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Business News Retail
Times Square Megastore to close in April
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 14 January 2009
As expected, New York’s primary Virgin Megastore, in Times Square, will close down this Spring. There’s no word on the future of the Union Square Megastore, though last year when the closures were first rumoured it was said it would also be closed down.
As previously reported, this has nothing to do with the high street doom and gloom that is impacting on retailers around the world, including former UK Megastore business Zavvi, but is the conclusion of the original plan held by the US Megastore chain’s owners.
As also previously reported, when the Virgin Group moved out of the music retail business in 2007 they sold their US stores to a joint venture between two real estate companies – the Related Cos and Vornado. It wasn’t really any secret that their interest in the US Megastores was the prime retail sites they occupied rather than the business that went on in the shops.
While the US Virgin Megastore business was doing pretty well by all accounts – the New York stores in particular – Related and Vornado could make more, and have more financial security, by leasing the sites out to other retailers.
With that in mind, the flagship Times Square Megastore will close in April. The company’s shop on Union Square will continue to trade as normal for the time being – and will be repositioned as the Megastore’s primary base – though it’s thought discussions are underway regarding leasing out that site to another retailer also.
