GameStop Explores Expansion into Web3, NFT Marketplace, and Blockchain Gaming Platform

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

GameStop’s latest job postings share an inside-look at their plans in the metaverse, including blockchain, Web3, and hints towards a futuristic NFT marketplace.

On Friday, GMEdd published clues that Loopring has the technology that GameStop would require to bridge traditional e-commerce and blockchain and engineer the revolution of gaming.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, GameStop isn’t holding back.

GMEdd.com’s #gme-tracker bot has published GameStop’s latest daily job postings since early June 2021, even picking up on some blunders in September. Sorry.

The bot sends the latest jobs postings every day at 11:00 PM EST.

On October 25th, GameStop shared 8 new job listings for 3 different roles within their NFT division, featuring descriptions and requirements detailing the company’s ambitions in the rapidly-evolving industry.

Heard from the grapevine before grapevine

The jobs were posted as remote working opportunities based out of the windy city of Seattle, Washington, the home of GameStop in Grapevine, Texas, and Ryan Cohen’s very own South Florida.

Wow, who would have thought?

We would’ve thought.

GMEdd first publicized GameStop’s corporate expansion into South Florida in May, and Seattle in July. GameStop confirmed the Florida offices in September, and Seattle-based employees have since shared images on Twitter, verifying GameStop’s new grasp on the tech hub of The Pacific Northwest.

GameStop’s latest job listings call to hire a Director of Product Marketing – NFT Platform, Sr Software Engineer – NFT Platform, and a Product Owner – Head of Web3 Gaming.

Three new nifty roles within the ranks for GameStop Corp.

Titles are great, but what do the jobs entail? Take a look at the job descriptions and some of the requests of applicants, pulled right from GameStop Careers.

Director of Product Marketing, NFT Platform

GameStop’s Job Description

Have you built products from scratch? Have you launched new initiatives and grown them to billions in revenue? If so, we want to talk to you. GameStop is looking for a unique individual who is a blend of Product Marketer and Product Owner to help take out NFT platform to the next level. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated success in a high pressure challenging environments, is skilled at developing partnerships internally and externally, and has delivered results in record time.

GameStop’s Job Responsibilities and Nice to haves

Full archive available here

Senior Software Engineer, NFT Platform

GameStop’s Job Description

GameStop is looking for a Sr. Software Engineer to join our NFT/Blockchain team. This role will be remote and will collaborate with a team of engineers, product managers, designers, and business partners distributed across the U.S. In this role, you will help design, build, and maintain highly scalable services and core API components, powering products and features that delight millions of GameStop customers. The ideal candidate will be customer-obsessed, highly collaborative, and passionate about creating customer experiences that are both frictionless and delightful. A passion for gaming, crypto and e-commerce are a plus!

GameStop’s Job Responsibilities and nice to haves

Full archive available here

Product Owner, Head of Web3 Gaming

GameStop’s Job Description

Have you built products from scratch? Have you launched new initiatives and grown them to billions in revenue? Have you dabbled in the new Web3 world? Are you a gamer to your core? If so, you belong here with us.

GameStop is looking for a unique individual who can help accelerate the future of gaming and commerce. In this future, games are the places to go, and play is driven by the things you bring. Future creators won’t just build games but also the components, characters, and equipment. Blockchains will power the commerce underneath.  An ideal candidate will have experience across several domains in gaming, content creation, partnerships, game design/development/mechanics, and a general understanding and experience with Ethereum, NFTs, and blockchain based gaming platforms.

GameStop’s Job Responsibilities and nice to haves

Full archive available here

crypto punk? Welcome aboard.

GameStop states that applicants would be nice to have NFT marketplace experience and knowledge of crypto, Ethereum and Ethereum Layer 2 products for both the Director of Product Marketing and the Senior Software Engineer positions.

Hiring individuals with NFT marketplace and Ethereum Layer 2 experience shouldn’t be a surprise considering clues point toward GameStop launching an NFT marketplace with Ethereum Layer 2-based platform Loopring as early as Q4 2021.

