These Game stores are closing down — and offering up to 40% discounts
Popular general goods retailer Game has listed a batch of stores closing their doors as part of its parent company Massmart’s turnaround strategy.
The contingent is the first of an “initial” 13 underperforming stores Massmart previously said it was reviewing for possible sale.
That came after the retail giant embarked on a big store revamping project dubbed “Game Reimagined”.
The initiative has allowed Massmart to gain insights into which stores were unprofitable or unviable.
The eight stores the company will shut down are:
- Game Bel-Air in Northriding, Gauteng
- Game CBD in Cape Town, Western Cape
- Game Gilwell in East London, Eastern Cape
- Game Greenstone in Modderfontein, Gauteng
- Game Hazyview in Mpumalanga
- Game Mall of the South in Johannesburg South, Gauteng
- Game Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal
- Game Westwood Mall in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal
Massmart told MyBroadband it initiated Section 189 consultations with the 700 affected employees at the stores set for closure three months ago.
“We are still in discussions with staff to finalise closure dates,” Massmart said.
“As is always the case, we will apply our best efforts to identify opportunities for redeployment of the affected staff members within the broader Massmart Group.”
Big deals
Game has launched “Everything Must Go” deals at the impacted stores, offering big discounts on a wide range of products.
Game said customers could expect at least 10% off most products, with limited exclusions, going up to markdowns of 40% on select items.
Customers will have to go in-store to get product-specific discounts.
However, Game shared the discounts on offer on several product categories, which are as follows:
- 20% off all clothing, camping equipment, laptop and computers, furniture, toys
- 25% off all hand tools and hardware, air conditioning, and fans
- 40% off all heaters, electric blankets, and stationery
Massmart provided the first tease of a Game Reimagined store in September 2020, with its Mall of Africa branch being the first to get revamped.
After officially launching the programme in February 2021, the company finished renovating 64 Game stores by August 2021.
Among the innovations on offer, the new stores provide free Wi-Fi, kids’ play areas, price check booths, sampling vending machines, QR codes for linking products to Game’s online store, and self-checkout counters.
The initiative forms part of Massmart’s broader turnaround strategy, necessitated in large part by Game’s poor performance in the past few years.
Massmart recently reported a loss of R1.029 billion for the 26 weeks ending 26 June 2022, following a previous loss of R1.073 billion during the same period last year.
During the latest period, Game’s total sales decreased by 3%, from R7.6 billion to R7.4 billion, and it posted a trading loss of R322.2 million.
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