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Gamestop closing all locations in Puerto Rico

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
40 down, eleventy billion to go.

Sucks for the folks losing their jobs though, best of luck to them.
 

fernoca

Member
Didn't know if I should post this here or in OT.
http://pr-gamer.com/gamestop-se-va-de-puerto-rico-en-marzo/
The economic situation here has been pretty poor, made worse by an incompetent governor.
Seems pretty serious, I think Walmart suffered decreased profits thanks to the whopping 11.5% tax.
Everyone should just buy at Best Buy anyways

Best Buy in PR sucks for gaming, since they rarely even match prices from the US, their site does not allow for store pickup and neither ships to PR. They took years to implement their rewards, gamers unlocked and trade-in. Still a nice store and employees are great. :p

Still, sucks about Gamestop.
Nice people working there, their deals always matched in-store. But yeah, bad decisions across goverments in the past are showing consequences now.
 
Holy shit, that's pretty big. I've been noticing that they've been closing stores in some malls (mainly in Plaza Las Americas where they had 3 stores and now only 1), but I didn't know that it was this bad.
 
I knew there was a reason why I pre ordered Zero Time Dilemma on Amazon and GameStop. Welp most of my shopping is done at Amazon anyway and I don't pay 11.5% tax.
 

Hellsing

Member
Well that sucks. The situation over there seems to keep worsening everyday.Good thing I don't live there anymore.
 

fernoca

Member
Holy shit, that's pretty big. I've been noticing that they've been closing stores in some malls (mainly in Plaza Las Americas where they had 3 stores and now only 1), but I didn't know that it was this bad.
That was part of the procedure company wide. They also closed stores in the US.

This is just the result of the goverment charging taxes that said stores should've paid in the past, didn't and are now forced to so.

If the goverment was like this years ago, things would've been better. But now, they are looking for ways to get money...from anywhere.
 
Holy shit, that's pretty big. I've been noticing that they've been closing stores in some malls (mainly in Plaza Las Americas where they had 3 stores and now only 1), but I didn't know that it was this bad.
Yeah, I thought it was just closing some stores since it didn't make too much sense to have 3 Gamestops in one mall (they were different chains originally)
I have to check if i have anything pre ordered.
thats a shame-

also-had no idea taxes were that crazy there
Our idiot governor wanted 16%.
And it's not like they're using it wisely, the streets are all messed up and it's not like Canada with the free health care.
 
Best Buy in PR sucks for gaming, since they rarely even match prices from the US, their site does not allow for store pickup and neither ships to PR. They took years to implement their rewards, gamers unlocked and trade-in. Still a nice store and employees are great. :p

Still, sucks about Gamestop.
Nice people working there, their deals always matched in-store. But yeah, bad decisions across goverments in the past are showing consequences now.
GCU makes it worth it, though the new tax is killer. Makes Amazon quite a bit nicer.
its not that much worse than some of the highest in the US, which I think are 9.45%
Like I said above, the guy wanted to go higher but everyone started campaigning against it.
And unlike those highest in the US, we aren't seeing the benefits...and he still authorized a massive Christmas bonus despite our huge debt
 

XxCGSxX

Member
The thing is Best buy is too far away from
were I live, they have like what 2-3 stores here and all of them are in the metro region? So gamestop was my only option in terms of having a game day one and preordering. Walmart sucks when it comes to stocking games day one, sometimes they take weeks to arrive to the store or the employees are just lazy to stock them. The employees and manager at my store were really really nice, it's a shame really. I have amazon prime but shipping takes way too long for games to arrive day one let alone day 2 or 3. Oh well, digital only future here we go.
 
GameStop closed a prime location in DC. I'm trying to go full digital and buy accessories from Amazon so I'm not that affected until some game announce a GameStop exclusive pre-order bonus. .
 
Too sad as my kid loved going to Gamestop and my local employees were pretty nice people. I guess I need to get Amazon Prime now to offset Amazon's horrendous shipping prices to Puerto Rico. And Btw we don't have Best Buy in the West area of Puerto Rico, so our options are pretty limited on this side of the island.
 
Gamestop is still the primary location for game sales, I wonder if Best Buy and TRU will start receiving more stock here or if it'll be much harder to buy games with everyone going to those choice locations.
There's also going to be no used games here since Best Buy doesn't take them.
This blows either way.
 
Gamestop is still the primary location for game sales, I wonder if Best Buy and TRU will start receiving more stock here or if it'll be much harder to buy games with everyone going to those choice locations.
There's also going to be no used games here since Best Buy doesn't take them.
This blows either way.
Plus, used games are going to be a lot harder to find now, unless one is willing to go to pawn shops and such.
 

Noi

Member
Guess we're fucked when it comes to niche stuff now. I'm not gonna enjoy having to pay the extra Amazon shipping costs to get physical games when they come out now.

Edit: and used games too, since they're the only retailer that stocks them. Blegh.
 

papo

Member
Yeah situation back home sucks. I actually moved to Austin the same day the 11.5% sales tax started.

It sucks because even though GS sucked as a business( recently making you pay full price upfront including shipping for preorders ) the employees were always nice and really friendly.

The economic situation in PR is really bad, I don't if it really affected GS or if this would have happened regardless, but it sucks for the people that loose their jobs in a bad economy like back home.

One thing that rocks about moving to Texas is Amazon release day delivery which is a godsend.
 

Ricky_R

Member
It's a shame although I hardly get games from Gamestop anymore. It will be weird not seeing and entering them from time to time though.

I guess it's Amazon only for me, or Best Buy.

Thank God for Prime.
 

fernoca

Member
The thing is that the alternatives, might get worse with time.