GameStop’s Director of Product Marketing, NFT Platform job position

GameStop states that the Director of Product Marketing will be responsible for the development and execution of the marketing strategy for GameStop’s NFT platform including product go-to-market, creator acquisition & partnerships, and consumer awareness & product adoption.

The Director of Product Marketing is also asked to think big about the future of NFTs, and how they can bring creators, partners, and gamers into the ecosystem more quickly.

Power to the players, Power to the creators, Power to the collectors

The career posting for Senior Software Engineer applicants states that the role will help design, build, and maintain highly scalable services and core API components, powering products and features that delight millions of GameStop customers.

The Senior Software Engineer, NFT, position also asks applicants to be passionate about building innovative customer experiences.

Blockchain will power the commerce underneath

Future creators won’t just build games…

GameStop’s Head of Web3 Gaming posting reads more like a tech startup’s investor pitch deck than a job listing.

In GameStop’s envisioned future, games are the places to go, and play is driven by the things you bring. 

This is beginning to sound bigger than any NFT marketplace we’ve seen yet.

An ideal candidate will have experience across several domains in gaming, content creation, partnerships, game design/development/mechanics, and a general understanding and experience with Ethereum, NFTs, and blockchain based gaming platforms.

When an entire game is built on a blockchain, every interaction within the game is stored and verifiable as new blocks. Most games that utilize blockchain currently only use NFTs to represent in-game assets, allowing players to buy, trade, and sell skins, weapons, pets, and more for real-world money.

Valve, the parent company of Steam, recently updated its distribution onboarding guidelines to ban any applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.

Blockchain gaming is largely uncharted territory by current tech giants, with Valve’s PC gaming platform Steam quietly banning games featuring NFTs and Blockchain implementations.

Microsoft and Sony, who GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen used to follow, haven’t even begun to express interest in the disruptive technology.

“Billions, with a b.”

GameStop goes as far as to ask industry thought leaders who have built products from scratch and grown them to billions in revenue to apply for this role. Hopefully it pays well.

Not only is the job description informative towards GameStop’s conceptual future,  so are the listed job responsibilities.

The job responsibilities of GameStop’s Head of Web3 Gaming.

Web3, in the context of Ethereum, refers to decentralized apps that run on the blockchain. These are apps that allow anyone to participate without monetizing their personal data.

[You will] drive GameStop’s future growth engine by building relationships with the newest, and largest game publishers in the world

GameStop’s Head of Web3 Gaming establishing relationships with the newest and largest game publishers in the world would position the company to change the way gamers purchase their digital games, with the potential to utilize blockchain to solve used digital.

The Head of Web3 Gaming would also be in charge of leading integrations with Ethereum Layer 2 environments. 

So what?

The job listings posted on October 25th hint that GameStop is trying to be the first to establish a mass-adopted cross-publisher and cross-platform NFT marketplace for digital assets.

This marketplace will likely utilize Loopring’s zkRollup Layer 2 protocol on Ethereum and explore all blockchain-based opportunities in the global gaming space.

The gaming retailer is looking to deeply understand possibilities for gaming within Web3, which decentralists consider the “Internet of the Future,” utilizing blockchain to provide a safe, secure, and incentivized experience for everyone.

It is clear that GameStop is operating a stealth start-up within the aspiring tech company, and investors should be enthusiastic to see what may be unveiled.

Sources: GameStop Careers 1, 2, 3, Bitcoin.com

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Clues Point Towards GameStop Launching NFT Marketplace with Leading Crypto Technology Company Loopring

Posted on by Toast and vestro

GameStop and Loopring are both working on strikingly similar confidential NFT projects and the evidence towards a partnership between the giants is glaring.

GMEdd.com first unearthed the existence of GameStop’s Official NFT project in May 2021 upon discovering a website that didn’t detail much besides a potential slogan for the project, and ever since then investors have speculated what GameStop NFT entails.

