Troubled retailer’s 67 shops did not open today
Independent UK gaming chain Grainger Games appears to have reached the end of the line. Just yesterday, the company contacted a selection of its stores and told them not to open. This morning, the same message was relayed to the rest of its outlets, which are spread across the UK.
Although there has been open murmurs recently about the company being in financial distress, there has been no publicly acknowledged signs of actual closure, either through in-store POS or sales etc. But, over the last two days, staff were asked to pack up all stock and have been informed that they will be paid for all hours worked until Sunday (sic) March 31.
The website is closed with immediate effect. There has also been no instruction regarding products that need refunds, outstanding credit notes or for any paid-for but unfulfilled orders. According to Eurogamer, the customer service line is dead and no-one is picking up at Grainger’s headquarters.
Video game retail in the UK has been struggling for a long time now. An industry I personally was a part of for well over a decade, I saw many independents which closed down, sold-up, or sold-up and then the buyers closed down. The UK’s biggest gaming retailer, GAME, has been dodging the axe for years, narrowly avoiding permanent closure on occasion. This appears to be a sad inevitability of the modern high street. We wish Grainger’s affected staff members, somewhere in the region of 400 people, the very best.
Grainger Games tells shops not to open [Eurogamer]
