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At least working at a GameStop in 2020 is pretty close self isolating. TBH I don't quite understand the outlash against some business deciding to stay open. A

At least working at a GameStop in 2020 is pretty close self isolating. TBH I don't quite understand the outlash against some business deciding to stay open. A GameStop doesn't take more than 1 or 2 people to run, especially right now, and transactions are pretty simple and inovlve minimal contact. And they have a point about selling products people may want during this time. As far as I know, Walmart will still sell video games despite only being exempted because they sell food & essential supplies. It's probably more dangerous to have to go to a Walmart either food or video games compared to going to a GameStop given the # of people typically at Wallmart.

thaumasiotes 7y ago
> It's probably more dangerous to have to go to a Walmart either food or video games compared to going to a GameStop given the # of people typically at Wallmart. This might be a reasonable point, except that there's no reason to leave your house at all if the only thing you want to buy is a video game. (And of course, if you need food and video games, making an additional trip to Gamestop can only hurt compared to getting everything at Walmart.)
- barbecue_sauce 7y ago
  And, though Walmart is likely to have a higher number of customers present, the concentration of people can be much lower in a 150,000 sq ft warehouse store then a 300 sq ft Gamestop (provided people are following proper social distancing).
dustingetz 7y ago
Gamestop is staffed by Gen Z gamers who have been refreshing reddit for covid info since late Jan
mikestew 7y ago
Since things started shutting down here in WA, and I’m kind of house-bound due to recent surgery, I’ve managed to not only buy video games but an entire console (finally bought that Switch), all without leaving my house. And, no, of course I didn’t buy it from GameStop. They’re still in business? Frankly, this comes off as pathetic regardless, they can do what they want. But essential? I can’t download groceries, but name me a game platform that requires physical media.
- xnyan 7y ago
  > Frankly, this comes off as pathetic regardless, they can do what they want This is factually incorrect. In the US, local athorities absolutely have the statutory authority to close nonessential businesses for the purpose of defending public health.
- KingMachiavelli 7y ago
  I mean having stuff shipped to your house just shifts the exposure from you to workers. Is Amazon essential? Amazon suspended some non-essential shipments (to them not customers) but they could get by with even fewer employees should they decide to only ship essential goods. While of course I don't think GameStop really needs to be open. - I am more curious if people's attitudes will change in 2-4 weeks of self isolating. I think there's a certain excitement/anxiety to this at first especially among those where self isolating means working from home to semi-vaction. Eventually, I think a lot of people's commitment to self isolating/distancing will waver.
scott_s 7y ago
If having "products people may want during this time" is the criteria we used to determine if a store should remain open, no stores would close. This is a numbers game. We want most stores closed to limit the number of people out and engaging with each other. There will be fuzzy edge cases such as large retailers like Walmart and Target being open and selling particular items, while the stores that specialize in those items are closed. That's fine. The goal is not some sort of retail fairness, but public health.

thaumasiotes 7y ago

> It's probably more dangerous to have to go to a Walmart either food or video games compared to going to a GameStop given the # of people typically at Wallmart. This might be a reasonable point, except that there's no reason to leave your house at all if the only thing you want to buy is a video game. (And of course, if you need food and video games, making an additional trip to Gamestop can only hurt compared to getting everything at Walmart.)

barbecue_sauce 7y ago
And, though Walmart is likely to have a higher number of customers present, the concentration of people can be much lower in a 150,000 sq ft warehouse store then a 300 sq ft Gamestop (provided people are following proper social distancing).

dustingetz 7y ago

Gamestop is staffed by Gen Z gamers who have been refreshing reddit for covid info since late Jan

mikestew 7y ago

Since things started shutting down here in WA, and I’m kind of house-bound due to recent surgery, I’ve managed to not only buy video games but an entire console (finally bought that Switch), all without leaving my house. And, no, of course I didn’t buy it from GameStop. They’re still in business? Frankly, this comes off as pathetic regardless, they can do what they want. But essential? I can’t download groceries, but name me a game platform that requires physical media.

xnyan 7y ago
> Frankly, this comes off as pathetic regardless, they can do what they want This is factually incorrect. In the US, local athorities absolutely have the statutory authority to close nonessential businesses for the purpose of defending public health.
KingMachiavelli 7y ago
I mean having stuff shipped to your house just shifts the exposure from you to workers. Is Amazon essential? Amazon suspended some non-essential shipments (to them not customers) but they could get by with even fewer employees should they decide to only ship essential goods. While of course I don't think GameStop really needs to be open. - I am more curious if people's attitudes will change in 2-4 weeks of self isolating. I think there's a certain excitement/anxiety to this at first especially among those where self isolating means working from home to semi-vaction. Eventually, I think a lot of people's commitment to self isolating/distancing will waver.

scott_s 7y ago

If having "products people may want during this time" is the criteria we used to determine if a store should remain open, no stores would close. This is a numbers game. We want most stores closed to limit the number of people out and engaging with each other. There will be fuzzy edge cases such as large retailers like Walmart and Target being open and selling particular items, while the stores that specialize in those items are closed. That's fine. The goal is not some sort of retail fairness, but public health.