Power to the players. Power to the creators. Power to the collectors.

GameStop’s NFT landing page remains unchanged since the May posting.

In June, GMEdd.com covered GameStop’s hiring of Jordan Holberg, an eccentric geek, gamer, decentralist, and now GameStop’s Principal Engineer. We recommend reading that piece before this one, if you haven’t already.

“As Principal Engineer for GameStop,  and … with my analog childhood and digital adolescence, I am the bridge between the old and the new — traditional “legacy” ecommerce and the next generation of blockchain.”

Since the RC Ventures settlement with GameStop, the brick-and-mortar focused retailer has hired at least a dozen individuals in the pursuit of establishing an “NFTeam,” tasked with envisioning a future where traditional e-commerce is bridged with blockchain.

GMEdd’s full tech hire sheet can be seen on our Report and Models page.

Some NFTeam members are publicly-known on LinkedIn, but it is easy to assume that the division does not end here.

What is the company building?

All Roads Point to Finestone

At the center of this crypto task force is Matthew Finestone, CFA, who was granted the title Head of Blockchain at GameStop in April 2021, departing his position as Head of Business for Loopring.

LinkedIn indicates Matthew Finestone transitioned from Loopring to GameStop in April 2021.

Matthew Finestone was one of Loopring’s first employees, and largely worked to advocate for the company’s revolutionary technology, making his departure all the more mysterious.

When Finestone left his position at Loopring, he signed off with a resignation letter titled, “Thank you, Loopring,” still readable on Medium.

Finestone’s departure letter was posted on April 5th 2021.

This letter details Finestone’s years of commitment to Loopring, and states that it has been his life’s work.

Finestone believes that it is hard to have a work-life balance in the world of crypto, and that it all blends together when your passion is your job and your job is your passion.

Most interestingly, Finestone states that he views his next project as a once-in-a-lifetime, perfect-timing, far-reaching opportunity/challenge that he needs to pursue for its own sake, and for his own personal development.

Finestone details his reasons for departure.

Finestone also states that he will not only remain an advisor for Loopring, but he still owns equity in Loopring Technology Limited, and looks forward to remaining a part of the company’s bright future.

Once at GameStop, Finestone began sharing hints that his new gig will bring tens of millions onto Ethereum, through a “stealth startup unit” within a large public corporation.

Finestone seems as enthusiastic about his new project as his last.

What is Loopring? What’s the company building? Grab some popcorn and buckle up, it’s going to be a fun ride.

Ring Ring Ring Ring, Bananaphone

Loopring is a zkRollup Layer 2 protocol on Ethereum that describes itself as “an open-sourced, audited, and non-custodial exchange protocol.” It aims to allow anyone to build non-custodial, order book-based exchanges on Ethereum by leveraging zero-knowledge proofs.

Now, an explanation for all us smooth brains… What you need to know is that Loopring is aiming to leverage blockchain to become the leading user-facing financial services application in the world. Revolutionizing trading, investing, payments, ‘banking’, to become the gateway of choice for users to experience the parallel financial system of Ethereum — in all its glory and security.

GameStop’s hire of Jordan Holberg, who previously founded Hodlberg Financial, a project that would allow their users and traders to easily interact with a wider range of decentralized, authenticated applications without compromising any privacy, is starting to make sense.

Matthew Finestone discussed his work with Loopring in March of 2021.

Matthew Finestone himself states that Loopring is striving to build global, consumer-grade financial applications. Their focus is, overall, delighting users. Who does this remind you of?

The Founder’s Quarters

On August 29th, 2021, Loopring founder Daniel Wang was invited to participate in EDCON 2021 and gave a speech on the theme of “Counterfactual Wallet & NFTs on Loopring”.

Loopring was founded by Daniel Wang, a software engineer based in China who previously worked at internet companies including JD.com and Google.

At EDCON 2021, Daniel Wang stated that Loopring has no plans to launch their own marketplace, but the company is working with a premium owner to make sure they can launch theirs.

