GameStop Names New Senior Vice President of Collectibles

GameStop has named Janet Bareis as senior vice president of collectibles, a newly created position within the company. Bareis will report to CEO Paul Raines, and will assume responsibility for developing and supporting the company’s merchandising strategy and operations within the growing collectibles market.

Prior to joining GameStop, Bareis spent 11 years with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., most recently as vice president and general manager of private brands with responsibility for product development, brand acquisitions and management, licensing negotiation, and packaging. Previously, she led key seasonal event merchandising and brought the concept of licensed seasonal events to Wal-Mart. Prior to Wal-Mart, Bareis spent 14 years in national sales, sport and entertainment marketing and brand innovation leadership positions with Frito-Lay, Inc., where she managed key strategic alliances with studio partners and national sports programs.

“Adding a seasoned licensed merchandise retail executive such as Janet to our team demonstrates our commitment to further accelerating the growth of our global collectibles business,” Raines said. “We're fortunate to have such an accomplished brand management and product licensing leader join GameStop.”

GameStop has been expanding its collectibles business recently. This summer, GameStop and sister brand ThinkGeek are teaming up to make brick-and-mortar stores "sexy again" by converting approximately 200 GameStop stores into what the company is calling its “50/50 store concept.” The 50/50 stores will dedicate 50 percent of the retail space to video game merchandise, and the other 50 percent to collectibles, which will further expand the gaming experience for shoppers.