GameStop Claims to be Essential to Avoid Closing

Many locations have instructed non-essential retail stores to close. However, GameStop issued a memo to their employees instructing them to ignore any such attempts by law enforcement. Instead, they were instructed to give the police a note. This prepared statement would advise officials to call the corporate office with any questions. The electronics and video game store says they view themselves as "essential" and issued the following statement:

"While GameStop is best known as a provider of gaming and home entertainment systems, we also offer a wide array of products and devices that are important to facilitate remote work, distance learning, and virtual connectivity."

The corporate statement went on to say:

"While there are many businesses and organizations far more critical than ours, we believe we can have a positive impact during this very challenging time. The health and safety of our employees and customers is of utmost importance and we have and will continue to take extensive precautions consistent with CDC guidelines."

This statement has widely been criticized as disingenuous. Partially due to the fact they have not provided adequate cleaning supplies to their store employees. In some cases, even asking them to buy their own cleaning agents (according to online leaks of employee memos). Additionally, GameStop has not extended sick leave policies to employees, instead demanding employees to use their own days off. Similarly, this comes in the face of dropping stock prices due to digital purchases overtaking in store revenue.

We have not been able to confirm if any GameStop stores have actually used this tactic yet.Do you think this is a good move by GameStop? Do you consider this store to be essential? Sound off in the comments with your opinions. Are you an employee at one such location? We want to hear from you!