Some people ask me a question whether Loopring will launch our own marketplace. The answer is no. We don’t have a plan to launch our own NFT marketplace, but we are working with a premium owner to make sure they can launch their marketplace successfully and very soon, probably in Q4 and with a lot of other stuff.

The transcript was posted on Medium.com.

Every 3 months, Loopring releases a Quarterly Update, where the team details progress towards major product launches and what to expect in the months ahead.

With only days until the team’s much-anticipated 2021 Q3 Update, Loopring CEO Daniel Wang expressed overwhelming concern towards his inability to provide any details on the company’s secret NFT partner on his Official Loopring Discord server.

Daniel Wang sent several messages on Discord on September 27th, 2021

Translated from Chinese, albeit poorly, Daniel Wang states he is struggling to write the quarterly report with fear of leaking secrets and breaching a non-disclosure agreement.

I don’t know how to write this quarterly report. The big news hasn’t come out yet. I’ve written it for fear of leaking secrets and breaching the agreement… If you don’t write it, you feel empty and empty…

All of what the Loopring team has been working on for months relates to their premium NFT marketplace partner, and this partner won’t allow Wang to disclose anything about it. 

Sound familiar?

At GameStop’s Annual Shareholders Meeting, Ryan Cohen stated,

We know some people want us to lay out a whole detailed plan today, but that’s not gonna happen. You won’t find us talking a big game, making a bunch of lofty promises, or telegraphing our strategy to the competition. That’s the philosophy we adopted at Chewy.

If Wang doesn’t state Loopring’s progress, he will let down his investors, but if he does, he will break the contract. 

Daniel Wang sent several Discord messages before the Loopring Q3 Update

A few hours later, the Loopring CEO returns to Discord to urge his supporters to remain patient. Wang states, “just wait guys, the stuff that will be announced, will be worth 10 quarterly reports.”

Loopring has since teased the Q4 announcement, with several tweets on their @loopringorg Twitter profile.

Loopring’s tweets have a familiar energy.

GameStop.Loopring.Eth

Etherscan is a Block Explorer and Analytics Platform for Ethereum.

Essentially, Etherscan allows anyone to explore and search the Ethereum blockchain for transactions, addresses, tokens, prices, and other activities taking place.

One search of the Ethereum Name ‘gamestop.loopring.eth’ resolves to the address ‘0x269635DF1C17f24e15E27786f0C28C3DD409B3D2’.

gamestop.loopring.eth is a product of Matthew Finestone.

The only transaction sent to this smart contract wallet is from ‘0x381636d0e4ed0fa6acf07d8fd821909fb63c0d10’, an address owned by Matthew Finestone, Head of Blockchain at Gamestop, on May 27th, 2021, over a month into his GameStop employment.

Why would finestone.eth fund the wallet ‘gamestop.loopring.eth’?

GMEdd.com was able to confirm that finestone.eth is owned by Matthew Finestone of GameStop.

Finestone even uses one of the NFTs held by his finestone.eth account as his profile picture on Twitter.

New Subdomains, too

Through tracking GameStop’s subdomains as they emerge, internet sleuths can reveal a lot about what a company is working on.

GameStop has created a new NFT subdomain: support.nft.gamestop.com, as of October 22, 2021. 

gamestop.com has 519 unique subdomains as of today.

While it currently redirects to a Zendesk page stating that the support center does not exist, it shows GameStop is in the process of building a customer service platform directly for their NFT offering. 

Getting started on a support center possibly indicates how soon the GameStop NFT project will be launching. If there wasn’t a product announcement imminent, would the company be concerned with providing support?

Family Ties

It was a night of cocktails, shopping and beats at the brand new Aventura Mall hotspot Jared Lang. The shirts, shoes, swim, outerwear, and hosiery designer Jared Lang celebrated his eponymous store opening with a select group of VIP’s and fashionistas who checked out the brand new brick and mortar hotspot situated in between Tiffany & Co. and Givenchy in the luxury wing of Aventura Mall. 

