After COVID-19 prompted the closure of numerous GameStop locations around the world, the retailer today announced its first steps to re-open those stores.
"The company has begun the process of re-opening stores in Italy, Germany, Austria and the states of South Carolina and Georgia and is preparing for the potential to re-open in other operating countries and states in the coming weeks," GameStop said in a news release today.
GameStop stores in the US have been closed to customers since March 21. One-third of store locations in the US have been shuttered entirely, while two-thirds have been taking orders through the store's website and allowing customers to do a curbside pickup.
The company said the curbside option has allowed the company to meet more than 90% of the sales volume it had expected from those locations before the pandemic hit.
Despite that, GameStop's comparable store sales for the nine-week period ended April 4 were down roughly 23% year-over-year. At the point of the March 21 mass closures across the US, comparable store sales had been up roughly 3%.
Beyond the store re-openings, GameStop also detailed some additional steps it was taking.

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