Virgin Megastores to shutter nationwide
The Virgin Megastore in Downtown Disney will close, along with five other remaining U.S. outlets of the once-widespread music and video chain, according to reports.
The Associated Press reported that the stores in general remain profitable, but that the real-estate joint venture of Related Companies and Vornado Realty Trust, which bought Los Angeles-based Virgin Entertainment Group Inc. in 2007, determined that they could earn higher rents from new tenants in the spaces occupied by the stores.
The Wall Street Journal and TheWrap.com also reported the shutdown plans.
Virgin was among the last remaining large music retailers in an era when listeners increasingly are downloading their music or ordering it from online distributors.
Other remaining Virgin outlets to be shuttered are two New York stores -- including the flagship store in Times Square -- as well as stores in San Francisco, Denver, Orlando and Hollywood. The chain at one time had 23 U.S. outlets.
About 1,000 employees and 60 at the corporate level will be laid off, the AP said.
The chain, which was originally affiliated with billionaire Sir Richard Branson, opened its first store in the United States on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood in 1992. That store closed earlier this year. The Hollywood Boulevard location, the West Coast flagship, opened in 2005 .
The roughly 150 Virgin Megastores overseas will remain open. They are licensed to local owners.
The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and the Denver Business Journal contributed to this report.