Ashley Finestone was photographed at Jared Lang’s grand opening celebration.

The lavish event was on March 15, 2018 in Aventura, Florida. Thanks to photography by Andrew Stankus, we can see that Ashley Finestone was in attendance, photographed alongside designer Jared Lang.

Finestone… where have we seen that name before?

Ashley Finestone shared Matthew Finestone’s LinkedIn Post in May 2021.

“Proud of my brother as he embarks on his next endeavor,” says Ashley Finestone, as Matthew Finestone departs his position as Head of Business at Loopring for a project seeking full stack/blockchain/solidity developers “looking for a big challenge and opportunity….” later revealed to be GameStop.

Who else was photographed at this grand opening celebration?

Ryan Cohen was photographed at Jared Lang’s Grand Opening.

The man who brought dog food onto the internet himself, Ryan Cohen, co-founder of Chewy and Chairman of the Board at GameStop.

This shouldn’t be a surprise, as Jared Lang proclaims Ryan Cohen is his closest friend and brother-in-law.

Jared Lang on LinkedIn in 2019

So, GameStop’s future Chairman and the sister of GameStop’s future Head of Blockchain both happen to be “Select VIPs” at a small opening party all the way back in 2018?

The Cohen family ties seem to extend past Jared Lang, possibly even to Finestone.

If you think this may just be one hell of a cohencidence, look no further than Facebook.

Ryan Cohen’s wife updated her profile picture on May 12, 2020.

On a May 2020 profile picture update by Ryan Cohen’s wife¹, Ashley Finestone reacted with a heart.

We would never want to invade anyone’s personal privacy here at GMEdd.com, even in the pursuit of investigation, so do note that these are public posts, shared on social media.

Ashley Finestone has updated her profile picture too.

Another updated profile picture, this one by Ashley Finestone on the 9th of November, 2014, was liked by Ryan Cohen’s wife. 2014. 

We can also recall that Ryan Cohen is a college dropout from Montreal, Canada per a Forbes article from 2017. Matthew Finestone, however, graduated from McGill University, a school in Montreal, Canada.

Both Matthew Finestone and Ryan Cohen have roots in the Canadian city of Montreal.

It seems the relationship of Ryan Cohen and Matthew Finestone dates back much, much, further than the April 2021 hiring of Finestone as GameStop’s Head of Blockchain.

Is it possible that recruiting Matthew Finestone to lead an NFT division was part of Ryan Cohen’s transformation plan from the beginning?

Rolling it all back up

Nobody knows for certain what GameStop’s extensive NFT division has been working on. 

Loopring is keeping secrets as well, with the CEO disclosing that the Ethereum-based technology company is working with a premium partner who demands they keep quiet.

GameStop’s Head of Blockchain speaks with incredible passion about his time at Loopring, even a month after transitioning to working for GameStop.

Matthew Finestone sent out this tweet on May 12, 2021.

Although Matthew Finestone was formerly listed on LinkedIn as an Advisor to Loopring while simultaneously maintaining his employment at GameStop, he has since departed his advisory role at Loopring, possibly to stay in good corporate governance amid a partnership between both companies.

In Finestone’s Loopring departure letter, the former Head of Business left a heartfelt message to the engineering team, stating that he has absolutely zero doubt that Loopring’s future is bright.

Finestone’s Loopring departure speaks directly to the team he worked alongside.

Digital breadcrumbs allow for reasonable assumptions to be made, as it seems Loopring has the technology that GameStop would require to bridge traditional e-commerce and blockchain and engineer the revolution of gaming.

With Q4 of 2021 already underway, it is only a matter of time until Loopring’s NFT Marketplace partner is announced, and we can expect GameStop investors will be on the edge of their seats until then.

Toast and vestro researched and contributed. Toast edited and contributed.

