The Americana and roots music authority
Virgin Megastores to close
The hits just keep on coming. Virgin Megastores will all be closed by summer. I'm not normally inclined to sweat the fate of big record retailers. But as a harbinger of where, well, everything is heading these days -- musical and otherwise -- this is spooky.
Full story at this link to The Wrap.
http://www.thewrap.com/article/1648
Full story at this link to The Wrap.
http://www.thewrap.com/article/1648
Tags: alternative, americana, country, forum, megastores, music, record, stores, virgin
Views: 21
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by michael on -
"Sometimes I'm just tempted to throw a "Country A-K" rack out on the street and go work at a Virgin Megastore" -- Rob (John Cusack) in "High Fidelity"
-
Permalink Reply by Ron Frankl on -
This was widely reported a few weeks ago, and certainly can't come as a surprise to anyone. I think there are three main factors involved in the death of the brick and mortar retailers. You have an entire generation of listeners who buy their music on-line, usually one song at a time. Many don't believe that they have to pay for music at all. To these people, spending an hour or two browsing in a store is not an activity they understand or enjoy.
Next, you have internet-based retailers like Amazon who can deliver the merchandise in two days and usually at a lower price than the traditional stores. Amazon and other on-line retailers also offer listening- before-you- buy options that were first found in stores like Tower and Virgin.
Finally, for the more casual (read older) buyer, who buys CDs and DVDs only occasionally, Walmart and Best Buy can kick the butts of places like Virgin Megastore and Amazon on price. Stores like Virgin, Tower, HMV and all the others that have now closed were wonderful to kill time in, but were ultimately an incredibly inefficient way to sell product. When you consider the current economic climate, their passing was inevitable.
A must-read for those interested in understanding the death of the traditional music retailer and the imminent demise of the once powerful media companies is Appetite for Self-Destruction by Steve Knopper.
-
Permalink Reply by Shaun Belcher on -
Inevitable really. In U.K. we lost Virgin (renamed Zavvi) before Xmas along with Woolworths and the biggest CD distributor...we now in CD freefall and here in Nottingham we do not expect there to be anything soon but a HMV ( they now own Fopp the only other store) who planning to amalgamate three stores into one it looks like ...selling mostly DVDs and Games NOT music any more....
I regularly buying CDs in local Fopp here now at £3.00 or lower and books at £2...as the distributors stock flogged off cheaply...its not alarmist to state that CD probably not exist except as a indie platform within a year..
Most new releases (book and cd) are remaindered wihtin weeks...its bleak.
In my opinion selling music in a 'hard' format is over.
The only possible growth is small run vinyl - the art object replacing the CD.
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Cantin on -
Trailer Star, I'm not sure what links you're talking about but I'd appreciate it if you didn't suggest I posted any such links.
-
Permalink Reply by Ron Frankl on
-
Yeah, I don't know what he's talking about either. It's hardly as prevalent in this community as it is in every other music community I've ever visited on the web. Also, it seems a little like shutting the barn door after the horse has run off, the farm has been sold at auction, and a sparkly new subdivision has been built on the property. In other words, it's kind of an outdated concern.
-
Permalink Reply by Shaun Belcher on
-
Not at all Paul did not mean to confuse I meant in general..sorry have deleted
-
Permalink Reply by Shaun Belcher on
-
Obviously confused more than one..what I meant was should the No Depression NING allow tinyurl or 'hidden/covered' links to material that may or may not be legal..that's all...is that an outdated concern?? I doubt it if you the artist who's material linked to....again not commenting on anybody in particular just raising the question..we cannot expect the community owners to police everything.....as an owner of a NING too I would ask politely that people did not add such material..
NOTHING to do with Paul apologies again...badly put as was on my mind and not really part of this thread although it definitely part of the cause of low volume CD sales lately ..
-
Permalink Reply by Shaun Belcher on
-
I have set up as discussion on my Group page here
http://community.nodepression.com/group/flyinshoesreview/forum/topi...
rather than clog Paul's thread please respond there..and thanks for the writing in ND and books ..have enjoyed it over the years:-)
-
Permalink Reply by solenoid lopez on -
I'm really not surprised. The U.K Virgin stores which changed to Zavvi a year or so ago went bust on Christmas Eve, the last of which closed a couple of weeks ago. I worked for Virgin for many years and to be honest it's eventual demise had been on the cards for a long while. Weirdly I'm sure I read somewhere the the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street was going to re open, but I now can't find any mention of it anywhere on the net.
However I did find this article, it's worth a read
http://www.salon.com/news/brand_graveyard/feature/2009/03/12/virgin/
-
Permalink Reply by RP N10 on -
They were over-priced and their online service was rubbish. Even when they were having their post bankruptcy sale they were more expensive than HMV a couple of hundred yards along Oxford St.
I went along 21 Feb to see what was left and the store was shut up but there was a notice on the window saying it was going to reopen under the Virgin megastore banner. All I heard since was that oen of the former managers/ directors had bought up the stock with a plan to reopen and that The Hut had bought the online business. Even with the 10% introductory discount they were still overpriced. Plus ca change.
Smartchoice has a better stock, better prices , excellent customer service and no postage charges. Spirit of an independent but on line.
-
Permalink Reply by mwbworld on -
It's a tough time for B&M and especially for those specializing in music. Frankly other than groceries, I doubt I've been in a B&M store in years. Although I still buy just as much it is just via the web.
While YMMV, I found with the stores I dealt with back when I still was mostly buying in B&M music stores that the tougher things were (in terms of their sales) the more they focused on top 40, rap, etc. and less they catered to all other music.
Which just accelerated my exploration of on-line buying. Especially buying directly from smaller artists and small indie labels, etc.
-
Permalink Reply by Ron Frankl on
-
New Yorkers are bemoaning the loss of their last megastores with the closing of Virgin, but the New York-based store that introduced the concept to the city's music fans is still there, after all these years. I'm talking about J&R Music World, near City Hall, which opened thirty years ago and somehow survives, despite the competition they endured from Tower, HMV and Virgin. Never as upscale and glitzy as the others, J&R built its rep catering to the hardcore music junkie. I remember running into Robert Quine (RIP) at J&R on a regular basis. I used to visit at least once a week, and seldom walked out empty-handed. They stocked imports and indies before anyone besides the specialty stores did, and their regular prices were always lower than their rivals. They also did not return every title that failed to sell in six months; I would often find obscure release in their racks that had been there for several years. I don't live in NY anymore, but I still miss my pilgrimages to J&R.
© 2012 Created by No Depression.
Badges | ND Terms Of Use | ND Privacy Policy | Report an Issue | Terms of Service
