Gamasutra - GameStop Forecasting 2009 Sales Growth Despite Recession

Gamasutra posts an industry story about international gaming retailer, GameStop:

Specialty retailer GameStop expects total sales to grow by 10-12 percent to $9.68-9.85 billion in fiscal 2009 (ending January 30, 2010), despite the current global recession, according to an official statement to the stock market.

Still, the predicted increase is significantly less than the growth the company saw with its fiscal 2008 full-year sales, up 24 percent to $8.8 billion, compared to 2007's $7.1 billion.

GameStop also revealed in its earnings forecast that it expects comparable store sales to rise 4-6 percent, again much lower compared to 13.3 percent increase it saw with comparable store sales in fiscal 2008 over the previous year.

Though the expected growth is muted in comparison to last year's, GameStop still projects it will outperform the rest of the retail sector, even as it expects the recession to continue into the 2009 holiday season.