of Senior Vice President of Customer Service at GameStop.

Source: Reuters

Chief Customer Officer Out Ahead of ER

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

The Ryan Cohen lead transformation continues, as GameStop Corp. announces via regulatory filing  Chief Customer Officer Frank Hamlin will be departing on March 31st, effective today. Hamlin has served as one of GameStop’s Executive Vice Presidents, a role he was appointed to in June of 2019. 

As CCO, Hamlin’s responsibilities have revolved around defining and driving the company’s overall customer-centric initiatives as it relates to Marketing, customer loyalty, the omnichannel business, strategy and innovation. He previously served as GameStop’s Chief Marketing Officer, where he oversaw all aspects of strategic marketing, as well as leading cross-functional teams in delivering consumer-and brand-centric strategies, pursuing new business opportunities, and driving new customer acquisitions and brand affinity programs to help make video game culture come to life in every neighborhood. 

Frank describes himself on LinkedIn:

Experienced Executive and Board Service in the retail industry, leading transformative customer experience innovation and profit maximization of large digital customer ecosystems.

Frank had returned to GameStop in 2018, after having served as CMO from 2014 to 2016.  In the interim, he was Executive Vice President and CMO for Tailored Brands, the parent of Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A Bank, and Joseph Abboud, among others. Prior to GameStop, Frank served in Marketing and Operations leadership roles for other notable organizations, including Guitar Center, E-Miles, LLC, H.E. Butt Grocery, and Brierley & Partners to name a few. 

Source: SEC