We purchase substantially all of our new products worldwide from approximately 100a broad number of manufacturers, software publishers and several distributors. Purchases from the top ten vendors in our Video Game Brands segments accounted for approximately 78%77% of our new product purchases in fiscal 2018.2019. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive and Activision Blizzard accounted for 23%28%, 22%, 10%18%, 6%, 5% and 4%5%, respectively, of our new product purchases in our video game brands during fiscal 2018.2019. We have established price protections with our primary video game product vendors in order to reduce our risk of inventory obsolescence.

Our operating strategy involves providing a broad merchandise selection to our customers as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible. We use our distribution facilities and inventory management systems to maximize the efficiency of the flow of products to our stores, enhance store efficiency and optimize store in-stock and overall investment in inventory.

The video game industry is intensely competitive and subject to rapid changes in consumer preferences and frequent new product introductions. We compete with mass merchants and regional chains; computer product and consumer electronics stores; other video game and PC softwarerelated specialty stores; toy retail chains; direct sales by software publishers; the online environments operated by Sony (PlayStation Network), Microsoft (XBox Live), Nintendo (Nintendo Switch Online), as well as other online retailers and game rental companies. Video game products are also distributed through other methods such as digital delivery. We also compete with sellers of pre-owned and value video game products. Additionally, we compete withproducts and other forms of entertainment activities, including casual and mobile games, movies, television, theater, sporting events and family entertainment centers.

Our business, like that of many retailers, is seasonal, with the major portion of our sales and operating profit realized during the fourth fiscal quarter, which includes the holiday selling season. During fiscal 20182019 and 2017,2018, we generated approximately 37%34% and 39%37%, respectively, of our sales during the fourth quarter.

We have approximately 16,00014,000 full-time salaried and hourly employees and between 23,00022,000 and 45,00042,000 part-time hourly employees worldwide, depending on the time of year. Fluctuation in the number of part-time hourly employees is due to the seasonality of our business. We believe that our relationship with our employees is excellent.good. Some of our international employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, while none of our U.S. employees are represented by a labor union or are members of a collective bargaining unit.

We are committed to sustainability and to operating our business in a manner that results in a positive impact to the environment and our communities. Through our trade-in program, we take in software (CDs), gaming consoles and consumer electronics that are otherwise destined for landfills and either refurbish them or recycle them. In 20182019 alone, through our U.S. refurbishment center, the company refurbished over five2.5 million pieces of software (CDs) and over three3.0 million consumer electronic devices, and recycled over 2.71.4 million pounds of e-waste. In addition, we continuously measure and look for cost-effective ways to reduce our carbon emissions and have seen both our total emissions and emissions by store decrease over the past seveneight years. See the Social Responsibility section of our corporate website (http://news.gamestop.com) for further information on our sustainability efforts. We are not incorporating by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K information or materials contained on our website or that can be accessed through our website.

We make available on our corporate website (http://news.gamestop.com), under “Investor Relations — Financial Information,” free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such material to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC also maintains a website that contains reports, proxy statements and other information about issuers, like GameStop, who file electronically with the SEC. The address of that site is http://www.sec.gov. In addition to copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, our Code of Standards, Ethics and Conduct is available on our website under “Investor Relations — Corporate Governance” and is available to our stockholders in print, free of charge, upon written request to the Investor Relations Department at GameStop Corp., 625 Westport Parkway, Grapevine, Texas 76051. Any amendments to or waivers of our Code of Standards, Ethics and Conduct or our Code of Ethics for Senior Financial and Executive Officers that apply to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer, controller and persons performing similar functions and that relate to any matter enumerated in Item 406(b) of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC will be disclosed on our website. The contents of our corporate website are not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or any other report we file, with, or furnish to, the SEC.

Sales of our products involve discretionary spending by consumers. Consumers are typically more likely to make discretionary purchases, including purchasing video game products, when there are favorable economic conditions. Consumer spending may be affected by many economic and other factors outside of the Company's control. Some of these factors include consumer disposable income levels, consumer confidence in current and future economic conditions, levels of employment, consumer credit availability, consumer debt levels, inflation, political conditions and the effect of weather, natural disasters, public health crises, including the recent outbreak of coronavirus (or COVID-19), and civil disturbances. The extent to which the coronavirus impacts our results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the coronavirus and the actions to contain the coronavirus or treat its impact, among others. These and other economic factors could adversely affect demand for our products, which may negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The video game industry has historically been cyclical in nature in response to the introduction and maturation of new technology. Following the introduction of new video game platforms, sales of these platforms and related software and accessories generally increase due to initial demand, while sales of older platforms and related products generally decrease as customers migrate toward the new platforms. In addition, the features of new consoles or changes to the existing generations of consoles, including any future restrictions or conditions or the ability to play prior generation video games on such consoles, may adversely affect our pre-owned business.

