Lisburn’s two GAME stores close their doors

The Bow Street outlet has a sign in the door saying they are now closed and directing customers to the nearest open branch in Craigavon.

A second outlet in Bow Street Mall has also been shut.

The company, which employed 160 people in its 20 branches across Northern Ireland, went into administration on Monday.

The administrators, PwC, had said they were hopeful a sale of the business but warned that it would not prevent the closure of many stores and the potential loss of thousands of jobs.

It has been reported that only five branches are still open - Newtownabbey (Abbey Centre), Belfast (Donegall Arcade), Craigavon (Rushmere Centre), Londonderry (Richmond Centre) and Newtownards.

GAME has suffered from poor trading in recent months as it has been hit by competition from online-only retailers.

“Despite these challenges, we believe that there is room for a specialist game retailer in the territories in which it operates, including its biggest one, the UK,” said one of the administrators, Mike Jervis.

“As a result, we are hopeful that a going concern sale of the business is achievable.”

The company asked for its shares to be suspended last Wednesday and announced it was planning to call in administrators.

It followed confirmation that some suppliers had stopped doing business with the retailer.