GameStop’s Turnaround Under CEO Ryan Cohen: A Retail Resurrection Story

GameStop's improbable revival under CEO Ryan Cohen continues to defy expectations. The video game retailer, once written off as obsolete, reported a 19% reduction in operating expenses during Q2—a direct result of Cohen's "extreme frugality" mandate. Cost-cutting alone won't solve structural challenges, however, as software sales plunged 27% amid the industry's shift toward digital distribution.

The Nintendo Switch 2 provided a temporary boost to hardware sales, but collectibles remain GameStop's unexpected bright spot. This pivot toward trading cards and memorabilia, initiated in 2016, now appears prescient as physical game revenues decline. Cohen's strategy echoes in microcap crypto markets—where projects like MEME and DEGEN thrive on collectible tokenomics despite lacking traditional utility.