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GameCrazy store liquidation starts today, everything 20% off
Moving right according to schedule, GameCrazy today officially began liquidating outlets across the US, with remaining inventory in stores reduced in price by 20 percent. An internal memo we received details the liquidation proceedings, confirmed by multiple calls to remaining GameCrazy outlets across the East Coast. "Beginning May 21, your store will introduce a special sales strategy featuring 20% OFF sale on all software and hardware items," reads this particular store's notification. Apparently "The Great American Group" -- an auction, liquidation, and appraisal contractor -- will be handling oversight of the liquidation, advertising as much on its website (as well as being mentioned repeatedly in the notice we received). It also appears that the group has yet to finalize an incentive plan for remaining employees, though the document assures that they'll hear something "next week." A list of remaining Movie Gallery, Inc. outlets, including many GameCrazys, can be found here (warning: PDF link).
GameCrazy internal document confirms liquidation of remaining stores
click to enlarge Movie Gallery Inc., owner of the GameCrazy, Hollywood Video, and Movie Gallery franchises, is officially closing its remaining 2,415 outlets across the US. An internal memorandum obtained by Joystiq confirms reports that the company will be closing its doors and liquidating its remaining stock over the coming weeks. "A decision has been reached by the board of directors to liquidate the entire assets of the organization," the document reads. The piece also notes that the store closing sale will "likely continue for up to 60 days" and that employees who stick it out to the end will receive "store associate incentive plans" as a reward. Additionally, it assures said employees that "The company expects to continue to pay associates and provide current benefits and insurance programs during your active employment until you are released from the store or the store closing sale ends." It would appear that discount levels and liquidation plans have yet to be finalized at the company. "We are also in the process of evaluating liquidation vendors who will oversee the store closure and sale process in conjunction with our company ... the consultants will advise us on appropriate discount levels, advertising, in-store signing and in-store merchandising in order to facilitate a smooth process." And though it's not explicitly spelled out, the piece states that "most" normal operating procedures and company policies will persist through the closings. We wish the best of luck to the approximately 19,000 employees affected by the closure.
WSJ: GameCrazy officially shuttered in US alongside Hollywood Video
GameCrazy's parent company Movie Gallery Inc. is said to be shuttering the approximately 250 remaining GC stores across the United States, alongside 2,165 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video outlets. Roughly 19,000 people are estimated to be out of work due to the closures, according to a Wall Street Journal report, and the company is said to be filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. People "familiar with the matter" told the WSJ that the chain considered "reorganizing around smaller core stores" before filing for bankruptcy, but the idea "never got any traction." It also appears that the 184 or so Canadian outlets will remain unaffected, but we've heard nothing official yet. Reportedly, the US stores will begin liquidation "over the next couple of months" until inventories run dry, mirroring the murmurs we heard this past weekend. While the reality that GameCrazy is suffering this fate certainly appears likely (our tips box seems to corroborate the information), we should note that Movie Gallery Inc. has yet to issue any formal statement regarding the allegations. Our calls to GameCrazy corporate have similarly gone unanswered. If you are a GameCrazy, Hollywood Video, or Movie Gallery employee with any form of official documentation on this subject, we'd love to hear from you. [Via GameSpot]
Rumor: GameCrazy closing all remaining stores
[Effluent Suburbia] After a handful of reports from several current GameCrazy employees and about a dozen calls to GameCrazy outlets across the country, we believe that the retailer will in fact be shuttering its remaining 250 or so locations in the coming weeks. Speaking with one such GC employee in central Pennsylvania, we were told, "Movie Gallery as a whole [GameCrazy's parent company] yesterday filed for Chapter 7, which indicates that the whole company is going through liquidation. I was in on the conference call yesterday ... it looks like this week and the week after they're going to go through finding a liquidation company to buy [the remaining products]. It's going to be business as usual for the next two weeks, we'll see our releases for the next two weeks, but we'll likely be closed by the end of June." The alleged bankruptcy filing has yet to appear on Movie Gallery's stock page or in the SEC database. We've attempted to gain official word from corporate, but the company refuses to acknowledge whether the chain is closing. Whether there was any internal documentation, one employee told us, "Unfortunately, there aren't any new memos on the intranet related to it... the last one was on 4-21 ("Important Closing Store Update"), and then there were a few on 4-20 ("Select In-Store Programs Cease" and "Letter from Roger Dunlap - Closing Store Announcement") and one on 4-19 ("Special Order Games Department Closing") The newest stuff was on the conference call yesterday, which I wasn't apart of." That said, our past experience with GameCrazy has shown that when several employees tell identical stories about store closures across multiple states, they're not likely colluding on an elaborate ruse. Additionally, we were told by an employee that "after the 18th [of May], we're done with pre-orders." He also encouraged customers with pre-orders to come in and pick up any deposits they've placed on games being released any time beyond the immediate future. If you're a current GameCrazy employee with information you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Game Crazy parent files for bankruptcy, 250 stores to remain