We depend on manufacturers and publishers to deliver video game hardware, software, and consumer electronics in quantities sufficient to meet customer demand. In addition, we depend on these manufacturers and publishers to introduce new and innovative products and software titles to drive industry sales. We have experienced sales declines in the past due to a reduction in the number of new software titles available for sale. Any material delay in the introduction or delivery, or limited allocations, of hardware platforms or software titles could result in reduced sales.

The current consoles from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have facilitated download technology. In addition, Microsoft sells disc-less consoles may bethat are currently available to consumers in the near term from certain manufacturers.consumers. Downloading of video game content to the current generation video game systems continues to grow and take an increasing percentage of new video game sales. If consumers' preference for downloading video game content continues to increase or these consoles and other advances in technology continue to expand our customers’ ability to access and download the current format of video games and incremental content for their games through these and other sources, our customers may no longer choose to purchase video games in our stores or reduce their purchases in favor of other forms of game delivery. As a result, our business and results of operations may be negatively impacted.

Our suppliers rely on popularityforeign sources, primarily in Asia, to manufacture a portion of the products we purchase from them. As a result, any event causing a disruption of imports, including natural disasters, public health crises, or the imposition of import or trade restrictions in the form of tariffs or quotas could increase the cost and trendsreduce the supply of products available to us, which may negatively impact our business and results of operations. Furthermore, the recent outbreak of the coronavirus in pop culture, andChina has resulted in work stoppages at certain suppliers in China that are part of our supply chain. We have not experienced shortages in supply as a result of the interruptions, but if the work stoppages were to be prolonged or expanded in scope, there could be resulting supply shortages which could impact our ability to react to them.

Our financial results depend significantly upon the business terms we can obtain from our suppliers, including competitive prices, unsold product return policies, advertising and market development allowances, freight charges and payment terms. We purchase substantially all of our products directly from manufacturers, software publishers and, in some cases, distributors. Our largest vendors are Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive, and Activision Blizzard, which accounted for 23%28%, 22%, 10%18%, 6%, 5% and 4%5%, respectively, of our new product purchases in fiscal 2018.2019. If our suppliers do not provide us with favorable business terms, we may not be able to offer products to our customers at competitive prices.

We have international retail operations in Australia, Canada and Europe. Because release schedules for hardware and software introduction in these markets can sometimes differ from release schedules in the United States, the timing of increases and decreases in foreign sales may differ from the timing of increases and decreases in domestic sales. We are also subject to a number of other factors that may affect our vendors failcurrent or future international operations. These include:

Our business, like that of many retailers, is seasonal, with the major portion of our sales and operating profit realized during the fourth fiscal quarter, which includes the holiday selling season. During fiscal 2019, we generated approximately 34% of our sales during the fourth quarter. Any adverse trend in sales during the holiday selling season could lower our results of operations for the fourth quarter and the entire fiscal year.

As a part of our business strategy, we are de-densifying our global store base, which includes closing stores that are not meeting performance standards or stores at the end of their lease terms with the intent of transferring sales to other nearby locations. We believe that we can ultimately increase profitability by successfully transferring customers and sales to other stores by marketing directly to the PowerUp Rewards members who have shopped in the stores that we plan to close. If we are unsuccessful in marketing to customers of the stores that we plan to close or in transferring sales to nearby stores, our results of operations could be negatively impacted.

All of video game hardware and software have typically provided retailers with significant marketing and merchandising support for their products. As partour retail stores are located in leased premises. If the cost of this support,leasing existing stores increases, we receive cooperative advertising and market development payments from these vendors which enable us to actively promote and merchandise the products we sell and drive sales at our stores and on our websites. We cannot assure you that vendorswe will continuebe able to provide this supportmaintain our existing store locations as leases expire. In addition, we may not be able to enter into new leases on favorable terms or at historical levels. If theyall, or we may not be able to locate suitable alternative sites in a timely manner. Our revenues and earnings may decline if we fail to do so, our business and results of operations may be negatively impacted.

