ThinkGeek.com is closing and it's really a shame



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After 20 years serving the nerds of the Internet with a wide variety of geek-related products, ThinkGeek will officially close its website and transfer its operations to the website of its parent company, GameStop. In the meantime, the store is holding a "move sale" at 50%.

As an explanation, a spokesman for GameStop would only provide the following business address: The company "is engaged in a strategic transformation initiative of the company to create the GameStop of the future" and, as part of from this effort, "we made the decision. to reorganize our ThinkGeek business by streamlining the operations of our ThinkGeek.com online commerce platform and transitioning to our omnichannel platform GameStop.com. "

Basically, the company consolidates its activities under one brand. According to the company's customer service page, the ThinkGeek site will be closed on July 2, after which you can "ship an organized selection of unique items historically found on ThinkGeek.com via a ThinkGeek section on GameStop." also indicates that it will maintain its 40+ physical outlets across the country and that ThinkGeek products will also be available in the company's GameStop store chain.

On one side, this makes sense: it is complicated to exploit several similar brands and their supporting organizations. When GameStop bought ThinkGeek back in 2015, he said he wanted to expand his offering into the "fast growing collectibles" category and of course you could find all sorts of tacky trinkets at your local GameStop. previously only available online. .

But despite all the cold logic that justifies GameStop's decision, I can not help but think it's a real loss. ThinkGeek has always been a charming place to shop for the wide range of geeky-minded people, from hardcore fans to confused families to those who love things like Star Trek and Dungeons and Dragons. The site has always kept a whimsical meta nature for the big geek world and the Internet fandom. You want a kitchen glove that looks like a Wampa paw? Check. How about a shark shaped bowl? I still laugh every time I fill it with goldfish crackers. Bathrobe Tardis? Yes.

That's saying nothing of the company's annual joke products, which are part of the April Fool's Day joke, outrageous stunts that no rational company would ever devote to a ton of energy and resources, even when everyone is talking about it. (The edgeSean Hollister would always like to have money for this Tauntaun sleeping bag.)

From now on, everything that GameStop will determine, it will remain of the brand in the racks loaded with Funko Pops, action figures and baskets of video games. Hopefully GameStop will also be able to bring some of ThinkGeek's playful fantasies.

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