The Latest Business to Dub Itself 'Essential:' GameStop

In these times of trouble, when some states have ordered our institutions of education, religion, and culture shuttered, and all but the most essential of businesses closed, it's comforting to know that GameStop is keeping the lights on. Wait, GameStop? Correct, gentle reader: The video game retailer is claiming, per a memo obtained by the Verge, that "due to the products we carry that enable and enhance our customers’ experience in working from home, we believe GameStop is classified as essential retail." Hence, GameStop stores remain open in New York and New Jersey, though CNN reports that some locations in California and Pennsylvania have begun to close.

"That's absolutely ridiculous. If someone's trying to work from home, they don't want the $85 Razer keyboard we have or the $60 Razer mouse. Some cheap $20 Microsoft something is going to get them by just fine," says employee Dustin Carson, 31, in Athens, Ga. "They can get that at any of these other stores that also have groceries and are arguably much more essential to being open right now." What employees tell CNN is really motivating the drive to keep the doors open: A spike in gaming as Americans are cooped up at home. (No, Tesla, you're not essential, either.)