EB Games will shut down its New Zealand business and close all its stores at the end of the month.
In a letter sent to employees last week, EB Games Australia & New Zealand managing director Shane Stockwell said the company was proposing to close all remaining EB Games New Zealand stores and the New Zealand Distribution Centre.
Another letter sent on Wednesday confirmed that EB Games will close its New Zealand operation on 31 January. The remaining stores will close on that day, with the distribution centre permanently closing on 28 February.
The news has caused people to rush to its Christchurch stores in Riccarton, Northlands, The Palms and Hornby in search of closing down sale deals. Earlier today dozens of customers could be seen queuing up to get into the Northlands store.
Stockwell said the company had "numerous" third parties approach the company after it was revealed it was considering shutting down, but "these parties did not present any proposals or solutions about how to keep the New Zealand business sustainable".
EB Games is an Australian-based video game and pop culture merchandise retailer, owned by GameStop since 2005.
It is uncertain how many jobs would be lost, and the letter to NZ employees did not mention anything about the future of the Australian stores.
The chain has been facing stress for some time, including closures of stores in both Australia and New Zealand.
In the earlier letter, Stockwell described the New Zealand business as no longer commercially viable, with a "multi-million dollar loss during the 2024 fiscal year".
He said the retail market continued to be sluggish and the company was not confident its performance would improve.
"We are saddened to be in this position having already made significant and repeated efforts to turn the business around," Stockwell wrote.
The company said that there may be opportunities for New Zealand employees to relocate and take up work in the Australian EB Games operations.
-Allied Media with RNZ