Game Crazy can't catch a break as parent-company Movie Gallery has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. When the dust settles, only 250 Game Crazy locations will remain. The company already closed over 200 locations late last year. In total, Movie Gallery plans to immediately liquidate and close 760 stores in its financially fallible trinity of brands: Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video and Game Crazy. The company hopes to emerge from the "restructuring" with a "new and sustainable business model centered on a smaller base of profitable stores." The only division of the business unaffected by the bankruptcy is the company's Canadian operations. At least that's one good thing, eh? [Via Industry Gamers]
Movie Gallery fires up in-store PowerPlay subscription plan
At this point, Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video are just children in the grown-up world of video rentals, but even we can't help but appreciate its latest, um, attempt. After finding that people don't actually enjoy waiting for DVDs to arrive by mail, it has concocted its very own in-store subscription service, dubbed PowerPlay. In theory, at least, it's a fantastic plan; users are able to pop in, check out a DVD or Blu-ray for an unlimited window of time (or video game for five days), and then return it at their leisure. The problem? The unlimited service is a staggering $39.99 per month, and so far as we can tell, you can only have one flick at a time checked out. Other plans are certainly available, but none of 'em come close to the awesomeness of Blockbuster / Netflix. Sorry, but it's true.[Via VideoBusiness, image courtesy of CPDothan]
MovieBeam sold, plans three market return tour this year
Looks like Movie Gallery finally got something for the assortment of PBS bandwidth and spare parts remaining from the now-defunct MovieBeam service. The new owner is Indian conglomerate The Valuable Group, headed by Sanjay Gaikwad who apparently thinks serving up a remarkably limited assortment of heavily compressed HD and SD movies on demand is an idea that deserves to fail all over the world, instead of just in the U.S. Since $100 million burned up by Disney and others wasn't enough to make things work, he plans to invest a similar amount over the next two years to relaunch the service in North America, the U.K. and "other overseas markets". Variety notes The Valuable Group already delivers movies digitally to India and South Asian theaters via satellite so maybe they know something we don't about this business model, and with plans to roll out service in three markets with "new, cutting edge features" by year end we'll get to find out soon.
MovieBeam to have one last go at it?
When MovieBeam shut down operations last December, we had a feeling we wouldn't be mourning for long, but we definitely didn't see it playing out like this. Reportedly, Movie Gallery is asking for bankruptcy court approval to sell its VOD service to one Dar Capital Limited for a cool $2.25 million. Should the deal go down, the firm would technically pick up 1,800 customers who had once shelled out for the dedicated set-top-box -- but really, why on Earth would any halfway sane investor exhume this thoroughly decomposed corpse and attempt to breathe new life into it?
Movie Gallery to enter on-line video rental service
Movie Gallery -- the media cats behind Hollywood Video and Game Crazy stores -- just announced a foray into the online video rental service. Set to launch sometime in mid-to-late 2007, the new service is meant to complement its brick-and-mortar business. They also announced an extension to their movie kiosk program by adding another 200 movie vending machines to the 74 units already occupying high traffic areas in malls and supermarkets. How the new rental service (no mention of download-to-own) will integrate (if at all) with their recently acquired MovieBeam service is unclear. One thing's for sure however, Blockbuster had better get a move on if they hope to compete in this redefined marketplace which is both busting at the seams while simultaneously converging.[Via eHomeUpgrade]
Movie Gallery picks up the pieces of MovieBeam
MovieBeam's short, sordid history hasn't exactly come to a close, but it's certainly a far cry from the service's once lofty goals. First it was spun off from Disney, with Intel and Cisco investing an extra $50 million in the newly separated company to further develop the service, now that company has been sold to Movie Gallery for a fraction of the amount that's been spent on the service over the past few years. According to paidContent.org, Movie Gallery plans to spend less $10 million on the service in 2007, including all acquisition costs and development expenses. In the short term, it appears that Movie Gallery plans to continue to operate the MovieBeam service in the 31 metropolitan areas in the U.S. it's currently available in, and it'll also begin to market the service in its Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery stores, as well as on its website. The company also appears to have some longer-term plans for the service, including downloading or streaming movies over the Internet, although it's not providing any more specific details just yet.Read - Movie Gallery Press ReleaseRead - paidContent.org[Via Techdirt]
