Nintendo, Walmart, Meijer Vets Join GameStop Board of Directors

Texas-based GameStop is shaking up its board of directors in its latest effort to course-correct its faltering business.

The company added a trio of heavy-hitters to its board this week including former Nintendo of America President and COO Reginald “Reggie” Fils-Aimé, former Walmart U.S. President and CEO William “Bill” Simon, and Petsmart President and CEO James “J.K.” Symancyk, formerly of Meijer. Simon and Symancyk join the Board immediately while Fils-Aimé joins on April 20.

GameStop’s latest appointments come amid a corporate restructuring and business transformation plan that seeks to reimagine the company from top to bottom. This includes new corporate governance enhancements, implementing new guidelines for Board tenure, and Committee refreshment effective immediately.

“The Board refreshment and governance enhancements announced today represent an important milestone in GameStop’s transformation as we continue to evolve the Company’s business strategy for long-term success,” says GameStop CEO George Sherman. “We are pleased to welcome Reggie, Bill, and J.K. to the Board. They are each highly qualified and bring significant, relevant experience to our turnaround. We look forward to immediately benefitting from their expertise and perspectives as we navigate the evolving gaming and retail environments, execute on our strategic initiatives and prepare the Company to maximize value-creation associated with the next generation of console launches later this year.”

Fils-Aimé, who retired from Nintendo last year, is a particularly beloved figure in the gaming industry and has remained active on social media since founding Brentwood Growth Partners and becoming the inaugural Leader in Residence for Cornell Dyson.

He tweeted, “The gaming industry needs a healthy and vibrant GameStop. I look forward to being a part of the GameStop Board and helping to make this happen.”

As part of the overall refresh, Dan DeMatteo, Gerald Szczepanski, Larry Zilavy and Steve Koonin have decided to retire from the GameStop Board, effective in June, and will not stand for re-election at the company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Jerome Davis and Tom Kelly have decided to retire from the Board, effective June 2021, and will not stand for re-election at the company’s annual meeting next year. Kathy Vrabeck, GameStop’s lead independent director, will succeed DeMatteo as Board Chair.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.