Game is shutting down eight stores — here’s what is happening
Game’s Everything Must Go closing down sale is going well after having already run for a month, the retailer’s parent company Massmart has told MyBroadband.
The retailer announced that it would close 13 underperforming stores after it couldn’t find a buyer for them, revealing the first eight in early September.
It launched a clearance sale at the designated stores offering up to 40% discounts on a range of products.
“In relation to the 8 Game stores that are currently running closing down sales, there has been an exceptional level of interest from customers in these stores,” Massmart told MyBroadband.
Notably, the closing-down sales have been running for over a month, and Massmart hasn’t decided on a final closure date for the underperforming sites.
“Final dates of trading are yet to be determined,” it said.
The first 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 previously told MyBroadband it initiated Section 189 retrenchment 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,” it 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.”
Game said customers could expect at least 10% off, with limited exclusions, going up to markdowns of 40% on select items at its doomed stores.
MyBroadband visited Game Bel-Air to look at some of its “Everything Must Go” deals and found notable promotions on various sizes of Samsung, LG, JVC, and Hisense UHD TVs — priced between R7,599 and R19,999.
Game’s announcement regarding the store closures came after it completed its “Game Reimagined” project in June 2022.
“The Game Reimagined project was completed in June this year after 116 Game stores in SA were fully revamped and the brand was relaunched as part of Game’s Halfway Day promotion on 1 July,” Massmart told MyBroadband.
“Our stores have been revamped to include new categories, such as clothing, new product ranges such as DeLonghi and Nespresso, as well as extending our ranges for our customers to have more options.”
As part of its revamp, Game introduced a tech support team at select stores across South Africa.
The team — dubbed the Tech Squad — was initially only available in two stores, but Game has expanded the service to 43 sites, and plans to roll it out to more locations.
“Along with the revived store and merchandise offering, Game has also introduced value-added services such as Installation services and the Tech Squad,” Massmart said.
“The Tech Squad is a group of trained professionals able to assist customers with software upgrades and minor repairs.”
“On average, the Tech Squad helps around 800 customers per week, and we have never had a customer service rating of less than 90% so far,” it added.
Game’s underperforming stores aren’t just limited to South Africa, with Massmart recently announcing that it is considering closing Game stores in East and West Africa.
The Makro and Builders owner disclosed in December that it was reviewing its Game store portfolio. However, it hasn’t been able to find local investors in East and West Africa.
“Massmart initiated a process over a 12-month period to investigate, as a preferred option, the opportunity to sell our East and West African stores to local investors,” Massmart said.
“Unfortunately, this initiative did not deliver a meaningful outcome,” it said.
“Consequently, we have initiated potential store closure consultations with our staff members in our Game stores in East and West Africa.”
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