The retail environment is intensely competitive and subject to rapid changes in consumer preferences and frequent new product introductions. We compete with mass merchants and regional chains, including Wal-Mart and Target; computer product and consumer electronics stores, including Best Buy; internet-based retailers such as Amazon.com; other U.S. and international video game and PC software specialty stores located in malls and other locations, such as Carrefour and Media Markt; toy retail chains; direct sales by software publishers; the online environments operated by Sony (PlayStation Network), Microsoft (XBox Live), Nintendo (Nintendo Switch Online), as well as other online retailers and game rental companies. Some of our competitors have longer operating histories and may have greater financial resources than we do or other advantages. In addition, video game products and content are increasingly being digitally distributed and new competitors built to take advantage of these new capabilities are entering the marketplace, and other methods may emerge in the future. We also compete with other sellers of pre-owned video game products and other PC software distribution companies, including Steam. Certain of our mass-merchant competitors are expanding in the market for new and pre-owned video games through aggressive pricing which may negatively affect our margins, sales and earnings for these products. Additionally, we compete with other forms of entertainment activities, including browser, social and mobile games, movies, television, theater, sporting events and family entertainment centers. If we lose customers to our competitors, or if we reduce our prices or increase our spending to maintain our customers, we may be less profitable.

The United States and other countries have from time to time proposed and enacted protectionist trade policies that could increase the cost or reduce the availability of certain merchandise. In particular, the current U.S. administration has made certain changes to import/export tariffs and international trade agreements. The changes announced and made to date do not impact the merchandise that we offer. Any measures that could impact the cost or availability of the merchandise we offer could have an adverse impact on our business because a significant portion of the products we offer are purchased from foreign vendors and manufactured in foreign countries.

Our success depends upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain a highly trained and engaged workforce, including key executives, management for our stores and skilled merchandising, marketing, financial and administrative personnel. In addition, the turnover rate in the retail industry is relatively high, and there is an ongoing need to recruit and train new store employees. Factors that affect our global tax rate couldability to maintain sufficient numbers of qualified employees include employee morale, our reputation, unemployment rates, competition from other employers and our ability to offer appropriate compensation packages. Our inability to recruit a sufficient number of qualified individuals or our failure to retain key executive officers and other employees in the future may have a negative impact on our business and results of operationsoperations.

We rely on computerized inventory and cash flows.

We rely on centralized facilities for the refurbishment of many of the pre-owned products that we sell. If any disruption occurred at these facilities, whether due to natural disaster or severe weather, or events such as fire, accidents, power outages, systems failures, or other unforeseen causes, sales of our pre-owned products could decrease. Since we generally obtain higher margins on our pre-owned products, any adverse effect on their sales could adversely affect our profitability.

Our sales of collectibles are heavily dependent upon the continued demand by our business could be disrupted.

An important part of our business involves the receipt, processing and storage of personal information of our customers members and employees, including, in the case of customers, payment information. We have systems and processes in place that are designed to protect against security and data breaches and unauthorized access to confidential information. Nevertheless, cyber-security risks such as malicious software and attempts to gain unauthorized access to data are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated. Techniques or software used to gain unauthorized access, and/or disable, degrade or harm our systems may be difficult to detect for prolonged periods of time, and we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or put in place protective or preventive measures. These attempts to gain unauthorized access could lead to disruptions in our systems, unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information or corruption of data. If individuals are successful in infiltrating, breaking into, disrupting, damaging or otherwise stealing from the computer systems of the Company or its third-party providers, we may have to make a significant investment to fix or replace them, and may suffer interruptions in our operations in the interim, including interruptions in our ability to accept payment from customers and our ability to issue and redeem loyalty points under our Power Up Rewards program. Such an event may also expose us to costly litigation, government investigations, government enforcement actions, fines and/or lawsuits and may significantly harm our reputation with our members and customers. We are continuously working to upgrade our information technology systems and provide employee awareness training around phishing, malware, and other cyber risks to protect our member, customer, employee, and company data against cyber risks and security breaches. Despite these efforts, we have experienced cybersecurity attacks in the past and there is no guarantee that the procedures that we have implemented to protect against unauthorized access to secured data are adequate to safeguard against future data security breaches. While past cybersecurity attacks have not resulted in material losses, a data security breach or any failure by us to comply with applicable privacy and information security laws and regulations could materially impact our business and our results of operations. Moreover, a data security breach or change in applicable privacy or security laws or regulations could require us to devote significant management resources to address the problems created by the breach or such change in laws or regulations and to expend significant additional resources to upgrade further the security measures that we employ to guard against such breaches or to comply with such change in laws or regulations, which could disrupt our business, operations and financial condition.

