Games Toaster

High street retailer GAME, 500 in Europe

With eight outlets in the Republic of Ireland, ‘GAME’ now has 500 shops in Europe.

The stores in the Republic are located on Dublin’s Grafton,Dawson, and Henry streets, with spots in Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley, and the Square shopping centers in the greater Dublin area, along with outlets in Cork, Limerick, and a recently opened Galway location.

Their Grafton Street location is set to be closed, due to high rents only seen to be suitable for clothing outlets.

According to an article in the Irish Times in March, their expansion strategy in Ireland include plans for stores in Dundrum, and Mahon Point in Dublin as well as Waterford, Dundalk, Sligo and Maynooth.

With over 350 shops in the UK and Ireland, about 35 in Scandinavia, around 60 ‘scoreGAME’ outlets in France, and approximately 90 ‘CentroMAIL’ branded in Spain.

"I feel confident that we will reach 600 by the end of the year. 2004 will be a record year for new store openings” said Martin Long, GAME’s Group Chief Executive, going on to say “We will have over 400 outlets trading in the UK & Eire [sic] in preparation for the Christmas period”.

The latest press release uses the using the words ‘over’, ‘more than’, and ‘around’ to describe the amount of stores they have in different regions. This is strange because the numbers given come closer to 550 then 500, giving the impression the 600 end-of-year target would easer to reach.

GAME’s plans for Ireland will still see its largest competitor GameStop outnumbering them. GameStop, who are also in the middle of expanding, currently have 17 stores on the island.

http://www.gamegroup.plc.uk/
http://www.game.net/

Cian Ginty

Xtra-vision launches game magazine

The Irish retailer currently better known for video rentals, Xtra-vision, has launched a free bi-monthly in-store games magazine.

After the start of a rollout of game-only outlets branded ‘Xtra-Game’ last November, the magazine is Xtra-vision’s next focus onto games. Branded under the same name, Xtra-Game, the magazine contains the “latest in games”, tips and cheats, competitions, and “added-value offers”.

The magazine can be obtained by visiting one of Xtra-vision’s 205 shops.

With more game-only stores promised soon, the Xtra-Game shops can currently be found at the Square Shopping Centre Tallaght, Finglas, Clondalkin, Blanchardstown, Navan, Drogheda, Parkway, Galway, Carlow, Middleton, and Omagh.

Xtra-vision is also believed to be planning to publish extra game-related content on their website, once it is revamped.

Cian Ginty