The End Of An Era
Filed under: Media Minute > Business Blitz
This is sad news.
The famous Times Square Virgin Megastore in NYC is shutting down!
The store is was the highest selling music store in the U.S. with annual sales of $55 million.
But, back in August 2007, Virgin Entertainment Group was sold to two real estate companies, which had people questioning the future of the music stores.
The Times Square store will be closing this April and will leave the Virgin chain with just five stores. One of them will be the Manhattan Union Square store, which only has an estimated $40 million in annual sales volume.
The future of that store is also questionable as the new owners will be deciding what to do with the rest of the locations over the next few months.
iTunes must be thrilled!
[Image via AP Images.]
Posted: January 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm
first?
tear.
SAYING "FIRST" IS NOT COOL
oh daM thats a cool store..the 14 st one is iight but times square is the biggest!…oh werll i dont buy cd's anymore anywayz heheheheh
who fucking caaares! go buy perez's book
sad news. but satellite radio will save music. promise!
Fuck. I love that store. I guess I'm stuck going to Union Square.
it's supposed to become a forever 21. FAIL!
So, "only $40 million in annual sales volume" is considered bad and warrants the shut down of the store? If they can't operate in the black on $40mil of sales (even in NYC), they deserve to go out of business. Or, wait. Will have to bail them out, too?
shitty.
I was in there looking around for about 45 mins before we went to see J.L. that night. ntbsly Butterflies
friiig i wanted to visit there when i go in may … guess not so much ..
Hopefulyy they bringin back the porno shops.
the one in times square is filled with too many tourists anyway… 14th street is where it's at, bitches.
sooo saddd!
This was a bloody landmark dammit!
No you know what? I'm 21 and old fashioned but please people, please buy cd's! I really don't get the whole itunes and downloading music crap to a portable device. I love buying cd's, i love the artwork. You all are going to put people out of business, the artists who sing, the producers, the record store owner, everyone, because you can't buy cd's, so buy damn cd's!!!
all hell shall break loose if the one in union closes….agh virgin why must you go!!!! ::tears::
Who cares…no one goes to the store to buy music.
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YESSSSSSS!!!!
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i HATE virgin records
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and richard fuckin' branhole
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i have worked for virgin records before
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they are without a doubt the CHEAPEST "company"
i have EVER worked for - - -EVER!
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shitty upper management,
and even SHITTIER lower management
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when they give their longtime "valued"
employees a "raise" it's usually something like 25 cents to a dime
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SERIOUSLY
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in any case…looks like that virgin is now FFFFFFFFUCKED!
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adios WHORE!
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long live iTunes!
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YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
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okay…
i feel a bit better…
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you will be missed
That's pretty sad. Although with the whole world going digital and moving to itunes- not really shocking…..
Hopefully they'll turn it into something better!
NOOO!!
Re: Not my gumdrop buttons! – Say that again. Like, who pays for porn? Nobody I know buys CDs.
OMGSH.
I'm freakin' in tears right now!
And I've never even been there!
That's sad….Also, all the Americans that are losing their jobs!!!!
Terribly sad.
Stop buying records, they can live on, stop buying cd's and down they go. I'll be the first to admit. I LOVE MY IPOD!!! I love my records too. Nothing like putting on a record and listening to it for REAL!! Luvs for that. Sweet memories and a way to bring out the part-ey!!
The Virgin's dead; let Times Square go back to being the trashpit it was back in the 1970s now with strip clubs everywhere.
That's too bad…that store's iconic. I guess it's a sign of the times.
Being in the industry this is heart breaking
Soo sad!
No body buys music anymore…i hope they tear it down and make it a parking lot
wow, this was landmark, so sad.
this is a bummer. but as this country readjusts from out of control greed to more realistic respect for money, maybe mom and pop shops can thrive again because they won't look at a 40 million dollar income as a loss of any kind.
Sadness
So many good memories/CD release parties etc.
this is soooooo sad! first trl now virgin…..what next THE NAKED COWBOY IS MOVING?!?!??!!?!?
I work for a distributor-Virgin is a customer of the company I work for. I knew about this months ago.
It may be easy and convenient to download legally or illegally, but when people say it sucks to hear about a company laying off, think about those people. Think about my company who sells to them, and think about the companies that sell to mine. Oh, and then the people that press and manufacture all of that product. Add all of that up, that's a lot of jobs just gone. My company just laid off an assload of people, and more are to come. because people aren't buying.
We're all hurting right now. I am working in an industry that is shrinking rapidly and our sales have gone down tremendously in the several years I have been there. Why? Several reasons why.
Downloads-legal and illegal. Greediness from studios, labels and gaming manufacturers.
Next up? Books (something else my company deals in besides games, cds and dvds) The new "electronic revolution" in reading eg-the Kindle sold from Amazon. Oh how convenient to download and read from an electronic book! But then there goes the jobs of the people who press the books, and distribute them.
Please, keep buying the books, the cds, the dvds, and the games, and anything and everything else to keep our economy going. An example-buy Perez's book in BOOK form, help some people keep some jobs!
THAT 42ST STORE IS GOING TO BE ANOTHER APPLE STORE. APPLE ON 42ST SEPTEMBER 2009!
um, hello? have known about this it seems forever!
Just lost Virgin in Tempe/Phoenix. And to add insult to injury, the usually decent Fry's Electronic across the street has maybe a 20th of what they used to carry for cds/music. If that doesn't tell you cds are going out, what does? Yeah, downloads are fine, until you have a single screw up and your digital stuff gets toasted. At least with cds, you had a REAL back up to save you ass! I still have the first cd I ever bought, Dire Straits-and it still is in perfect working condition.
Really sad to hear but no one buys records in this decade anymore!
That store is perfect! You can buy and outfit and a book in that place at midnight if you need to. Where am I gonna go when I need a club 'fit at midnight?! This is sad
Im in Philly and go to NYC all the time. I never go w/o going to Virgin. This makes me sooo sad
Stoopid Zavvi!!! Virgin was bought buy Zavvi and now the megastore near me is closing down in a week:(
Virgin is one of the best music stores not doubts. Itunes is not as much fun as go shop around Virgin store. I hope the one in San Francisco won't close anytime soon!
AWWWWW THATS MY MOST FAVORITE STORE IN TIMES SQUARE I ALWAYS WENT THERE!! AND I MET JOHN LEGUIZAMO THERE TOO LOL!!
DUDE!? SERIOUSLY?
Epic fail! now where am i supposed to get my ten dollar CDs?
this is a sad day for me. now my trips to the city won't be the same
RIP times square virgin megastores.
this sucks.
that sucks, that store is great, I go everytime I am in NYC! damn it…