SHOPPERS have been left gutted after a major chain owned by Frasers Group gears up to close one of its shops within weeks.
It comes after the retailer shuttered a string of branches across the UK in a blow for the high street.
Game will close its store in the Clydebank Shopping Centre, just outside of Glasgow, Scotland, this month.
A spokesperson for Frasers Group, which owns Game, said: “Game located in Clydebank will be closing towards the end of this month, however customers can continue shopping Game in our nearby Sports Direct Clydebank store.
“We would like to thank our staff for their hard work and dedication.
“Where possible, we are committed to finding new roles within the Group for staff.”
News of the closure has not been met well by locals and shoppers alike on Facebook.
One said: “Another blow to Clydebank Shopping Centre.”
Another disgruntled shopper added: “Shopping centre might as well shut down with how many shops (have) shut down.”
The Clydebank Game closure comes after a number of other of the retailer’s stores shut down for good.
Almost a dozen have permanently closed their doors since last October, in locations across England and Wales.
This is the full list of branches that have closed, or are set to close:
- Newport, Wales – October 18, 2023
- Nuneaton, Warwickshire – November 10, 2023
- Exeter, Devon, Guildhall shopping centre – January (relocated to Sports Direct on Rydon Lane)
- Witney, Oxfordshire – January 7
- Rugby, Warwickshire – January 7
- Huntington, Cambridgeshire – January 14
- Rhyl, Wales – February 4
- Plymouth, Devon – February 6
- Newton Abbot, Devon – March 17
- Grimsby, Lincolnshire – March 17
- Torquay, Devon – TBC
Game was bought out by billionaire businessman Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group in 2019 as part of a £52million deal.
But by January 2020 it had announced plans to close 40 of its more than 300 stores across the UK.
As of today, there are over 240 Game stores nationwide.
It comes as sales of physical video games have fallen majorly since Game’s peak in the early 2000s.
Digital sales accounted for almost nine out of every 10 video games sold in the UK in 2022, according to trade body the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA), reported the BBC.
What does Frasers Group own?
MIKE Ashley's Frasers Group owns dozens of high street and online brands, here is the full list.
- House of Fraser
- Sports Direct
- Flannels
- Evans Cycles
- Everlast Gyms
- Everlast
- Game
- Frasers
- I saw it first
- Gieves and Hawkes
- Jack Wills
- Slazenger
- Studio
- Sofa.com
- USA Pro
- USC
Frasers Group hasn’t given a reason for closing the string of game stores, but in some instances they have moved location, or have reopened in other Frasers Group stores like Sports Direct.
It comes as a number of retailers owned by Frasers Group have shuttered stores permanently.
House of Fraser has shuttered several of its shops in recent years, including in Birmingham, Cardiff and Guildford.
A Sports Direct branch in Stroud, Gloucestershire, pulled down its shutters for good at the end of March too.
The retailer also closed its store in the Central Six Retail Park, Coventry, at the end of January.
The Flannels site in Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton, also closed at the start of 2024, while another shuttered in Bradford in January.
Designer clothing chain Choice has pulled the shutters down on one of its stores in Bromley too.
Frasers Group also put luxury brand Matchesfashion into administration in March.
It’s not all bad news though as the firm has opened several sites in recent months.
Frasers Group has already started opening “new concept” stores.
The concept stores hold various Frasers brands like Sports Direct, Flannels, and beauty halls as well as products from USC, Jack Wills and GAME.
Last September, it cut the ribbon on the latest of its new department stores combining popular brands like Sports Direct and Game in Norwich.
It has also since opened two further sites in Blackpool and Sheffield.
The group has also announced it will be taking over the former John Lewis site at Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough, at the end of 2025.
The firm has acquired Compton House on Liverpool’s famous Church Street and is set to open a flagship Sports Direct.
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