Are GAME looking towards expansion less than a year after they so nearly fell into the abyss? Well, it looks that way. The big, purple, OpCapita-owned GAMEs retailer has been in talks with HMV's current administrators at Deloitte, discussing the possibility of a a few store acquisitions in towns where GAME is without a presence on the high street.
Game Retail chief executive Martyn Gibbs confirmed the move in conversation with the Financial Times, and although he chose not to reveal any hard numbers, MCV reports that "between 40-45 locations are being targeted".
“We will constantly review our property portfolio based on what is available,” Gibbs told the FT. “I would not rule out any stores that are becoming available, be that through an administration or normal property deals.”
Game Retail are yet to release any figures for its trading over the Christmas period, though Gibbs claims that they were “ahead of expectations”, and that, moreover, the company will meet its £20m annual earnings target by July.
It's important to note that the discussions with Deloitte have not been taking part with OpCapita (burdened by the ghost of Comet's demise at the end of last year), but rather with Game Retail themselves, who are apparently one of fifty or so expressions of interest in HMVs assets.
It's somewhat surprising that the discussions are even taking place given that, ten months ago, half of the GAME stores across the country were closing their doors. We'll have to see how this one pans out.