-Anazon doesn't charge taxes yet. The thing is that they charge way too much for shipping (usually $10 for just a game) amd Prime costs the same, but free shipping is standard/Parcepool, even though they do use UPS for 1 day and 2 day shipping. The government has been trying to get into them, so that may also result in them starting to charge taxes.

-Best Buy while does have Unlocked, they rarely match prices from the US, no store pickup and just don't ship anything to PR. There aren't many stores, and they are more recent than Gamestop, so maybe they did paid such taxes from day one. Hence why they operate in many things, separate from the US.

-Toys R Us is the closest to Gamestop, when it comes to matching prices, offers and store pickup. There are literally 2 stores only, with a few smaller one too far from each other.

-Wal-Mart is a mix. They sometimes match offers, sometimes don't. No store pickup, but you can check inventory online. They ship some things, but others not. Wal-Mart is also in the brink of abandoning PR for the same reasons as Gamestop.

And is not like things might improve. Target tried a few times to open stores in here, but the main thing that stopped them (outside the rising costs and taxes) was that a local place called Target Rent a Car, with the same logo too; has been operating for decades and wanted money from them to use the same name and logo. And with the current situation is even more doubtful they'll consider again.
 

Daknight

Member
I believe one of the main reason they are leaving here is that the IVU (sale tax) will actually change to VAT on april 1. This in term affect them (and all stores) different. It will still stay at 11.5 (one of the highest).

Is the reason their cutoff date is at the end of march, right before the VAT takes effect. They will extract as much as possible now and of course people will be buying more desperately during this three months.

Really sad to see them go.
 

Hesh

Member
I remember working at GameStop a decade ago and having fun looking up SNES and Genesis games in the inventory look-up. Puerto Rico stores always had the hook-up on old 16-bit games for some reason. I remember joking with a co-worker about calling one to see if they would ship a game to our store so I could buy it.
 

wicko

Member
Yeah, Best Buy is my preferred store but their service is poor and a lot of features aren't available here like shipping.

It was 7%
Our governor wanted 16%

Oh I see, yeah that's a big jump. Where I live it is 13%, so it didn't seem that crazy to me.
 

DrkSage

Member
Thanks AGP!

Thinking about it now, I almost always shop games at GameStop.. Looks like I'll have to start buying games at Walmart now.
 

Cels

Member
i was just in puerto rico, stopped by the walmart (the supercenter in carolina that has a sam's club next to it) and i saw that the newest games retailed for $70 with that crazy 11.5% tax on top of it

nothanks
 

lenovox1

Member
Our idiot governor wanted 16%.
And it's not like they're using it wisely, the streets are all messed up and it's not like Canada with the free health care.

The government is corrupt, the tax system is borked, and there's too much "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" within the system.

Nothing can change without a new constitution or statehood (which would require a new constitution).
 
This is such a big deal to me.

I live near the southeastern part of the island so driving to the Best Buy store takes around an hour. The amazon shipping prices are high for physical games and digital isn't an option cause internet is garbage in my region.
 

xewind

Member
So sad for all those employees from my two local gamestop's (Plaza las Américas and San Patricio) who are all great people, and everyone else who will lose their jobs. We don't have many options here, Best Buy and Walmart mostly only. The thing about Best Buy is that the benefits of the GCU doesn't apply to PR I believe.

Once again we see the consequences of the government actions that has been going on for years, and things seems will get even worse.
 

the1npc

Member
i was just in puerto rico, stopped by the walmart (the supercenter in carolina that has a sam's club next to it) and i saw that the newest games retailed for $70 with that crazy 11.5% tax on top of it

nothanks

Thats what i pay in canada but with 13% tax....
 
i was just in puerto rico, stopped by the walmart (the supercenter in carolina that has a sam's club next to it) and i saw that the newest games retailed for $70 with that crazy 11.5% tax on top of it

nothanks

Seriously? Kmart is the one with the crazy ass retail prices from what I see.
 
This really sucks for the employees. I know so many employees that have worked many years in the Yauco and Ponce Gamestops and they're people with Bachelor's and even Masters degrees that just can't find a job in this crappy island. Getting out of here this year, tired of the politics and random gunshots mostly every night.
 

speedomodel

Member
Currently there right now. Visit often. Terrible news. The economic situation really is awful here. Hopefully there's a turnaround.
 

cDNA

Member
GCU makes it worth it, though the new tax is killer. Makes Amazon quite a bit nicer.

Like I said above, the guy wanted to go higher but everyone started campaigning against it.
And unlike those highest in the US, we aren't seeing the benefits...and he still authorized a massive Christmas bonus despite our huge debt

He wanted to implement a IVA or VAT like in Europe and Latin America, no increase the sales tax. The Bonus is a law it was mandatory for the goverment to pay it, until they change the law.
 

cDNA

Member
Yeah, Best Buy is my preferred store but their service is poor and a lot of features aren't available here like shipping.

It was 7%
Our governor wanted 16%

Again the 16 percent was an IVA, that don't work exactly the same as the sales tax.
 
Born and raised in PR and this sucks. Even though I live in the states now and buy everything from amazon, I remember when I was younger and would buy all the new games at gamestop and just go their with friends to talk about games.

The situation in PR is truly terrible, the economy is in shambles, there is no hope for the middle class. If I were to win the Powerball lotto and as a Puerto Rican even if I give 100% of the winnings to the government of Puerto Rico it wouldn't even count to lower our debt by 1%. That's how messed up we are.
 

fernoca

Member
Yeah, KMart is crazy. No one enters the game section there
They stopped selling games months ago. It was actually good during the clearances. :p

But the prices were just bad. The explanation was that they had to charge more because of taxes and shipping, so their math was:

$60 game + 14% (twice the tax back then)
Game was priced at $68.40. To which you added the tax then.

Wal-Mart is good for the most part when it comes to pricing.
 
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