Effective internal control over financial reporting can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements and may not prevent or detect misstatements because of inherent limitations. These limitations include, among others, the possibility of human error, inadequacy or circumvention of controls and fraud.

In the ordinary course of our business, we are, from time to time, subject to various litigation and legal proceedings, including matters involving wage and hour employee class actions, stockholder and consumer class actions, tax audits and unclaimed property audits by states. The outcome of litigation and other legal proceedings and the magnitude of potential losses therefrom, particularly class action lawsuits and regulatory actions, is difficult to assess or quantify.

Certain of these legal proceedings, if decided adversely to us or settled by us, may require changes to our business operations that negatively impact our operating results or involve significant liability awards that impact our financial condition. The cost to defend litigation may be significant. As a result, legal proceedings may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. See Item 3. “Legal Proceedings.”

In order to comply with laws adopted by the U.S. government or other U.S. or foreign regulatory bodies, we may be required to increase our expenditures and hire additional personnel and additional outside legal, accounting and advisory services, all of which may cause our general and administrative and compliance costs to increase. Significant workforce-related legislative changes could increase our expenses and adversely affect our operations. Examples of possible workforce-related legislative changes include changes to an employer's obligation to recognize collective bargaining units, the process by which collective bargaining agreements are negotiated or imposed, minimum wage requirements, and health care mandates. In addition, changes in the regulatory environment affecting Medicare reimbursements, product safety, supply chain transparency, and increased compliance costs related to enforcement of federal and state wage and hour statutes and common law related to overtime, among others, could cause our expenses to increase without an ability to pass through any increased expenses through higher prices. Environmental legislation or other regulatory changes could impose unexpected costs or impact us more directly than other companies due to our operations as a global retailer. Specifically, environmental legislation or international agreements affecting energy, carbon emissions, and water or product materials are continually being explored by governing bodies. Increasing energy and fuel costs, supply chain disruptions and other potential risks to our business, as well as any significant rule making or passage of any such legislation, could materially increase the cost to transport our goods and materially adversely affect our results of operations. Additionally, regulatory and enforcement activity focused on the retail industry has increased in recent years, increasing the risk of fines and additional operational costs associated with compliance. 

While we take steps to comply with these laws, there can be no assurance that we will be in compliance, and failure to comply with these laws could result in litigation, regulatory action and penalties which could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our suppliers might not adhere to product safety requirements and the Company and those suppliers may therefore be subject to involuntary or voluntary product recalls or product liability lawsuits. Direct costs, lost sales and reputational damage associated with product recalls, government enforcement actions or product liability lawsuits, individually or in the aggregate, could have a negative impact on future revenues and results of operations.

On June 3, 2019, (the “2019 Senior Notes”) and our 6.75% Senior Notes due March 15, 2021 (the "2021 Senior Notes" and, together, the “Senior Notes”), restrict our ability to pay dividends in certain circumstances. In addition, subject to any financial covenants in current or future financing agreements that directly or indirectly restrict our ability to pay dividends, the payment of dividends is within the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon our future earnings and cash flow from operations, our capital requirements, our financial condition and any other factors thatelected to eliminate the Board of Directors may consider. Unless we continueCompany's quarterly dividend, which became effective immediately. We have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, therefore, the success of an investment in our common stock will depend entirely upon its future appreciation.appreciation after the point in time it was purchased. Our common stock may not appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which it was purchased.

The terms of our 6.75% senior notes due in March 2021 ("2021 Senior NotesNotes") and our seniorrevolving credit facility may impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us in certain circumstances. These restrictions, among other things, limit our ability to:

Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to make scheduled payments on our indebtedness, including without limitation any payments required to be made under our seniorrevolving credit facility or to holders of our 2021 Senior Notes, and to fund our operations, will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. This, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. If we do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to satisfy our debt obligations, including interest payments and the payment of principal at maturity, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as refinancing or restructuring our debt, including the 2021 Senior Notes, selling assets, reducing or delaying capital investments or seeking to raise additional capital. We cannot provide assurance that any refinancing would be possible, that any assets could be sold, or, if sold, of the timing of the sales and the amount of proceeds realized from those sales, that additional financing could be obtained on acceptable terms, if at all, or if that additional financing would be permitted under the terms of our various debt instruments, then in effect.

