BANGOR, Maine — GameStop, a Texas-based seller of video games and electronics, is on track to close at least 150 stores after a lackluster fourth quarter performance in 2016, Fortune Magazine reported Friday.
It was not known Friday if any of the company’s 10 stores in Maine will be affected. There are two stores each in Bangor and South Portland and one store each in Scarborough, Waterville, Rockland, Auburn, Augusta and Topsham.
“The reference GameStop made in our quarterly earnings announcement relating to store closures is part of an annual strategy we announced more than three years ago,” company spokesman Joey Mooring said Friday in an email to the Bangor Daily News.
“As part of that strategy, we would rationalize our global store portfolio by closing up to 2-3 percent of nonproductive stores,” Mooring said. “This is not anything new, and is something that will take place throughout 2017. At this time, no stores have been identified.”
The company said Thursday that hardware sales declined 29.1 percent and new software sales fell by 19.3 percent for the quarter, according to CNBC news.
Shares of GameStop dropped more than 10 percent in early trading Friday.
Despite closing some stores, GameStop also said it will be opening 65 new Technology Brand stores and 35 Collectibles stores, according to USA Today.
According to Reuters, the company’s total global sales for the 2016 holiday shopping period were $2.5 billion, a 16.4 percent decline from the 2015 holiday sales period.
In addition, total comparable store sales decreased 18.7 percent for the holiday period.
The decreases were attributed in part to weak sales for “ Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” and “ Titanfall 2” sales and to aggressive console promotions by other retailers on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.
Reuters contributed to this report.