In a repetition of news that seems to be almost every week, the transformation team has hired more former Amazon and Chewy executives.

Elliott Wilke has been appointed to the role of Chief Growth Officer. 

Mr. Wilke brings nearly two decades of branding, consumer goods and e-commerce experience to GameStop. He joins from Amazon, where he spent the past seven years holding a variety of senior roles across segments such as Amazon Fresh, Prime Pantry and Worldwide Private Brands. He began his career at Proctor & Gamble and spent more than a decade in brand manager and marketing roles of increasing responsibility. At GameStop, Mr. Wilke will oversee growth strategies and marketing, with a focus on increasing customer loyalty and growing the reach of Power Up Rewards and Game Informer. He will also work with other leaders on initiatives that include expanding the Company’s use of customer insights and metrics to optimize channel marketing.    

Additionally, the Company made two other executive hires:

• Andrea Wolfe, Vice President of Brand Development – Ms. Wolfe, who previously served as Chewy’s Vice President of Marketing, started March 29, 2021. She has held executive and director-level marketing roles at companies such as Outdoorsy, Spreetrail and Whole Foods. In her new role, Ms. Wolfe will help drive branding, content, social media strategy and other digital initiatives.
• Tom Petersen, Vice President of Merchandising – Mr. Petersen, who previously served as Chewy’s Vice President of Merchandising, started March 29, 2021. He has also held senior marketing and merchandising roles at specialty retailers such as Artenza and Corro. In his new role, Mr. Petersen will help drive vendor relations, product management and related merchandising initiatives.

Yesterday, we said that it was possible Ryan Cohen would give these analysts something to chirp about in their discussion today, and it appears he followed through. We’re glad to see GameStop attracting talent that is leagues better than the legacy management.

Source: GameStop Newsroom

GameStop Corp. has taken some pointers from Ryan Cohen’s November 2020 Letter to the Board.

Hidden within Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations on GameStop’s latest 10-K report investors receive a brief overview of the steps the company plans to take to reboot in 2021.

While this isn’t an adequate enough roadmap to detail a true transformation, it does acknowledge many of the suggestions investors have made.

GameStop’s latest 10-K report.

GameStop states that it plans on investing in technology capabilities, including by in-sourcing talent and revamping systems. GameStop has also noted that it plans to expand product offerings to better accommodate PC gaming.

The emphasis on customer experience is reminiscent of Chewy, which has, since creation, been acclaimed for stellar support. Ryan Cohen recently personally reached out to a dissatisfied customer, so it is likely this is a top priority of the new management team.

While you can expect GMEdd.com to continue to pick apart the 89-page release in the following days, we recommend our readers glance over it themselves as it provides a look into the company’s financials, initiatives, and leaders.

Source: GameStop Form 10-K

March 25th Editorial Update: Today, GameStop has responded to a tweet asking them, and Ryan Cohen, if they would be expanding greater into the board game market. GameStop responded “We agree! We love games of all kinds and we are excited to expand our selection in the near future.”Source: GameStop on Twitter

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