We are able to incur additional indebtedness. Although our seniorrevolving credit facility and the indentures for our 2021 Senior Notes contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions, and the additional indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. These restrictions also will not prevent us from incurring obligations that do not constitute indebtedness. Such future indebtedness or obligations may have restrictions similar to, or more restrictive than, those included in the indentures for our 2021 Senior Notes or our seniorrevolving credit facility. The incurrence of additional indebtedness could impact our financial condition and results of operations.

As of February 2, 2019,1, 2020, we owned seven and leased 1311 office and distribution facilities, totaling approximately 2.3 million square feet. The lease expiration dates for the leased facilities range from 20192020 to 2028, with an average remaining lease life, including reasonably assuredcertain options, of approximately six years. Our principal facilities are as follows:

Additional information regarding our properties can be found in Item 1, “Business—Store Operations” and Item 1, “Business—Site Selection and Locations” in this Form 10-K.

The following table sets forth our selected consolidated financial and operating data for the periodsfive fiscal years ended and as of the dates indicated.February 1, 2020. Our fiscal year is composed of 52 or 53 weeks ending on the Saturday closest to January 31. TheAll fiscal years ended February 2, 2019 ("fiscal 2018"), January 28, 2017 ("fiscal 2016"), January 30, 2016 ("fiscal 2015"), and January 31, 2015 ("fiscal 2014")presented below consisted of 52 weeks. Theweeks, except for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2018 ("fiscal 2017")2017, which consisted of 53 weeks. The “Statement of Operations Data” for fiscal 2019, fiscal 2018, fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2016 and the “Balance Sheet Data” as of February 1, 2020, February 2, 2019 and February 3, 2018 are derived from ourcurrent and prior audited consolidated financial statements which are included elsewhere in this Annual Report.statements. The “Statement of Operations Data” for fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2014, and the “Balance Sheet Data” as of January 28, 2017 and January 30, 2016 and January 31, 2015 are derived from unaudited consolidated financial statements not included in this Annual Report.statements. The unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as our audited consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of this data.

Our business, like that of many retailers, is seasonal, with the major portion of sales and operating profit realized during the fourth quarter which includes the holiday selling season. Results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for a full fiscal year. Quarterly results may fluctuate materially depending upon, among other factors, the timing of new product introductions and new store openings, sales contributed by new stores, increases or decreases in comparable store sales, the nature and timing of acquisitions, adverse weather conditions, shifts in the timing of certain holidays or promotions and changes in our merchandise mix.

During fiscal 2018, we recognized goodwill impairment charges totaling $970.7 million and asset impairment charges totaling $45.2 million. The impairment charges were primarily the result of a sustained decline in our market capitalization and lower forecasted cash flows. During fiscal 2017, we recognized asset impairment charges of $13.8 million, which was primarily comprised of an $11.0 million impairment of our Simply Mac dealer agreement intangible asset. No goodwill impairment charges were recognized during fiscal 2017. See Note 7, “Goodwill and Intangible Assets,” to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Income tax expense was $41.7 million, representing an effective tax rate of (5.5)% in fiscal 2018, compared to $153.5 million, representing an effective tax rate of 40.0% in fiscal 2017. The decrease in the effective income tax rate compared to the prior year was primarily driven by non-deductible impairment charges, the settlement of the tax dispute in France, tax reform, revisions to transition taxes and the relative mix of earnings across the jurisdictions within which we operate. See Note 8, "Income Taxes," and Note 12, "Commitments and Contingencies," to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for additional information.

On January 16, 2019, we completed the previously announced sale of all of the equity interest in our wholly-owned subsidiary Spring Communications Holding, Inc. ("Spring Mobile") to Prime Acquisition Company, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prime Communications, L.P., pursuant to an Equity Purchase Agreement dated as of November 21, 2018. The net cash proceeds received from the sale totaled $727.9 million, which is subject to customary post-closing adjustments. We recognized a gain on sale of $100.8 million ($65.4 million, net of tax) during fiscal 2018. The historical results of Spring Mobile, including the gain on sale, is reported as discontinued operations. Except for customary post-closing adjustments and transition services, we have no contingencies or continuing involvement with Spring Mobile subsequent to the completion of the sale.