Virgin Megastore Unplugs in April

Photo via Digiart2001's Flickr.

In 2006 Tower Records tumbled, only to be followed by rumors in 2007 of New York's Virgin Megastores being the next to close up shop. Originally the Union Square outpost was supposed to be closing by February of 2009, but now it's confirmed that the Times Square one will actually be shutting down first...or as the NY Post put is: "come April, there'll be one less Virgin in Manhattan."

There are 250 employees who have been getting steady paychecks from the store, and one told the paper, "Management has been telling us that we were going to close for years. We've all been on edge. We're all being fired." Is it time to go all Empire Records on management, yet?

All in all, it's not a huge shocker, as music sales have been on a downward spiral for quite some time. Recently the NY Press put the store on a DeathWatch while noting that "disc sales fell nearly 20 percent, to 362.6 million, the seventh decline in eight years, according to SoundScan's report."

So what will be able to stay afloat in the 60,000-square-foot space? Forever 21, of course! But don't get too excited, The NY Times says not to expect to buy any youth-inspired discount clothing until April 2010. In the meantime, Virgin is having a "sacrificial sale" (as pictured).

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By Jen Carlson in News on January 15, 2009 11:50 AM

Comments [rss]

SeasTooFarToReach

umm, the reason behind the store closing is NOT slow sales. I read it actually made millions in profits. the thing is that virgin america was bought by a real estate company and it's more profitable for them to lease the space opposed to having the store.

same thing goes with the union sq location. there's still no word on that one closing. i hope it doesn't... either way who goes to that store if not tourist. times sq suckssss

i'd love to know when they are having a sale on everything in the store, see if i can snatch some dvds of movies i've seen a gazillion times and would like to own, not for 40 bucks.

Barbj8

Century 21 or Forever 21, doesn't matter. They'll be so crowded you won't be able set foot in them.

babyhitler

I did score the thermal paper special super limited edition box of massive attack's greatest hit's for 30 bucks.

dogbraincatscan

maybe this article will prevent assholes from smugly asking me (basically) when i'm gonna lose my job. "but i heard this store was closing!! waaahhH!!" i work at the union square location. i mean, even if we are (no one knows anything, not even managers), it gets depressing being asked over 20 times a day by mouth-breathers who are only interested in getting box sets for 75% off. don't kid yourselves, guys, that stuff would all go back to the manufacturer for cost.

ides_of_march

The record industry's bad karma for getting rid of vinyl so they could make everybody buy the Beatles catlogue again.

pudeljung

anybody know when the real store-closing clearance sale starts????

Shinobi Shaw

I hope they don't close the one in Union Square, that place is basically a hang out place then a store.

The again, almost every shop in Union Sq. is a hang out place.

chopp3r

Staples, especially.

NannyState

Ever been to a record store lately? A bunch of weirdofuck 50 year old guys with ponytails poking through the bins for that Pink Floyd re-release. I quit going 10 years ago and couldn't care less if they all, and especially the ripoffs like Bleeker Bobs, vanish.

JenChungsBaby

Sam Goody has summoned Virgin home.

Guest

75% off for music I wasn't buying in the first place? What a BARGAIN!

valeriob

Yep, Century 21. Not a Forever 21.

Not much better though, may as well be a 99c store.

Wza

Reuters reports it's going to be a Century 21, not Forever 21.

http://www.reuters.com/article/musicnews/idustre50d0o420090114

ganghiscon

That's a typo. Early reports were saying Century 21, but they were eventually corrected to Forever 21.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/nyregion/15virgin.html?em

babyhitler

you mean I can't pay the full price of $18.99 for Ace of Base's seminal album "the sign" anymore? damn! I'm sad to see this store go cause I used to rob this place blind because their inventory system was using an archaic mainframe database. Luckily, I took a mainframe class while in high school and did some things there that weren't too kosher. They've since changed their Point of sale machines to a updated real time server but not until I was sitting on a mountain of overpriced cd's, dvd's and games. The other sad thing for the economy is that hospitals won't get the tourists who've contracted staph infections from Virgin's disgusting headsets anymore, thus putting hundreds of healthcare workers out of work.

dogbraincatscan

not every cd is 18.99...the majority of the stuff i ring up all day is $5, 10, or 12.99. yes, good albums too. everytime i go to an indie store, i find that the prices there are far more bloated than anything found in the virgin megastore, and they're usually used.

zodak

i still buy cds.

if i want them on 1 of my mp3 players i rip them myself so i don't have to worry about bloated software spying on me or drm preventing me from listening to the music i paid for.

Spirit of 76

Wow, are you serious? Bloated software spying on you? That's some real paranoia. And as for DRM, I suppose you're too scared to keep up with recent news. Apple now sells almost all of its songs without Fairplay protection (and in very high quality 256kbps AAC files, not those chintzy 128kbps mp3s everybody's used to) and soon their entire catalog will be DRM free. All for the same price as before.

lucyvanpelt

256kbps AAC = crappy.

Sorry, but if you want a decent listening experience, you need to go with at least Apple Lossless, if not AIFF or WAV. The only tracks I buy from the iTunes store any longer are ones where I won't care if the lossy conversion mashes the highs and lows (and everything in between) and blows out the subtleties. In other words, I buy my gym music there. But if I 'm going to listen to something for actual enjoyment, study, or sensory experience, I buy the CD and rip it.

Or give me vinyl any day.

Spirit of 76

I think your last sentence says it all. You're one of those people who swears they can hear the "higher quality" vinyl brings. Or that you can distinguish between 256kbps and uncompressed AIFF. Blind tests have proven such that people are deluded liars time and again.