Sources: Finestone on Medium, About Loopring, Facebook, Jared Lang on LinkedIn, Finestone on Twitter, Finestone on Twitter, Ashley Finestone on Facebook, World Red Eye, Loopring on Twitter, Loopring on Twitter, Forbes, Matt Finestone on LinkedIn, Ashley Finestone on LinkedIn, Finestone on Medium

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¹Personally identifiable information on a private individual has been redacted.

GameStop Bags Chewy Vice President of Engineering

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

“One day Chewy CEO Sumit Singh is going to come in to work and the entire office will just be empty, the trash cans overflowing after GME poaches everyone below him including the janitorial staff.” – woodcubed

GameStop’s recruiting team is relentless.

Several E-commerce giants have sacrificed executive talent to GameStop while the gaming retailer undergoes a historic transformation.

Just Chewing Away

Chewy’s Vice President of Engineering, Mark Bixby, has left his career at Chewy where he was responsible for building Chewy’s e-commerce platform, to take part in engineering the revolution of gaming.

Mark Bixby is now working remotely from Boston for GameStop Corp.

the revolution

In August, GameStop’s Group Director of eCommerce Engineering made a bold claim while searching for candidates to fill never-ending positions at the transforming gaming retailer, stating:

Want to be a part of engineering the revolution of gaming?

In the last six months, GameStop has recruited over 70 individuals from Chewy alone, including several vice presidents and team leaders.

GMEdd’s full tech hire sheet is available on our Report and Models page.

the navy seals of management teams

While this many hirings of this caliber is always impressive, Mark Bixby’s recruitment was anticipated by GMEdd 4 weeks ago.

In June, GMEdd built the GameStop Tracker, a publicly-accessible bot that alerts investors of new job postings at the company, using open resources.

You can check out the bot on our Discord server #gme-tracker.

The job posting by GameStop Corp. for a VP of Engineering, Ecommerce on September 2nd, 2021 caught our eyes.

Why? Because it was meant for Mark Bixby, literally.

GameStop’s job posting on September 2nd, 2021

It’s typical for a corporation that already has the candidate to establish a job posting in which anybody can apply, with the description defining the already selected candidate.

They just said the quiet part.

Oops.

Sources: GameStop.com Careers, Mark Bixby on LinkedIn

GameStop Quietly Reveals New Logo, Modern Overhaul

Posted on by Jenna and Toast

Since Ryan Cohen’s tech centric takeover, GameStop.com has faced constant updates in pursuit of e-commerce perfection.

Back in March of 2021, after over two decades of GameStop’s classic pure black and dark red logo, the company’s website was updated to feature all red lettering, seemingly putting the past behind them.

Following this update in June 2021, GMEdd took note of GameStop refreshing their corporate branding to a sleek black and white, a bold new look for the aspiring tech company’s digital presence.

Two months into Cohen’s entrance GameStop tried going all red.

Now What?

Within the past week, GameStop has updated its website logo, again, but not to their black and white logo from June, to something new we’ve never seen before.

The GameStop logo remained largely unchanged from 2000 until now.

Now, the logo is back to its original black and red, but the exact colors used are different. The red letters are now a more subdued shade of red, and the black letters are in a lighter shade of black.

The logo’s signature Impact font is also notably modernized, featuring curved edges in exchange for the old sharp lines.

Sharp lines are out, curvy is in.

We can’t help but take note that there’s another certain e-commerce giant with a very curvy logo, all the way from a to z.

Updates Across the Board

The logo change isn’t the only fresh look on the website. 

GameStop.com’s digital storefront has gone through several major overhauls since Cohen took over and it’s likely we will continue to see incremental changes to the platform.

GameStop’s Investor Relations page has also undergone a significant update, introducing new branding with refreshed font, and fun gaming-related banners. 

It is as if they’re trying to appeal to a new kind of investor. 

GameStop’s new board pushed for an update to their investor relations pages.

The update to GameStop’s investor relations appeared on September 6th, 2021, shortly before GameStop’s Q2 2021 Earnings announcement.

