Grainger Games Limited was a British video game

retail chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, Management, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories ...

based in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, England. Founded by Stephen Bowyer in 1996, it operated shops across

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In March 2018, due to financial issues, the company ceased trading and closed all of its 67 shops, leading to the redundancy of 400 employees.

History

Grainger Games began as a

market stall A market stall or a booth is a structure used by merchants to display and house their merchandise in a street market, fairs and convention (meeting), conventions. Some commercial marketplaces, including market squares or flea markets, may permit m ...

run by Stephen Bowyer in 1996, located in the

Grainger Market Grainger Market is a covered market in Newcastle upon Tyne. It opened in 1835 as part of the 19th-century Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical redevelopment of the city, Grainger Town. Designed by architect John Dobson, the market replaced older ...

, Newcastle upon Tyne. The company planned to have a chain of between 75 and 100 shops by 2013, of which about 40 were expected to be in Yorkshire. Stores were opened in Grimsby, Hull, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Leeds, Derby, York and Sheffield, with the most recent being a concession in Fenwick, Newcastle. By June 2014, the company had 419 employees. Grainger Games was named Independent Retailer of the Year by '' MCV'' in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Grainger Games were the main sponsor for the Games Media Awards in 2011, however, its attendees were criticised for their behaviour during the event, which included heckling the compere and award winners' acceptance speeches. The company hired dwarves and booth models to present the awards, as well as littering the dinner tables with orange condoms. On 21 March 2018, amid the closures of other retail chains, such as

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

and Maplin, multiple investors pulled their credit offerings for Grainger Games, leaving the company in a financially critical situation. As a result of this, on 28 March, 21 of Grainger Games' 67 stores were told not to open as their store would not be included in any future bid for the company. The same message was delivered to the remaining 46 stores the following day. Additionally, the corporate website was taken down, displaying an

HTTP 404 In computer network communications, the HTTP 404, 404 not found, 404, 404 error, page not found, or file not found error message is a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) standard response code, to indicate that the browser was able to comm ...

error page instead. All of Grainger Games' roughly 400 employees were made redundant, receiving payments for all working hours through to 31 March. The company ceased trading effective on 28 March 2018.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-03-28-grainger-games-tells-21-shops-not-to-open-they-are-being-closed , title=Grainger Games tells shops not to open, they are being closed , first=Robert , last=Purchese , date=28 March 2018 , website=

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

, accessdate=29 March 2018 {{cite web , url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-03-21-trouble-brewing-for-independent-uk-shop-chain-grainger-games , title=Trouble brewing for independent UK shop chain Grainger Games , first=Robert , last=Purchese , date=21 March 2018 , website=

, accessdate=29 March 2018 {{cite web , url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-10-27-games-media-awards-soured-by-sponsors , title=Games Media Awards soured by sponsors Grainger Games , first=Rachel , last=Weber , date=27 October 2011 , website=

GamesIndustry.biz Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

, accessdate=28 March 2018 {{cite web , url=https://www.mcvuk.com/business/indies-arent-dead-yet-says-grainger-games , title=Indies arent dead yet, says Grainger Games , first=Ben , last=Parfitt , date=25 March 2008 , website= MCV , accessdate=29 October 2009 {{cite web , url=https://www.mcvuk.com/business/gmas-grainger-games-a-statement-by-stuart-dinsey-md-intent-media , title=GMAs & Grainger Games: A statement, by Stuart Dinsey, MD, Intent Media , author=MCV Editors , date=27 October 2011 , website= MCV , accessdate=27 October 2011 {{cite web , url=https://www.mcvuk.com/business/grainger-games-goes-nationwide , title=Grainger Games goes nationwide , first=Ben , last=Parfitt , date=9 July 2009 , website= MCV , accessdate=29 October 2009 {{cite web , url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/business/business-news/newcastle-based-grainger-games-boosted-grand-7295629 , title=Newcastle-based Grainger Games boosted by Grand Theft Auto sales , first=Coreena , last=Ford , date=19 June 2014 , website= The Journal , accessdate=28 March 2018 , archive-date=9 November 2016 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109021232/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/business/business-news/newcastle-based-grainger-games-boosted-grand-7295629 , url-status=dead {{cite web , url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/business/business-news/games-firm-going-for-growth-4497470 , title=Games firm going for growth , first=Peter , last=McCusker , date=10 September 2008 , website= The Journal , accessdate=29 October 2009 , archive-date=29 March 2018 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329121039/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/business/business-news/games-firm-going-for-growth-4497470 , url-status=dead {{cite web , url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/retail-veteran-aiming-for-high-score-with-new-gaming-venture-1-2568970 , title=Retail veteran aiming for high score with new gaming venture , first=Bernard , last=Ginns , date=28 March 2010 , website=

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

, accessdate=19 April 2010 , archive-date=30 March 2018 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330080036/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/retail-veteran-aiming-for-high-score-with-new-gaming-venture-1-2568970 , url-status=dead Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom Defunct companies based in Tyne and Wear Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies disestablished in 2018 Retail companies established in 1996 Video game retailers in the United Kingdom