GameStop Is Reopening Closed Stores Starting With One in Ohio

GameStop announced plans to reopen previously shuttered stores, kicking things off on September 11 with a single location in Brooklyn, Ohio — 4756 Ridge Rd., Suite P22. The company confirmed the news via social media, though it's being deliberately vague about the full scope of the rollout.

When IGN asked how many stores are coming back, a GameStop spokesperson kept it short: "The count is: at least one, as of tomorrow. As for the rest, stay tuned." That's not exactly a grand reopening announcement, but it does confirm more locations are planned beyond the Ohio store.

The timing is notable. GameStop has closed over a thousand stores since 2020, squeezed by the shift to digital game sales and years of cost-cutting. The company also briefly shut down Game Informer — the long-running gaming magazine it owned — though that publication eventually found a new owner and returned after nearly a year in limbo. GameStop has been pivoting away from pure game retail for a while now, leaning into collectibles, Funko Pops, and general geek merchandise to stay relevant. The company is also reportedly pursuing an acquisition of eBay, a move that would dramatically diversify its business beyond physical retail.

The bigger question hanging over any GameStop expansion is the slow death of physical media. PlayStation has already announced it will end support for physical games in 2028, strongly implying the PS6 will be disc-free. Xbox hasn't shown its hand yet, but the industry direction is clear. Whether reopening stores makes sense in that environment depends entirely on how fast GameStop can shift its identity away from game cases and toward the broader collectibles and merchandise market it's been building.