Post by: WindyMan on January 06, 2007, 11:37:29 AM
Blockbuster Reaches Agreement to Sell Rhino Video Games to GameStop
DALLAS, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE:BBI)(NYSE:BBI.B) today announced it has reached a definitive agreement for the sale of its Rhino Video Games chain to GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME)(NYSE:GME.B) for an undisclosed price. The sale is expected to close by the end of January.
Rhino Video Games is a regional retail chain specializing in buying, selling and trading video games. Rhino currently has 72 stores located in the Southeastern U.S. including Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
John Antioco, Blockbuster Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Today's announcement is in line with our goal to maintain focus on our Blockbuster-branded assets. We wish the Rhino concept ongoing success under its new ownership, and while games remain an integral part of our Blockbuster business, we will continue to focus on growing our overall share of the video rental market both through our stores and through BLOCKBUSTER Total Access™, which gives our online subscribers the option of returning their DVDs through the mail or exchanging them at a participating BLOCKBUSTER® store for free in-store movie rentals."
R. Richard Fontaine, GameStop Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The integration of the Rhino group into the growing portfolio of GameStop stores will result in operating synergies while being accretive to earnings. The location of most Rhino stores do not overlap existing GameStop sites, and primarily serve secondary and tertiary markets where we have been very successful. Furthermore, the Rhino business model, and a very game oriented management team, will fit seamlessly into the GameStop culture."
Post by: Karl Castaneda #2 on January 06, 2007, 11:44:33 AM
Post by: KnowsNothing on January 06, 2007, 11:57:59 AM
Post by: MysticGohan on January 06, 2007, 12:00:55 PM
Post by: Shecky on January 06, 2007, 01:14:20 PM
Post by: Nick DiMola on January 06, 2007, 01:18:03 PM
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Originally posted by: ViewtifulGamer
I live in Miami, and I've NEVER heard of Rhino Video Games.
I used to live in Tampa Bay and I hadn't heard about them until all my friends went to UF for college. Apparantly it is a pretty good chain of stores. As a matter of fact, one of my best friends got his Wii at the one in Gainesville.
Post by: Sir_Stabbalot on January 06, 2007, 01:38:43 PM
Post by: TJ Spyke on January 06, 2007, 01:44:54 PM
GameStop isn't that bad, it's better than EB (which is weird since they are basically the same store, but I have a better experience in GS). The only time they piss me off is when they try and sell me a display copy, i'm not paying full price for a game that has already been opened.
Post by: Mario323 on January 06, 2007, 02:12:06 PM
Post by: Viewtiful mario on January 06, 2007, 02:12:41 PM
Post by: Nemo on January 06, 2007, 05:48:12 PM
Post by: MysticGohan on January 06, 2007, 07:39:49 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. JackQuote
Originally posted by: ViewtifulGamer
I live in Miami, and I've NEVER heard of Rhino Video Games.
I used to live in Tampa Bay and I hadn't heard about them until all my friends went to UF for college. Apparantly it is a pretty good chain of stores. As a matter of fact, one of my best friends got his Wii at the one in Gainesville.
Gainesville, eh? I was born there.
Post by: KDR_11k on January 06, 2007, 08:42:25 PM
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Originally posted by: KnowsNothing
It's a marvel how such a terrible company can succeed like this.
Easy: Kill off all competitors in an area so people have nowhere else to go, do everything in your power to fester awful but profitable warranties, strategy guides and accessories on people.
Post by: Sir_Stabbalot on January 07, 2007, 04:09:28 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11kQuote
Originally posted by: KnowsNothing
It's a marvel how such a terrible company can succeed like this.
Easy: Kill off all competitors in an area so people have nowhere else to go, do everything in your power to fester awful but profitable warranties, strategy guides and accessories on people.
It's a shame there's no way to nail them with an antitrust suit.
Post by: Arbok on January 07, 2007, 07:05:40 AM
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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Easy: Kill off all competitors in an area so people have nowhere else to go...
If you have a GameStop or EB in your area, I assume one also has a big box store, like Best Buy. So the alternative is there. If you want used or older games, though, then the dedicated stores are your only option.
Post by: that Baby guy on January 07, 2007, 07:29:33 AM
Post by: KDR_11k on January 07, 2007, 08:52:00 AM
I think most people run to GS before a big retailer because they expect a dedicated games store to be better for buying games. Kinda like how all people in my university town ran to Media Markt on the 360 launch while Karstadt had 360s sitting around unclaimed.
Post by: Djunknown on January 07, 2007, 10:05:17 AM
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Also, when they bought out FuncoLand, (I'm not sure how local they were... I live in Massachusetts), that meant they stopped carrying NES, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast, N64.... That pissed me off a lot. Also, when they bought out FuncoLand, (I'm not sure how local they were... I live in Massachusetts), that meant they stopped carrying NES, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast, N64.... That pissed me off a lot.
Ahh Funcoland. They went as far as Michigan as I can personally attest to that. I remember as a kid begging my parents to take me there whenever we went shopping. They had all the major systems with full versions of games. Some stores even had the clandestine Neo-Geo. Ahh the good old days...
When Gamestop bought EB, there was no real change, since they were basically identical. But with the anectodes about Rhino, I can only fear the worst. Not all GS/EB's are bad, but they their reputation is not unfounded.
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...Karstadt had 360s sitting around unclaimed.
Is that like Circuit City/Future Shop or the Canadian Zellers?
Post by: Smoke39 on January 07, 2007, 11:40:11 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Arbok
If you want used or older games, though, then the dedicated stores are your only option.
Or the internets. I use the Amazon.com marketplace to find old/used games fairly often.
Post by: KDR_11k on January 07, 2007, 08:15:18 PM
Wikipedia says both Karstadt and Zellers count as department stores (Karstadt usually has 3-4 stories and is located downtown). Media Markt is closer to Circuit City. Gamestops are rare, uncomfortable and more expensive than Media Markt and Saturn (and regularly Karstadt, although that's less well known) here, never mind MM is much older and has more brand awareness. Both Karstadt and MM have games departments as large or larger than a Gamestop. I suppose GS only appears to have a big selection if you buy your games at hypermarkets (e.g. Wal-Mart).
Post by: Nick DiMola on January 07, 2007, 08:25:16 PM
I wish I could start my own game store chain to compete but I'm guessing it is a tough industry to break into. Maybe if you can get your footing in a mall with one store, you can start expanding to other malls in a local area and then go regional and eventually national. I'm sure you'd get eaten up by Gamestop before that happened anyway, just like Rhino.
Out here in Rochester there are a bunch of little videogame stores that bound together under the name "Game Craze." Each store is owned by someone different and I guess all the different owners decided to share a name just to compete against Gamestop/EBGames. Pretty smart idea on their part. They make a great stop for classic stuff that Gamestop can't be bothered with.
Post by: KDR_11k on January 07, 2007, 10:04:37 PM
Post by: Dirk Temporo on January 08, 2007, 09:13:57 AM
Post by: KDR_11k on January 08, 2007, 07:06:00 PM
