New York Virgin Megastore Shuts Down
By Morelli
The Times Square Virgin Megastore will shut down in April because the floorspace it occupies would be more profitable to its owners, Related Companies and Vornado, with another tenant. Virgin pays only $54 per square foot in rent while the market rent in the area is $700 per square foot, so the highest volume music store in the U.S. is going to be shut down.
While it’s good the consumers aren’t being blamed, for a change, it’s still surprising that even though the Megastore makes an estimated $55 million in annual volume, turning a profit of $6 million, its still less profitable than what the owners can make from other tenants paying more rent.
That makes four Virgin Megastores gone in two years, as the retail music shut down its stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and Salt Lake City last year. Things look bleak for the retailer and the new owners aren’t helping one bit.
Will you miss the Virgin Megastores?
Photo via weblogs.amny.com
Source: TMT
Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:43PM
It's funny, the music industry wonders why people download. It's in part because there is nowhere left to purchase music.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 12:01PM
[...] it’s a little sad to see some of our luxuries taken away from us. It was announced that the Virgin Megastore in Times Square would be shutting down at the end of March, but now we’ve learned that the six remaining US megastores will also be [...]