TORONTO — GameStop Canada says it has been acquired by French-Canadian entrepreneur Stephan Tetrault from the video game retailer’s struggling parent company.

Officially named Electronics Boutique Canada Inc., GameStop Canada says it will relaunch its 185 stores as EB Games Canada — a name associated with retail gaming from bygone decades.

Tetrault is the founder of Montreal-area-based toy manufacturer Imports Dragon and co-owner of American action figure-maker McFarlane Toys, and last month became a partner at Canadian chain Mastermind Toys.

U.S.-based GameStop Corp. said in February it was looking to sell its Canadian and French operations as it evaluates its international assets and doubles down on cost-cutting.

GameStop was one of the companies at the centre of the “meme stock” craze on Wall Street, which saw struggling brands’ share prices soar as retail investors made risky bets.

Its sales last year declined 27 per cent to $3.82 billion, though net income shot up to $131.3 million versus $6.7 million in 2023.

  • IronKrill
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    11 hours ago

    I could swear my local EB never changed, but maybe I just auto corrected the sign in my brain lol.

  • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    A real shame the article omits the part about GameStop (the former parent company) being led by an absolute piece of shit.

    https://xcancel.com/ryancohen/status/1891884823465103698

    Email M&[email protected] if you’re interested in buying GameStop Canada or Micromania France. High taxes, Liberalism, Socialism, Progressivism, Wokeness and DEI included at no additional cost if you buy today!

    Them actually selling it, and to Canadian business no less, is a blessing for y’all.

    • NotSteve_OP
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      1 day ago

      Yeah, I remember that. I still had a couple GameStop stocks and immediately sold them after seeing that. Happy he actually went through with selling the company though

  • usualsuspect191
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    1 day ago

    Funny that the EB Games was changed to Gamestop just a few years ago to now change back.

    • Kichae
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      21 hours ago

      Yeah, I got a laugh out of “from bygone decades”. I’m pretty sure my local stores switched signage like 2 years ago.

  • DicJacobus@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Bizzarro world enters its next chapter.

    Im almost at the point that Im too old to even remember, but I remember EB games being far more prevalent in Canada , almost every location that is currentley a Gamestop, I remember being an EB games.

    Oddly enough, I also remember going to an EB Games in the US in the early to mid 00s, I was a stupid kid who had previously bought Half Life 2 back home but couldnt figure out how to launch it, So I had retunred the game to the store and bought something else. (steam was new back then). and after 20 mins of conversation they made me realize there was an activation window for putting your CD Key in. So I bought my second copy of HL2 in the US, And a week later when I got home, I was able to successfully activate it.

    Wherever you are, random teenager who was working at the king of prussia mall, you opened pandoras box for me, but thank you.

    edit - Upon looking at the wiki page, I had no idea EB games actually originated in King of Prussia PA , I just happened to be visiting there when my Uncle lived nearby in the 2000s, thats super coincidental

    • Someone
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      1 day ago

      Clearly it was different elsewhere, but in BC (or at the very least on the Island) the GameStop name didn’t show up until very recently. As in, you could walk into an EB Games and walk out with a PS5.
      Edit: I forgot you couldn’t really find them in store around launch but my point stands.

    • NotSteve_OP
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      1 day ago

      GameStop, the (former now) parent company rebranded them all to GameStop in 2021, so hopefully they kept their old signs lol

      • DicJacobus@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        I think in the US they were taken over in 2005 but it took almost 15 years for the name to be phased out in both Canada and US. which makes this move all the more funnier.

      • OtterMA
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        1 day ago

        That lines up, the photos I saw were from 2021. Looking forward to seeing the old EB Games signs lol

  • argh_another_username
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    1 day ago

    Here in Quebec I remember also seeing some stores changing their names to EBX I think. I knew it was something to do with Game Stop selling their Canadian assets. Changing the name to Game Stop would potentially violate the law 101.

    • Underfreyja
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      1 day ago

      I’m not sure when it changed but they can have English names as long as there is a French description attached to the sign.

      Something like : Gamestop Jeux Vidéo or Gamestop Boutique Ludique

  • Daryl
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    1 day ago

    Something is amiss. The original CTV headline is “Canadian game company to be rebranded after sale to Quebec toy maker” but the headline on this article is “GameStop Canada bought by Quebec toy maker, to be rebranded EB Games”, a violation of the community rule 1 "Keep the original title when submitting an article. You can put your own commentary in the body of the post or in the comment section.’

    • TotallyHuman
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      1 day ago

      Headlines often change after publication. Everyone’s A/B testing these days.

    • NotSteve_OP
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      1 day ago

      Hey Daryl, I copied the headline directly from CTV. They must have changed it

      I can update it though if you want

      • Daryl
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        16 hours ago

        I don’t want but rule number 1 wants.

        Or rule number 1 gets changed."

        My post was removed because it violated rule number 1.