GameStop Adds Pet Food Billionaire to Its Board of Directors

GameStop has announced this week that it is immediately appointing three new directors to the board in agreement with RC Ventures, one of the company's largest stockholders that is managed by pet food company Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen. Those three new directors are Alan Attal, Jim Grube, and Cohen. It is no secret that GameStop has been struggling of late, closing hundreds of stores last year alone. The number of closed stores only grows when you take into account recent history beyond 2020.

These new directors are specifically being added in order to "accelerate transformation," according to GameStop. "We believe the Company can enhance stockholder value by expanding the ways in which it delights customers and by becoming the ultimate destination for gamers," Cohen said as part of the announcement. "Alan, Jim and I are committed to working alongside our fellow directors and the management team to continue to transform GameStop. In addition, we intend to bring additional ownership perspectives to the boardroom."

What this actually looks like in practice remains to be seen. There will still be an annual meeting with director nominees in June 2021, and the above three will be included alongside Paul Evans, Reggie Fils-Aimé, George Sherman, William Simon, Carrie Teffner, and Kurt Wolf. GameStop made headlines in early 2020 for adding Fils-Aimé, formerly of Nintendo of America, to its Board of Directors only to then initially bungle the company's response to the coronavirus pandemic. All this while still trying to cook up a new vision for its physical locations.

"We appreciate the constructive dialogue we have had with Ryan over the past several months," said George Sherman, GameStop's Chief Executive Officer, as part of the announcement. "Together, we have reached an outcome that is in the best interest of all stockholders and can enable GameStop to accelerate efforts to deliver enhanced value for the Company. GameStop is in a solid market position with substantial room to run. We are leveraging our omni-channel capabilities, increasing our e-commerce sales and demonstrating our unique ability to serve our customers, wherever, whenever and however they choose to shop and experience gaming. In addition, we have delivered strong progress optimizing our business through a purposeful focus on efficiently managing our expenses, stores and inventory. We are confident that GameStop will continue to accelerate its progress and transformation in the quarters to come."

What do you think of the corporate shakeup at GameStop? What sort of changes would you like to see happen at the retailer? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!

[H/T GameSpot]

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