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                                                                      EXHIBIT 99

CONTACTS:        Liz O'Sullivan                       Rob Shapiro
                 Director of Marketing                Senior Vice President
                 Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp.  MS&L
                 (610) 430-8100                       (212) 213-7115


U.S.-BASED ELECTRONICS BOUTIQUE ACQUIRES 10 NEW STORES IN ITALY

      WEST CHESTER, PA -- AUGUST 6, 2001 -- Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp.
(Nasdaq: ELBO) today announced it has acquired a 70% interest in the Italian
specialty video game and PC entertainment chain, K.EB Italy S.r.l. EB Italy owns
ten specialty video game and PC retail stores operating under the name "Software
Universe" and a related distribution business. Leases for seven of the retail
stores were transferred to EB Italy closing. The transfer of leases for the
remaining three stores is expected to occur by August 31, 2001. In addition, the
Company acquired an option to purchase the remaining 30% interest in EB
Italy. The Company believes that this acquisition will not have a material
impact on its financial results for this year.

      "We're excited about entering into this new partnership in Italy," said
Jeff Griffiths, President and CEO of Electronics Boutique. "We look forward to
working together with our Italian partners in this venture to serve our
customers in a fast-growing market."

      Electronics Boutique is among the world's largest specialty retailers of
electronic games through its 790 stores, primarily under the names Electronics
Boutique and EB GameWorld, in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Denmark, South Korea and Norway. The company sells video game hardware and
software, PC entertainment software and related accessories and products. The
company operates a commercial website at WWW.EBGAMES.COM Additional company
information is available at WWW.EBHOLDINGS.COM.

