Virgin Megastore

Chris Willman implies that the retail prices for music are higher overall at the Virgin Megastore than at other outlets in town (namely Tower Records) ("Sunset's Twin Towers," Dec. 7). That claim was based on a very limited sample of product, and we feel that it was not a proper indicator of the prices in the Megastore as a whole. As a matter of policy, it is always our intention to offer the widest possible range of products at the best possible prices. With 150,000 titles in all, there may be some isolated discrepancies in price, but be assured that currently all of our prices for top 100 titles (the area from which Willman sampled)

Goldenvoice recently reached a long-term agreement with the desert city of Indio to stage its Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club through at least 2030. But what, if anything, does that mean for Arizona's Zia Records, the pop-up shop that's been a regular at Coachella since troubles with the Virgin Megastore in the late '00s? GM Brian Faber says talks with Goldenvoice won't pick up until the conclusion of next week's Stagecoach, but he pointed to new lighting fixtures and a new sign out front.

Related Cos. agreed to buy Virgin Megastores North America and its 11 music stores. The sale will close in September, Related Cos. said in a statement distributed by PR Newswire. The price wasn't disclosed. Virgin Megastores is part of Virgin Entertainment Group. Related, led by Chairman Stephen Ross, gains 400,000 square feet of retail space with the acquisition of the stores, which include locations in New York, California and Texas. Related last year bought Equinox Holdings Inc.'

After rocking the music world for nearly two decades with a mix of brash stunts and splashy CD releases, the remaining six Virgin Megastores in the United States will shut their doors this summer in another blow to recorded music. The hipster shops received their branding from billionaire founder Richard Branson and remained profitable, but the real estate firms that own the U.S. chain determined that they could command higher rent from new tenants.

Another one bites the dust. The Virgin Megastore on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, just down the street from the shuttered Tower Records, will close when its lease is up in January. The rent is simply too high, Simon Wright, chief executive of Virgin Megastores North America, said Wednesday. "We're trying to reposition the business," Wright said, "and a lot of our stores are too big for the future, primarily due to the drop in music sales." The chain -- which Related Cos.

The announced closing of a second national retail store at Triangle Square has dealt another blow to the struggling Costa Mesa shopping center and the city's effort to breathe new life into its commercial core. The Virgin Megastore declined to sign another lease and will close Sept. 22, company officials said. The Triangle Square location is not a good fit, and the music retailer will look for a new Orange County location, a company spokeswoman said.

Virgin Retail Group's second U.S. Virgin Megastore--at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa--plans a grand opening celebration on Nov. 26 with a "Rockin' California Holiday Beach Party." The grand opening follows the "official opening," which will be Saturday. Virgin's first Megastore opened in London in 1970. The first U.S. Virgin Megastore did not open until last year in Los Angeles.

My name is Elijah Dittersdorf and you used me in a large color picture for your article about Virgin Megastore and other music stores in L.A. ("Where do you buy?" Dec. 19). The caption read: "Elijah Dittersdorf, a Virgin employee who wears his love of music on his arm, arranges stock at the store." You failed to mention that the majority of employees at these stores are paid minimum wage, are given no benefits and have one of the highest turnover rates in retail. These "super-size" companies do not like to keep employees very long, as the help then might want a slight wage increase and maybe a shot at some health care.

Virgin Entertainment Group Inc. will open a new entertainment-oriented "megastore" in Hollywood this fall at Hollywood & Highland as part of a campaign by the owners of the massive retail complex to attract more shoppers. The 22,000-square-foot store, which will be announced today, will sit between the landmark Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards.

The gig: Chief executive of Virgin Entertainment Group, which runs Virgin Megastores and Virgin Cinemas. Wright's decision to sell more clothing, games and electronics and less music in the face of declining CD sales has helped the retail side thrive. -- His background: Born in England but conceived in California (his parents used to live here), Wright says "it was almost my destiny to end up in Los Angeles." -- First job: Selling ice cream and doughnuts on the beach in southern France.

Another one bites the dust. The Virgin Megastore on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, just down the street from the shuttered Tower Records, will close when its lease is up in January. The rent is simply too high, Simon Wright, chief executive of Virgin Megastores North America, said Wednesday. "We're trying to reposition the business," Wright said, "and a lot of our stores are too big for the future, primarily due to the drop in music sales." The chain -- which Related Cos.

Related Cos. agreed to buy Virgin Megastores North America and its 11 music stores. The sale will close in September, Related Cos. said in a statement distributed by PR Newswire. The price wasn't disclosed. Virgin Megastores is part of Virgin Entertainment Group. Related, led by Chairman Stephen Ross, gains 400,000 square feet of retail space with the acquisition of the stores, which include locations in New York, California and Texas. Related last year bought Equinox Holdings Inc.'

The announced closing of a second national retail store at Triangle Square has dealt another blow to the struggling Costa Mesa shopping center and the city's effort to breathe new life into its commercial core. The Virgin Megastore declined to sign another lease and will close Sept. 22, company officials said. The Triangle Square location is not a good fit, and the music retailer will look for a new Orange County location, a company spokeswoman said.

Virgin Entertainment Group Inc. will open a new entertainment-oriented "megastore" in Hollywood this fall at Hollywood & Highland as part of a campaign by the owners of the massive retail complex to attract more shoppers. The 22,000-square-foot store, which will be announced today, will sit between the landmark Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards.

The driver of a convertible was critically injured when she hit two cars and crashed into the Virgin music store on the Sunset Strip on Saturday afternoon, police said. A 59-year-old woman lost control of her Chrysler convertible and struck a car at the Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights intersection. The convertible then lurched into a gas station parking lot, hitting another car before it hurtled across the street into the side of the music store, said LAPD Lt. Joseph Peyton.

The gig: Chief executive of Virgin Entertainment Group, which runs Virgin Megastores and Virgin Cinemas. Wright's decision to sell more clothing, games and electronics and less music in the face of declining CD sales has helped the retail side thrive. -- His background: Born in England but conceived in California (his parents used to live here), Wright says "it was almost my destiny to end up in Los Angeles." -- First job: Selling ice cream and doughnuts on the beach in southern France.

For weeks a billboard over the construction site at a prominent corner on the Sunset Strip has proclaimed that "if music is your religion"--and on this notably church-free stretch of roadway, it may well be--"then we're building your temple." Said temple is, of course, the spanking new Virgin Megastore, the first of its international kind on American shores. Impressive as the outlet is, the claim might seem a little presumptuous.

My name is Elijah Dittersdorf and you used me in a large color picture for your article about Virgin Megastore and other music stores in L.A. ("Where do you buy?" Dec. 19). The caption read: "Elijah Dittersdorf, a Virgin employee who wears his love of music on his arm, arranges stock at the store." You failed to mention that the majority of employees at these stores are paid minimum wage, are given no benefits and have one of the highest turnover rates in retail. These "super-size" companies do not like to keep employees very long, as the help then might want a slight wage increase and maybe a shot at some health care.

Henry Rollins flexes at the edge of the tiny stage as his Rollins Band attacks a 20-year-old Black Flag tune. "We're tired of your abuse!" "Try to stop us, it's no use!" Rollins is glaring, sweating, crouching leonine before the bombastic sound, and as a fan jumps on stage to share the mic, punk's hardest softie flicks him back into the mosh pit like a gnat. Hundreds of heads bounce in unison, some sporting crimson mohawks; others, in contrast, are close-cropped and gray.