Electronics Boutique is a United States-based computer games retailer which was established in 1977 as a single, electronics-focused kiosk located in a suburban Pennsylvania mall. They trade on the NASDAQ with the symbol ELBO.

As of July 30, 2005, the company operated 2,280 stores in the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Spain and Sweden -- primarily under the names EB Games and Electronics Boutique. The company operates an e-commerce website at http://www.ebgames.com.

Within the past few years, the corporation changed its DBA name to EB Games, but often the retailer is still called Electronics Boutique. One possible reason EB created other versions of its store may be to avoid a restriction in many malls that prevents them from having two of stores of the same name. In addition, some EB Games stores are named EBGameworld/EBX/Stop-N-Save.

On April 18, 2005, Electronics Boutique and GameStop announced that they would be merging into one company called GameStop Corp.

=International=

EB began its international expansion with the purchase of financially troubled British game retailer Rhino Group in 1995 and the name of the chain was changed to match the new owner. Store remodels, product mix changes and used video games combined to restore the chain s finances.

In early 2003, Electronics Boutique s UK entity merged with Game Group Plc and the GAME brand replaced the EB name at all former EB stores in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The new company was the biggest video game retailer in the United Kingdom.

Although the EB-GAME merger created a company separate from the US parent, EB retained some ownership interest in the merged chain for a while and, under the merger agreement, collected substantial management fees from it until 2004, when the companies agreed to sever the remainder of their ties with a one time settlement.

EB commenced operations in Australia from scratch in 1997 and rapidly became the number 1 video game specialty retailer in the country and the only one with a nationwide footprint.

On May 23, 2005, Electronics Boutique announced a definitive agreement to acquire Jump, a retailer based in Valencia, Spain that sells PCs and other consumer electronics. Electronics Boutique plans to begin introducing video game hardware and software into Jump s 141 stores over the next several months. The acquisition provides Electronics Boutique entry into the Spanish marketplace and continues Electronics Boutique s aggressive international expansion. ____________________________________

A Glimpse at EB Games Holiday Season

Sales Strategies / Current Promotions:

Currently EB Games is offering over 10 different Trade-In promotions for used games and gaming systems. [https://www.ebgames.com/ebx/ads/shops/instoretradein] Used games for almost every platform can be taken to any EB Games location as a trade-in for In-Store credit toward your next purchase. You can even take in your broken PS2/PSP/XBOX/GBA SP system and receive a $10 credit - ($10 extra trade-in credit for PP PS2/XB/PSP/GBA SP systems Active: 10/14/2005 - 10/30/2005)

Special trade-in credit is being offered when you bring in 3 or more titles for the same game system to be used toward the purchase of specific titles. (Trade-in 3 pre-played PS2/XB/GC games and receive $39.99 towards the purchase of GRAN TURISMO 4 PS2. Boxes and Instructions are required. Some titles are excluded from trade.)

During the same time frame of the release of the last Star Wars movie, you can now purchase an Alienware Aurora: Star Wars Edition PC. [https://www.alienware.com/starwars_pages/awswaurora.aspx&from=EBGames.com:Star_Wars_PC_Dark]

The number of pre-played games titles including all platforms & PC games is huge with enough titles to satisfy most gamers. Prices range from $1.99 up to $49.99 for the most expensive pre-played PC game. Lets not forget about pre-played hardware either. Not only does EB Games sell used games, but they are cornering the market on use gaming systems and hardware also. [https://www.ebgames.com/ebx/ads/shops/preowned-hardware/default.asp]

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