Went into the Renton, WA location with my pops that's been open since the early 2000s and it looks like end game is upon the store. Empty pegs and PC displays. Noticed missing shelves with the untouched carpet they barely tried covering with 1UP retro arcade cabinets. Barely any anime DVDs and Blu-rays.
Store hours have been slightly shifted to reduce cost. The cafe now only operates until 3PM PST; thought that was open longer.
The employees are either lying or are misinformed when my father laughed after overhearing a customer asking whether the place was shutting down. The answer was: "No, we're just waiting for inventory." LOL, yeah okay, buddy. It was basically a soft liquidation of remaining inventory minus any kind of deals (aside from the standard fair).
Of course this is all speculation on my end, but I have a hard time thinking the entire chain makes it past this holiday season. Look up videobob and Retail Archaeology's YouTube channels videos for low inventories in Arlington, TX, Las Vegas, NV and a location in AZ.
It was fun while it lasted but Amazon, B&H, Newegg, et. al. have eaten their lunch. I used to do plenty of PC builds back in the time, so I'm bummed the big stores are shutting down. :(