EB Games

Infobox Company
company_name = EB Games
company_
company_type = Division of GameStop
foundation = 1977(as "Electronics Boutique") in King of Prussia Mall Australia: 10 October 2004
location = Grapevine, TX (USA)
key_people = Dick Fontaine (Chairman, CEO), Daniel A. Dematteo (Vice-Chairman, COO), David W. Carlson (CFO), Steve Morgan (Former President)
industry = Electronics Stores
products = Games, DVD, PCs
revenue =
num_employees = 33,000+
homepage = [http://www.EbGames.com/ EBGames.com]

EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique) is an international computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused kiosk located in a suburban Philadelphia mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, the company has grown into a multi-national corporation.

History

Originally, the operation mainly sold calculators and digital watches. Between 1977 and the mid-1990s, the company expanded to (and later stopped) selling computers and other related items (according to the Eb Games employee handbook). In the mid-1990s, the company's focus switched to TV-based video games and consoles, though many stores still maintain PC game sections.

As of July 30, 2005, the company operated 2,280 stores in the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Austria and Spain, primarily under the names EB Games and Electronics Boutique. The company operates an e-commerce and international website at http://www.ebgames.com . There is also an Australian EB Games website at http://www.ebgames.com.au and a New Zealand EB Games website at http://www.ebgames.co.nz , while neither support full online shopping like the international website does, they both have many games available for purchase and download at [http://www.ebgames.com.au/downloads/index.cfm EB Games Australia - Digital Downloads] for Australia and [http://www.ebgames.co.nz/downloads/index.cfm EB Games New Zealand - Digital Downloads] for New Zealand. The company changed its corporate name to "EB Games" within the past few years, but the retailer is often still referred to as "Electronics Boutique". The company still has stores named Electronics Boutique, EB Games, EBGameworld, EBX, Stop-N-Save, and EB Kids. The reasoning behind the multiple names is not known, but it is speculated that it is to get around a restriction in many malls that there cannot be two stores with the same name. It was believed that this was the same reason that GameStop had not commenced renaming EB Games stores, however this has been disproven since Gamestop has indeed rebranded all stores to GameStop beginning mid-spring 2007, after the acquisition of Rhino Video Games.

EB Games and GameStop Merger

Prior to an October 2005 merger, when the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of GameStop Corp., the international headquarters were located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. After the merger however, EB Games moved its international headquarters to Sadsburyville, Pennsylvania shortly before the overhaul and reorganization of Southeastern Pennsylvania by Gamestop Corp. Gamestop sold off EB Games' headquarters in Sadsburyville shortly after the new 2006 year. Electronic Boutique's former headquarters in Sadsburyville, Pennsylvania is currently owned and operated by the company C.T.D.I. which also has a facility in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

International

EB began its international expansion with the opening of three stores in the Toronto, Canada area in 1993. The Canadian division is the largest of the international divisions with 300+ stores as of May 2008.

In 1995 the company expanded to the UK with the purchase of financially troubled British game retailer Rhino Group The name of the chain was changed from Future Zone to "Electronics Boutique" to match the new owner. Store remodels, product mix changes and used video games combined to restore the chain's finances.

In April 1999 Electronics Boutique's UK entity bought out its main rival, GAME following GAME's near failure after a dreadful Christmas period. Electronics Boutique UK folded Game, Plc into its own structure, keeping Game stores open under their Game branding, and all new stores following the release of Playstation 2 in 2000 used the Game branding, as EB UK wanted to sever its ties with its American parent.

Electronics Boutique commenced operations in Australia in 1997 and rapidly became the number one video game specialty retailer in the country and the only one with a nationwide footprint.

Although the EB-GAME "merger" created a company separate from the US parent, EB retained a 24% ownership stake in the merged chain for a period of time and, under the merger agreement, collected substantial management fees from it until 2004, when the companies agreed to sever the remainder of their ties with a one time settlement. The GAME brand replaced the EB name at all former EB stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The new company was the biggest video game retailer in the United Kingdom. However, GameStop Corp. is once again operating in the UK and Ireland under the GameStop brand.

On May 23, 2005, EB Games announced a definitive agreement to acquire Jump, a retailer based in Valencia, Spain that sells PCs and other consumer electronics. EB Games plans to begin introducing video game hardware and software into Jump's 141 stores over the next several months. The acquisition provides EB Games entry into the Spanish marketplace and continues EB Games's aggressive international expansion.

EB Games once had a retail presence in South Korea.

On June 22 2008, reports surfaced that EB Games in New Zealand would acquire The Gamesman - New Zealand's largest independently owned and operated specialised gaming store. [ [http://www.geekpulp.co.nz/2008/06/22/the-gamesman-set-to-be-acquired-by-eb-games/ “The Gamesman” Set to be Acquired by EB Games] ] All Gamesman stores are to be rebranded as EB Games stores, leaving no multi-centre specialist gaming stores in New Zealand.

Pricing

EB Games is known for its unique pricing structure in which used games are often sold at a higher value than their new counterparts. This is to increase the profitability of their core business, which is trading games. It's not common to find the same game in the new section at a cheaper price than the used section, as such buyers are recommended to compare prior to purchase.

However, despite the higher pricing structure, EB Games Australia offers customers the ability to price match competitor's prices, thereby remaining competative in the market place. It also offers a full refund to customers returning purchases made within certain time frames, such as 7 days and with retention of the receipt.

References

External links

* [http://www.ebgames.com/ EB Games official website]
* [http://www.gamestop.com/ GameStop official website]
* [http://www.ebgames.com.au/ EB Games Official Australian website]
* [http://www.ebgames.co.nz/ EB Games Official New Zealand Site]