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Table of Contents
PART I
Item 1. Business
General
GameStop Corp. (together with its predecessor companies, "GameStop," "we," "us," "our," or the "Company") is the world's largest
multichannel retailer of video game products and PC entertainment software. We sell new and used video game hardware, video game software and
accessories, as well as PC entertainment software and other merchandise. As of January 29, 2011, we operated 6,670 stores in the United States,
Australia, Canada and Europe, primarily under the names GameStop, EB Games and Micromania. We also operate electronic commerce Web sites
under the names www.gamestop.com, www.ebgames.com.au, www.gamestop.ca, www.gamestop.it, www.gamestop.es, www.gamestop.ie,
www.gamestop.de and www.micromania.fr. In addition, we publish Game Informer magazine, the industry's largest multi-platform video game
magazine in the United States based on circulation, with approximately 5.7 million subscribers, and operate the online video gaming Web site
www.kongregate.com.
In the fiscal year ended January 29, 2011, we operated our business in the following segments: United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.
Of our 6,670 stores, 4,536 stores are included in the United States segment and 345, 405 and 1,384 stores are included in the Canadian, Australian
and European segments, respectively. Each of the segments consists primarily of retail operations, with all stores engaged in the sale of new and
used video game systems, software and accessories, which we refer to as video game products, and PC entertainment software and related
accessories. Our used video game products provide a unique value proposition to our customers, and our purchasing of used video game products
provides our customers with an opportunity to trade in their used video game products for store credits and apply those credits towards other
merchandise, which in turn, increases sales. We also sell various types of products that relate to the digital category, including network point cards,
prepaid digital and online timecards and digitally downloadable software. Our products are substantially the same regardless of geographic location,
with the primary differences in merchandise carried being the timing of release of new products in the various segments, language translations and
the timing of roll-outs of newly developed technology enabling the sale of new products, such as digital add-on content. Stores in all segments are
similar in size at an average of approximately 1,400 square feet. Our corporate office and one of our distribution facilities are housed in a
518,000 square foot facility in Grapevine, Texas.
The Company began operations in November 1996. In February 2002, GameStop completed an initial public offering of its Class A common
stock. In October 2005, GameStop acquired the operations of Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. ("EB"), a 2,300-store video game retailer in the
U.S. and 12 other countries, by merging its existing operations with EB under GameStop Corp. (the "EB merger").
On November 17, 2008, GameStop France SAS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, completed the acquisition of substantially all of
the outstanding capital stock of SFMI Micromania SAS ("Micromania") for $580.4 million, net of cash acquired (the "Micromania acquisition").
Micromania is a leading retailer of video and computer games in France with 379 locations, 328 of which were operating at the date of acquisition.
The Company's operating results for the 52 weeks ended January 29, 2011 ("fiscal 2010") and January 30, 2010 ("fiscal 2009") include
Micromania's results; whereas, the Company's operating results for the 52 weeks ended January 31, 2009 ("fiscal 2008") include only 11 weeks of
Micromania's results.
Disclosure Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This report on Form 10-K and other oral and written statements made by the Company to the public contain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). The forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could
cause our actual 2