GameStop is reportedly seeking a new CEO

A new rumor seems to suggest that retailer GameStop is looking for a new CEO. The source of this information is three anonymous individuals who have spoken to Reuters. Those same individuals state that the new CEO is being brought in to transform the company from a brick-and-mortar retailer into a fully online digital-driven business.

The information given states that the retailer’s board of directors is working with an executive headhunter to find this new CEO. Allegedly, a number of people have already been contacted regarding the role. These candidates are said to have a background that ranges from gaming to e-commerce and even tech.

George Sherman, GameStop’s current CEO, joined the company in April 2019. He took over from interim CEO Shane Kim, who served for just under one year whilst a new permanent CEO was found.

Last month, GameStop established a committee that is working to transform it from what it is into a technology business. One of the members of this committee, Kurtis Wolf was previously involved with GameStop in a heavy capacity but has been criticized as poorly unqualified.

Matt Francis, formerly Amazon Web Services Lead, was also hired by the company as CTO. He’s there to help with the transition to the new form the company is looking at. Jenna Owens was also hired as Chief Operating Officer as part of the four new VPs that have been hired too.

Jim Bell was the retailer’s CFO up until he resigned recently. The company is currently looking for someone to take up the role.

GameStop had been struggling for years before a plan was put into motion to transition it into a more streamlined business. The vague plan was to close most locations and turn others into places that are all themed after specific aspects of the games industry, such as retro tech.

Now, it sounds like the company is looking to become an online-only business. While in the UK, retailer GAME still has some store locations, those are few and far between. The company does most of its business online, which is what it looks like GameStop will be doing in due course.