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Hero-of-Time

Gaming Retail Outlets In Trouble

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The future of Grainger Games has been thrown into doubt after the company had vital credit facilities slashed by lenders spooked by the recent string of high street failures.

Stephen Bowyer, managing partner of the North East video game chain, has said he was shocked to learn that Grainger’s lending facilities were being cut, and said the company was now in talks with a number of parties regarding the “future of the business”.

The company, which started as a market stall in Newcastle’s Grainger Market, has grown over the last 20 years to become the UK’s leading independent computer game specialist.

It has 68 stores operating between Berwick and Derby and employs nearly 400 people.
Mr Bowyer said: “Our trading has been strong in the period through Christmas with significant improvement against the previous year. In January 2018 we secured long working capital facilities bucking the market trend to support our successful diversification strategy.

“However, confidence in UK high street retail has been at an all-time low which has been further impacted by recent retailer failures.

“On the back of this, we have very recently been notified that Grainger has had or will have certain supplier credit limits cut or removed. This has come as shock to us all and presents a significant operating challenge driven by factors outside our control.

“Grainger has a strong brand across the North of England with a well known value proposition and diverse marketing offering. We are working tirelessly with our advisers to explore all options and are in dialogue with a number of interested parties regarding the future of the business.”

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Yet another story of the high street retailer having a hard time making ends meet. I was reading Sky News this morning and there was a story about how a few other retailers are struggling, one of which is B&Q.

The Grainger Games story doesn't really surprise me. Over the last year they have started filling their shops with POP! figures, comics and other random merchindise, as well as accepting phones and tablets as trade-ins. They've pretty much turned into game, expect their games are stupidly priced....yet.

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That explains why all their pre-order games suddenly disappeared off the website. I got Kirby from them for £38 which was a pretty good price. Was going to start using them a bit more.

It would suck if they went, I've known it since it was just a stall in the Grainger Market. I usually do my trade inside there as CEX are a pain I find.

But I agree they've not been the same since they started selling mobiles/tablets and POP figures. They take up a whole wall in my local store.

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5 minutes ago, Ike said:

It would suck if they went, I've known it since it was just a stall in the Grainger Market.

 

Yeah, I used to use them and Charlies ( mostly Charlies)  back in the day. 

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It looks like they could be gone pretty soon if this is to be believed.

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My brother-in-law works as a driver for Grainger Games, based at the main warehouse in Longbenton (Just outside Newcastle). They have been told the business is pretty much done, probably as early as the end of March. He (along with the warehouse staff) will be losing their jobs. Apparently the scale of the problems have been pretty well hidden, up till a couple weeks ago at least.

 

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That actually sucks, as when I visited my folks up north they would often be selling games at decent prices and also had some import games for sale that you couldn't get yet (e.g. Persona 4 Golden before it released here).

I had noticed the increasing scourge of those Pop figurines though. Maybe that's a sign of the end? Seen nearly a whole floor of Forbidden Planet in London covered in those tacky things too.

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6 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Yeah, I used to use them and Charlies ( mostly Charlies)  back in the day. 

Was that the store in the other in-door market across the road, you had to go up an esculator and it was at the back of the building. They had 2 stores right next to each other? Been trying to remember the name for ages. Was gutted when it closed. Think I got my Pikachu Pocket from there.

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9 minutes ago, Ike said:

Was that the store in the other in-door market across the road, you had to go up an esculator and it was at the back of the building. They had 2 stores right next to each other? Been trying to remember the name for ages. Was gutted when it closed. Think I got my Pikachu Pocket from there.

Yup. That was them. Happy days! 

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That does explain the lack of PS4 Pro's in stock when i was looking for one!

Pop's annoy me no end now, at first they seemed amusing and a way to get merch of something that normally wouldn't be in a shop, but then shops gave too much space to them and its just crap

It would be a real shame to see grainger games go, they felt like Gamestation, but people are right they are very much like Game now in some ways

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56 minutes ago, Ike said:

The website has gone and they've told 21 stores not to open.

