GameStop has has a lot of trouble this month since the pandemic coronavirus has been shutting down non-essential stores and places all over the world. The timeline of GameStop's response to COVID-19 has not looked very good from the outside, and it just stepped up its game: GameStop is now asking employees to wrap their hands in plastic bags and get back to work.
Since the novel coronavirus began its world-wide spread at the beginning of the year, both governments and businesses have had to make difficult decisions about closing stores and taking working people away from their incomes. None of the choices have been easy for anyone, but GameStop in particular seemed to have a hard time following the rules. In spite of assembling an internal taskforce to help protect employees and customers against the coronavirus, it also made some decisions that some are seeing as problematic.
Now GameStop has asked their employees to go back to work, using bags to wrap their hands to prevent the spread of disease. Stores have begun curbside pickups, taking payments from customers with bags wrapped over their hands to avoid direct contact with customer's hands and payments. Employees have been instructed to open the door just enough to take the payment with bags around their hands, then run their cards. Afterwards, goods can be delivered in the bag the employee had wrapped around their hands to the customers still standing at the door.
This, coming so soon after the news that GameStop is closing 320 stores nationwide, makes the company not look so good. Businesses have to stay open to make money and stay in business, but GameStop seems determined to do it regardless of the safety of their customers and employees.
After the leaked call of the GameStop executives who seemed to be downplaying how dangerous the coronavirus is, this just seems like more bad press for the gaming giant. There's a lot of bad news coming from around the world, but most companies have realized that they can't risk the health of their employees and customers just to stay open.
GameStop has tweeted steps it is taking to help protect customers and employees during the pandemic, and it did temporarily shut down stores in response to public and governmental pressure. It's hard to tell if it really believes it's an "essential" retailer or if GameStop is just more concerned with profits than people, but either way, it's not good press for the already struggling game chain.
Source: bostonglobe