GameStop was Wexford Town’s first dedicated computer games shop. It operated from 14 South Main Street for nearly two decades, opening in late 2004 and closing on 24 June 2023 when the company withdrew entirely from the Irish market.
Before the shop arrived, the premises was occupied by Martin’s Jewellers. GameStop entered the Irish market in 2003 by acquiring the Gamesworld chain and launched the Wexford branch the following year, just in time for the Christmas period.
The store’s arrival coincided with a broader retail expansion in the town. Argos was finalising negotiations to occupy a 12,000-square-foot unit in the Key West development. The €20 million Key West project on the site of the old L&N included a SuperValu supermarket, flats, offices, 130 car parking spaces, and shops. Aldi had recently opened on Trinity Street. Boots started trading at 54/56 North Main Street, occupying the old Greenacres building. The Sony Centre replaced Joyce’s China Shop.
In Wexford, GameStop became the primary destination for video games and consoles. The store was one of the few in the area to host midnight launch events for major game releases, drawing crowds to South Main Street about twice a year.
At the FIFA 13 launch in October 2012, manager Michael Jones reported a turnout of around 90 people. “Generally they would be the more hardcore fans of the game who would’ve pre-booked their copies a month or two in advance,” he said. Jones added that midnight openings happened for popular games like FIFA, Halo, and Call of Duty, and that “It’s good fun though, and the staff here enjoys it too. It’s something different.”
The Grand Theft Auto V launch in September 2013 drew even larger numbers. Employee John Walsh said over 200 people attended that night, with 30 to 40 people already queuing when staff arrived at 9pm.
The video game industry began shifting away from physical media in November 2013, when the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched with dedicated digital shopfronts built into their main menus. Gamers could now purchase and download games digitally, eliminating the need for physical discs and reducing foot traffic to brick-and-mortar retailers like GameStop. The release of disc-less consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and Xbox Series S, further accelerated this trend.
The shift to digital sales undermined the company’s core business model. Its structural struggles began silently in 2013, driven by digital transformation, high overhead costs, and eroding revenue streams. Pre-owned video games historically provided the highest profit margins through the buy-sell-trade model. As the market shifted to digital, that pipeline rapidly dried up.
Instead of focusing on eCommerce, GameStop attempted to diversify its revenue streams by investing over a billion dollars in cell phone companies, which ultimately failed and resulted in those businesses being sold off in 2019.
The company’s Irish arm recorded a pre-tax loss of €5.35 million in the 12 months to 28 January 2023, with accumulated losses reaching €45.5 million.
In March 2023, GameStop announced the closure of all 35 Irish stores, resulting in 224 job losses. The Wexford branch closed as part of that withdrawal, adding to the commercial vacancy and dereliction concerns on South Main Street.
The company estimated the cost of shutting down its Irish operations at €13m (including severance and lease liabilities). It incurred severance costs of €183,532.
In January 2025, the unit was leased by Seasalt Cornwall, a clothing retailer.
