News

Virgin Closes Remaining Megastores

Virgin Entertainment Group Inc. has decided to close its six stateside Megastores, including locations in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando and Denver. The company’s Times Square flagship will close shop first in mid-April, with the rest shuttering their doors by June. Nearly 1,000 employees—including around 60 at the corporate level—will lose their jobs as a result.

"I've been pushing back a little bit on the notion that this is just another casualty of the music industry," Simon Wright, Virgin’s chief executive, said in a statement, adding, “Our six stores from a retail point of view are also our six best stores from a real estate point of view.”

About 150 Virgin Megastores will remain open throughout the world, including ones in France, Australia and Japan. A proper goodbye party for Virgin’s Times Square location is planned for the last week of March.

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
03.04.09