GameStop Shuts Down at Least 5 Missouri Locations Without Notice

I feared that this day was coming. It appears that GameStop has begun a massive closure of stores with at least 5 Missouri locations being affected as of today.

I knew something was up when I saw Cheapism mention that GameStop was closing hundreds of stores. The website that documents closings of GameStop stores confirms that the following 5 Missouri locations are affected:

Independence Commons, 19130 E. 39th St., Independence, Missouri

Lebanon Marketplace, 1810 S. Jefferson Ave., Lebanon, Missouri

St. Joseph Plaza, 3302 S. Belt Hwy., St. Joseph, Missouri

Shoppes @ North Village, 5301 N. Belt Hwy., St. Joseph, Missouri

South Pointe S.C., 1213 S. Main St., Sikeston, Missouri

I sadly expect that these 5 Missouri locations are just the tip of the iceberg. My kids always enjoy when we can road trip to a GameStop store to look around at used games, but the sad fact is that most modern gaming has shifted over to digital downloads which leaves stores like GameStop out of the loop when it comes to game buying. I have good friends who either currently manage GameStop stores or have in the past and they're all good people. There's value in being able to walk into a store to ask about a game system or software especially if you have a problem. It's sad that many of these gaming retail stores are slowly going away and this year may not be slowly either.