GameStop Corp. said it has struck a deal with Chewy Inc. co-founder Ryan Cohen to add him and two former colleagues to its board after he pushed the company to better focus on digital sales.
Mr. Cohen didn’t personally request a seat on the videogame retailer’s board when he said in a November letter that his investment firm had built up a roughly 10% stake in GameStop. The firm wasn’t interested in receiving a lone seat or becoming “an isolated stockholder advocate” on the board, according to the letter. GameStop has said it offered to add him as a director.
Now, however, Mr. Cohen and two former executives at Chewy, an online retailer of pet products, have joined the board, GameStop said Monday.
GameStop shares rose more than 11% in afternoon trading Monday.
The Grapevine, Texas-based company has been trying to adapt a business model centered on physical stores to the increased demand for games available for download. Its revenue has fallen over the past several years even as consumer spending on videogames has shot up. It also has had to contend with executive turnover—its current chief executive is the fifth person in that position since late 2017—and pressure from other shareholders.