The branding seen in this section of their site matches that of the job listing posts by GameStop on LinkedIn that started about a month ago.

GameStop’s branding is facing refreshes in all departments.

GMEdd’s Tech Hires sheet details over 180 tech-related hires since RC Ventures’ January takeover, including new designers and graphic artists.

Pixel by pixel, GameStop must implement both subtle and powerful changes, while retaining the retail giant’s distinguished look that gamers across the world have resonated with for over twenty years.

Jenna and Toast wrote this article exclusively for GMEdd, Toast edited

Sources: Wayback Machine, Wayback Machine, GameStop.com, GameStop on LinkedIn

Ryan Cohen: Talk is Cheap, It Takes Money to Buy Whiskey

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

On Sunday, September 26th, the GameStop Chairman tweeted an old American proverb in a telling manner towards his strategy.

After Ryan Cohen co-founded Chewy in 2011 and sold the company to Petsmart for $3.35 billion just six years later, the financial media was dying to know the e-commerce mogul’s next start-up.

In a surprising move that disrupted retail brick-and-mortar unlike ever before, Ryan Cohen’s RC Ventures was awarded 3 seats on GameStop’s board in January 2021.

Since then, Cohen has cleared house, with fresh officers and new management now at the helm of the gaming giant.

The reception

While the talking heads of the financial world still try to make sense of it, the stock is up 1,725% since September of last year and Ryan Cohen has remained silent about his strategy, driving them crazy.

Analysts such as Loop Capital’s Anthony Chukumba stay awake at night over GameStop’s antics, refusing to cover the stock.

Ryan Cohen explained this mindset to shareholders at GameStop’s annual meeting.

We know some people want us to lay out a whole detailed plan today, but that’s not gonna happen. You won’t find us talking a big game, making a bunch of lofty promises, or telegraphing our strategy to the competition. 

The Twitter Genius

One look at Ryan Cohen’s Twitter and you would be hard-pressed to believe this man is running any public company, nonetheless one the market values at $14 billion.

Ryan Cohen has been tweeting comedic gifs and hard-to-decipher memes for almost a year now, but his most recent didn’t take long for investors to comprehend.

On September 26, 2021 Ryan Cohen tweeted, “Talk is cheap, it takes money to buy whiskey.”

The phrase “talk is cheap, it takes money to buy whiskey,” which was first ever seen in the Chicago Daily Tribune on November 21, 1891, means that it’s easier for someone to say that he will do something than to actually do it. 

Many who run public companies make a bunch of lofty promises, leaving Ryan Cohen as a contrarian. He prefers to execute.

Work Hard in Silence

While GameStop rarely announces corporate strategy, GMEdd has logged over 180 tech-related hires at GameStop Corp., just via LinkedIn.

Something must be brewing.

A recent job posting at GameStop.com for a Senior Full-Stack Order Management System Software Developer at the new Florida center reveals that GameStop believes the hype is real, and they are now laying the foundation for the next generation of an iconic company.

GameStop’s job posting often reveal what the up to behind-the-scenes

Although many GameStop investors are eager to hear more from the reserved Chairman, the tweeting of a simple proverb is enough to raise some’s bullish spirits.

Let’s just hope it’s some nice whiskey.

Sources: Ryan Cohen on Twitter, GameStop.com

GameStop Hiring 500 New Employees in South Florida

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

Customer care was always the focus at Chewy, so GameStop’s increased investments in support for the gaming retailer should be no surprise.

GameStop Corp. today announced that the company plans to hire up to 500 employees at its newly-leased customer service center in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

The new 30,000 square foot facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2021.

First Stop to the moon, Florida

On top of what we saw in the spring, GameStop has reportedly been recruiting vigorously in South Florida, with the company’s very own Kelli Durkin, Senior Vice President Customer Service, sharing a photo of a new billboard via Twitter.

GameStop may finally be embracing their new meme status. How do you do, fellow kids?

