The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the information contained in our consolidated financial statements,including the notes thereto. Statements regarding future economic performance, management’s plans and objectives, and anystatements concerning assumptions related to the foregoing contained in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of FinancialCondition and Results of Operations constitute forward-looking statements. Certain factors, which may cause actual results tovary materially from these forward-looking statements, accompany such statements or appear elsewhere in this Form 10-K,including the factors disclosed under Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.
GameStop Corp. (“GameStop,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company”), a Delaware corporation established in 1996, is the world'slargest video game retailer, operates approximately 5,500 stores across 14 countries, and offers the best selection of new andpre-owned video gaming consoles, accessories and video game titles, in both physical and digital formats. GameStop also offersfans a wide variety of POP! vinyl figures, collectibles board games and more.Through GameStop's unique buy-sell-trade program,gamers can trade in video game consoles, games, and accessories, as well as consumer electronics for cash or in-store credit.Our consumer product network also includes www.gamestop.com andGame Informermagazine, the world's leading print anddigital video game publication. Our corporate office is located in Grapevine, Texas.We operate our business in four geographic segments: United States, Canada,Australia and Europe. Our fiscal year is composedof the 52 or 53 weeks ending on the Saturday closest to the last day of January. Fiscal year 2019 consisted of the 52 weeksended on February 1, 2020 ("fiscal 2019"). Fiscal year 2018 consisted of the 52 weeks ended on February 2, 2019 ("fiscal 2018")and fiscal year 2017 consisted of the 53 weeks ended on February 3, 2018 ("fiscal 2017"). The discussion and analysis of ourresults of operations refers to continuing operations unless otherwise noted.The near-term global economic conditions have been adversely impacted by the emergence of a novel coronavirus in China,identified as COVID-19, which continues to spread throughout the United States and other parts of the world. In March 2020, theWorld Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic. In an effort to mitigate the continued spread ofthe virus, governments have imposed quarantines, travel restrictions and similar measures. We have temporarily closed storeson a country-wide basis in Europe, primarily in Italy and France, as well as in Canada, which became effective in various pointsin March 2020. In the United States, effective March 22, 2020, we have temporarily closed all storefronts to customers but continueto process orders on a digital only basis, offering curbside pick-up at stores and e-commerce delivery only. As a result of theseactions and restrictions, we expect a significant reduction in customer traffic and demand.Growth in the video game industry is generally driven by the introduction of new technology. Gaming consoles have historicallylaunched in five to seven-year cycles as technological developments provide significant improvements in the gaming experienceand add other entertainment capabilities. Consumer demand for gaming consoles are typically the highest in the early years ofthe cycle and the weakest in the latter years. The current generation of consoles include the Sony PlayStation 4 (launched in2013), Microsoft Xbox One (launched in 2013) and the Nintendo Switch (launched in 2017). The Sony PlayStation 4 and MicrosoftXbox One are nearing the end of their cycle as Sony and Microsoft have announced that their next generation consoles areexpected to launch during the holiday period of 2020.The sale of video games delivered through digital channels and other forms of gaming continue to grow and take an increasingpercentage of physical video game sales. We currently sell various types of products that relate to the digital category, includingdigitally downloadable content (“DLC”), full-game downloads, Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Plus and Nintendo network points cards,as well as prepaid digital and prepaid subscription cards. We have made significant investments in e-commerce and in-store andwebsite functionality to enable our customers to access digital content to facilitate the digital sales and delivery process. We planto continue to invest in these types of processes and channels to grow our digital sales base and enhance our market leadershipposition in the video game industry and in the digital aggregation and distribution category.In our discussion of the results of operations, we refer to comparable store sales, which is a measure commonly used in the retailindustry and indicates store performance by measuring the growth or decline in sales for certain stores for a particular periodover the corresponding period in the prior year. Our comparable store sales are comprised of sales from our video game stores,including stand-alone collectible stores, operating for at least 12 full months as well as sales related to our websites and saleswe earn from sales of pre-owned merchandise to wholesalers or dealers. Comparable store sales for our international operatingsegments exclude the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. The calculation of comparable store sales comparesthe fiscal year ended to the most closely comparable weeks for the prior year period. The method of calculating comparable storesales varies across the retail industry. As a result, our method of calculating comparable store sales may not be the same asother retailers’ methods. We believe our calculation of comparable store sales best represents our strategy as an omnichannelretailer that provides its consumers several ways to access its products.
In May of 2019, we announced our multi-year transformation initiative, which we refer to as GameStop Reboot, to positionGameStop on the correct strategic path and fully leverage our unique position and brand in the video game industry. Our strategicplan is anchored on the following four tenets.
Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations across the organization, including costrestructuring, inventory management optimization, adding and growing high margin product categories, and rationalizing theglobal store base.
Create the social and cultural hub of gaming across the GameStop platform andofferings.
Develop and deploy a frictionless consumer facing digital omni-channel environment,including the recent relaunch of GameStop.com, to reach customers more broadly across all channels and provide them the fullspectrum of content and access to products they desire, anytime, anywhere
Transform our vendor and partner relationships to unlock additional high-margin revenuestreams and optimize the lifetime value of every customer.Connected to our transformation efforts, we have incurred and expect to incur future costs including, but not limited to, consultingfees, severance and store closure costs. See "Consolidated Results from Operations—Selling, General and AdministrativeExpenses" for further information.We remain committed to a capital allocation strategy focused on optimizing long-term value creation. With this approach, we willreturn capital to shareholders when the time is right and balance that opportunity against the need to maintain a strong balancesheet and to invest in responsible growth that will drive innovation for the business. During fiscal 2019, we repurchased 38.1 millionshares for an aggregate purchase price of $198.7 million under our authorized repurchase program
The following table presents the number of stores by segment that were opened and disposed of during fiscal 2019:
| United States 3,8466 (210) 3,642 |
| Canada 311 — (12) 299 |
| Australia 462 2 (38) 426 |
| Europe 1,211 4 (73) 1,142 |
| Total Stores 5,830 12 (333) 5,509 |
Our business, like that of many retailers, is seasonal, with the major portion of sales and operating profit realized during the fourthquarter which includes the holiday selling season. Results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of the results that maybe achieved for a full fiscal year. Quarterly results may fluctuate materially depending upon, among other factors, the timing ofnew product introductions and new store openings, sales contributed by new stores, increases or decreases in comparable storesales, the nature and timing of acquisitions, adverse weather conditions, shifts in the timing of certain holidays or promotions andchanges in our merchandise mix.