Gaming Retailer Play N Trade picks up new CEO

Gaming retailer Play N Trade picks up new CEO
Chairman details new role for DV
Jan 7, 2009

Gaming retail chain Play N Trade Inc. has brought on a retail veteran as its new chief executive
officer.

Replacing Tom McMahon, Larry Plotnick was most recently senior vice president and general
manager of video game retail chain Game Crazy, where he saw the company expand from 69 to
more than 700 locations.

Plotnick has also served as executive vice president and chief operations officer for Game Crazy
parent company Hollywood Entertainment.

“Larry’s experience and personality will bring the requisite leadership to our company that will
benefit our brand and our franchisees and enable us to grow from 250 stores to 1,000 stores by
2011,” Chairman Jared Turner said in a statement.

Newport Beach, Calif.-based Play N Trade operates more than 240 franchised retailers of video
games, consoles and related products. The company touts itself as the fastest-growing video
game franchise sold worldwide.

Play N Trade’s Turner gave DailyVista more information on the company’s newest addition.
He said that on a day-to-day basis, Plotnick will be heading up the company’s finances, product
mix and other operational duties, as well as leveraging his relationships with vendors and
knowledge of the gaming industry to build Play N Trade’s business.

“Larry brings a tremendous amount of expertise in the video game industry; specifically his
financial background will help us improve our profitability,” Turner said. “That is probably the
single biggest goal for us -- to improve the profitability for the franchisees.”

Turner said that Play N Trade is focused on incremental growth in the United States, as well as a
few international opportunities. The company has plans to add about 200 additional franchises in
2009. However, he added that the company’s “true goal” is to utilize the size of Play N Trade’s
existing franchise base to leverage margins and profitability.

Turner said that to build brand awareness, Play N Trade utilizes primarily a grassroots strategy,
engaging in local, community-based events. The company recently embarked on a countrywide
tournament partnership with the National Guard, and is interested in discovering similar avenues.

“Our tournaments are a catalyst for us to really to know our customers and have them feel like
Play N Trade is part of their entertainment life,” Turner said, adding that the company is always
open to finding more and diverse marketing or sponsorship partners as it grows.