Yup. Sad times.  I imagine most of their other stores will follow suit not long after. Hopefully those who have lost their jobs will land on their feet.

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Looks the rest of the stores have been told not to open. Was hoping some of them might survive. :(

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That's a real shame.  Sad to see a mainstay of the B&M VG retail sector fall apart.

 

Pretty much is literally just GAME left now (and they've already died once!)  It's only a matter of time it seems...

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Someone on Era asked about it and this was their reply.

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"We can confirm that Simply Games Limited did go into liquidation however the website Simplygames.com is now owned and operated by Boss Distribution Limited. Quite simply put the company is now under new management but the day to day operation is still run by the same team so your experience with us will not change in any way."

It will be interesting to see if their prices remain as low as they have always been.

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They don't seem to be always the cheapest place to me. Even Amazon is cheaper is some cases.

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19 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Someone on Era asked about it and this was their reply.

It will be interesting to see if their prices remain as low as they have always been.

Hope so, and their dispatch speed too. Still my go-to site for physical game purchases.

15 hours ago, Ike said:

They don't seem to be always the cheapest place to me. Even Amazon is cheaper is some cases.

They definitely ain't the cheapest, but they do seem to be the fastest option out there theses days. Got Yakuza 6 to me on Saturday. And I've even had a game arrive almost a week early from them before! :cool:

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We haven't truly recovered enough since the 2008 crash and these are imo small accumulative knock ons from that. Only the beginning as well, because if they up interest rates just imagine how hard it's going to hit businesses with all time record loans etc. We may actually see a notable death of certain parts of the high street.

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11 minutes ago, Rummy said:

We haven't truly recovered enough since the 2008 crash and these are imo small accumulative knock ons from that. Only the beginning as well, because if they up interest rates just imagine how hard it's going to hit businesses with all time record loans etc. We may actually see a notable death of certain parts of the high street.

Yeah, the days of the high street retailer is sadly coming to an end. There have been an insane amount of stories this year of businesses either struggling or shutting up shop altogether. Sad times, although I'm part of the problem. It's so easy to order something off of Amazon. I get it cheaper and I get next day delivery.

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I see Tesco Direct is now closing. They were always good for cheap games and hardware. :( 

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2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I see Tesco Direct is now closing. They were always good for cheap games and hardware. :( 

Yep, RIP staff discount on video games online.

It was thanks to Tesco Direct that I got my Xbox One a year or so after it came out for close to £200 with staff discount, vouchers etc.

I got my first HDTV on there as well, still works to this day although it's now in another room in the house.

I'm glad that I got my Xbox One Elite controller and Nacon Revolution PS4 controller when I did last year, I'll likely use those pads for the rest of the life of those machines.

Oh well, it was good while it lasted and there is still a chance that videogames may be available online from Tesco.com at some point, just not yet.

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More doom and gloom for the highstreet retailer...

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There have been further job losses at GAME's Head Office as the firm continues to cut back in the face of a difficult UK retail landscape.

The firm has been reorganising its internal teams to cope with a drop in physical retail sales and a reduction in store count. Meanwhile, it has increased focus on its esports business - particularly related to Belong, its new retail initiative where gamers can pay to play PC games on high powered hardware.

It's been a quiet year for games sales in the UK. Even after the release of Spider-Man last week, physical game unit sales are down 8.2% year-to-date with revenue down 6% (GfK figures). GAME has slightly lowered its full year estimates as a result by £3 million.

Although always a crucial period of the year, the Q4 sales window will prove even more important in determining the overall market performance in the UK. Alongside the big annual releases, including FIFA, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed and EA's shooter (this year Battlefield V), this Q4 will also see the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Fallout 76. Fallout is extremely popular among UK consumers, regularly selling in excess of one million copies, while Rockstar's last title, GTA V, is the most successful boxed game in UK retail history.

Despite declines in the UK, GAME has reported a increase in sales for its Spanish retail business.

 

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Yeah it isnt. This is a bad time in general with all the dlc focus and less on new games.

 

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