The SVP has been interactive with fans on Twitter, sharing selfies at corporate events and around the office.

When Ryan Cohen, GameStop’s Chairman, was asked how he finds his management teams during a 2018 Miami Herald interview, he gave his endorsement for LinkedIn.

We use a special proprietary tool called LinkedIn and we look for people with very relevant experience at companies we respect and we shoot them a message. … We hand-picked these people. They are the best of the best, the Navy Seals of management teams.

Posts searching for talent are rampant on LinkedIn, with a clear emphasis on hiring gamers who have passion.

Justin Margerum is just one of the latest recruiters for the new GameStop.

Why Florida?

Back in May, GMEdd.com speculated in a piece titled GameStop Hints at New Florida Office that the fast-paced e-commerce initiatives warranted the company soon opening a Florida-based call center.

Job postings on GameStop’s website, along with activity on LinkedIn and Twitter from employees, seem to be hinting towards a South Florida-based customer support center for GameStop. [GMEdd.com, May 18th 2021]

GameStop claims that the facility will be an integral part of the Company’s U.S.-based customer care operations.

South Florida is hot for startups

Entrepreneurs are flocking to South Florida to start companies, Kerry Close of Inc.com claims.

The region is emerging as a hotbed for startups, local entrepreneurs say, with 139 companies on the Inc. 5000 list based in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metro area. No one particular industry is flourishing in the region–everything from health technology to media to food boast fast-growing companies.

There are also economic benefits to relocating to South Florida, such as the lack of income tax in the state, and cheaper living costs than can be found many other startup hubs around the country.

While GameStop Corp. isn’t a startup, the transformation story isn’t far from one.

Past Success

It’s worth noting that Chewy started in South Florida and still operates the business from the Fort Lauderdale area.  Chewy employs over 17,000 people nationwide, with 3,000 in South Florida, making it one of the largest locally based employers in the region.

Ryan Cohen co-founded Chewy in 2011. In 2017, Chewy was acquired by PetSmart for $3.35 billion, which was the largest ever acquisition of an e-commerce business at the time.

With an office nearby, GameStop could easily tap into Chewy’s talent pool. GameStop has been recruiting hordes of former Chewy employees, and it is possible that the lack of forced relocation has been a major incentive.

Sources: GameStop News Room, Inc.com, Inc.com, Reddit, Kelli Durkin on Twitter, Margerum on LinkedIn

GameStop Reports Q2 2021 Financial Results

Posted on by Joe Fonicello

GameStop Corp. today released financial results on the company’s new Investor Relations platform for the second quarter ended July 31, 2021.

The gaming retailer published condensed and consolidated financial statements for the quarter.

The Company’s Form 10-Q and supplemental information can be found at GameStop’s Investor Relations.

SECOND QUARTER OVERVIEW

Generated net sales of $1.183 billion, compared to $942 million in the prior year’s second quarter.

Ended the period with cash and restricted cash of $1.78 billion.

Ended the period with no long-term debt, other than a $47.5 million low-interest loan associated with the French government’s pandemic response.

Invested in long-term growth initiatives that include expanding the Company’s product catalog, enhancing its fulfillment network capabilities and technology, and adding talent across the organization.

Entered into a lease of a new 530,000 square foot fulfillment center in Reno, Nevada, positioning the Company’s fulfillment network to span both coasts of the continental U.S.

Entered into a lease of a new customer care center in Pembroke Pines, Florida and started building out U.S.-based customer care operations.

THE RELEASE

GameStop’s Earnings Release can be found here:

GameStop News Room, September 08 2021

GameStop’s Q2 2021 Earnings Call can be heard here:

Q2 2021 Gamestop Corp. Earnings Conference Call (YouTube, Webcast)

GameStop’s Form 10-Q can be found here: 

COMMISSION FILE NO. 1-32637   (HTML, IXBRL, RTF, PDF, XLS, XRBL)

Source: GameStop News Room