GameStop opened a record 210 stores during the first fiscal quarter of 2008, the company announced today. GameStop now operates a total of 5,400 stores worldwide, and said it plans to open between 550 and 600 new stores in 2008, half of them slated for outside the U.S.
The first fiscal quarter brought strong results for GameStop, with earnings up 151.4 percent to $62.1 million, and sales up 41.8 percent to $1,813.6 million. The planned new store openings would grow GameStop's international store base by 25 percent, as part of the company's stated goal of developing its market share globally.
Sales of new game software increased an "amazing" 72 percent, according to GameStop - hit the jump for GameStop's top five sellers during its record first quarter.
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two)
2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo)
3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
4. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2(Ubisoft)
5. Army Of Two (Electronic Arts)
Notably, GTA IV topped the list even though only five days of its sales fit into the fiscal first quarter.
GameStop chairman and CEO R. Richard Fontaine credited a 34 percent increase in game console install bases and an expanding demographic that is now 38 percent female for the company's growth.
"We continue to attract and serve a broader consumer base as videogaming continues to attract the core gamers and is moving towards becoming mainstream family entertainment," Fontaine said.