FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2020 file photo, a woman wears a face mask as she walks past a GameStop store in Des Plaines, Ill. Two hedge funds are bowing out of their short positions on the money-losing video game retailer. Citron Research’s Andrew Left said in a video posted on YouTube that his company is going to become more judicious in shorting stocks. Melvin Capital is also exiting GameStop, with manager Gabe Plotkin telling CNBC that the hedge fund was taking a significant loss. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2020 file photo, a woman wears a face mask as she walks past a GameStop store in Des Plaines, Ill. Two hedge funds are bowing out of their short positions on the money-losing video game retailer. Citron Research’s Andrew Left said in a video posted on YouTube that his company is going to become more judicious in shorting stocks. Melvin Capital is also exiting GameStop, with manager Gabe Plotkin telling CNBC that the hedge fund was taking a significant loss. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File) Credit: Nam Y. Huh AP file

The GameStop store at Fort Eddy Plaza will close this week as the struggling chain closes at least 80 of its stores across the country, including those in Claremont and West Lebanon.

The Concord store will be open Tuesday and Wednesday but will shut after that, the company said in an announcement.

Once the world’s largest retailer of video games with more than 3,200 stores around the world, including more than 2,000 in the United States, GameStop has seen sales fall for years as online gaming has grown. The chain closed some 400 stores last year.

GameStop gained attention in 2021 for reasons not associated with its core business: It was targeted by short sellers and become one of several high-profile “meme stocks” whose price skyrocketed due to attention from a small number of social media influencers, sometimes through pictorial memes pushing for a “short squeeze” to generate large profits at the expense of short sellers and hedge funds.

David Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@cmonitor.com. Sign up for his Granite Geek weekly email newsletter at granitegeek.org.