Page 8 - Old School Gamer Magazine Issue #43 FREE Edition

In the late 1990s and going through 2005, consolidation happened, and eventually all of the above (Babbage's, Software Etc., Electronics Boutique, and FuncoLand) came together at various times to form GameStop. The story of GameStop starting around then is a story to be told years from now, as we are now out of the range of Old School Gamer’s territory. But most of you know that it moved into used games and acquired ThinkGeek. Once
the console manufacturers started doing digital codes for games that couldn’t be resold, they faded down from their total domination of the video game industry for 25+ years.
1983 and grew out of his home, renting games to video game stores before starting to open retail outlets. Electronics Boutique (aka EB Games) moved into specializing in video games in the mid-1980s, and Software Etc. came out of B. Dalton Books.
Babbage's was booming, with stores in every major metro area. The chain, with over 100 stores, went public with a stock
offering in 1988, and Gary told us it was all about growth.
Gary: “Grow we did. If we were smarter than we were, we'd have done some things, it became obvious. I mean, when in the early days we were opening in major regional enclosed malls, power centers started emerging. By the end
of the '80s and into the '90s, these were open-air and anchored by Best Buy or Toys
'R' Us. That was much cheaper real estate... because malls were very expensive. We got up to 700 during my management. Well, we were up to 400 stores
by the time we bought Software Etc.”
Gary stepped out of GameStop in 1995 and went on to an extremely influential career in other industries. Most notably, he brought together FedEx and Kinko's and more. At this point, mass retailers like Walmart, Kmart, Best Buy, and Toys 'R' Us had stepped well into the business of selling video games.
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OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE • ISSUE #43
Abandoned Babbages/GameStop in West Des Moines, Iowa