WESTFIELD — GameStop, the video game retailer at the center of the "memestock" trading craze of 2021, is closing stores around the country this week including its Westfield, Hadley, Holyoke and East Longmeadow locations.
A sign at the entrance to its location at 431 East Main St. in Westfield says the store's last day is Thursday.
The sign directs customers to GameStop's Chicopee location at 649 Memorial Dr.
GameStop also has a shop on Boston Road in Springfield.
In April, GameStop announced a new strategy to invest in Bitcoin and close hundreds of stores.
A year ago, in February 2025, GameStop operated 2,325 locations in the United States.
And this week, the online forum Reddit buzzed with reports of imminent store shutdowns across the country.
GameStop will close in Westfield on Jan. 8, 2026, according to a sign. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican)The Republican
GameStop's corporate headquarters in Texas did not return calls and emails Monday.
In 2021, Massachusetts YouTube personality Keith Gill, who went online as "Roaring Kitty ," hyped-up GameStop's stock despite the retailer's poor performance.
Video game retailer GameStop has struggled because consumers switched rapidly from purchasing physical discs of games to digital downloads. Big Wall Street hedge funds and major investors have long bet against the retailer, shorting its stock, believing that its shares would continue on a drastically downward trend.
But with Roaring Kitty hyping the shares, GameStop's stock price spiked and Gill turned a profit.
His online postings also caused a smaller run on GameStop's stock in 2024.
GameStop's stock traded at about $20.64 a share around noon on Monday
In December, GameStop said its net sales were $821 million for the three months ending Nov. 1, 2025, a decrease of 4.6% compared to the same period of time the year before.
Stories by Jim Kinney
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