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Branson Sells Virgin Megastores, renamed Zavvi

Don't tar us all with the same brush...

I work at head office (Virgin Retail) and I'm not a tosser.

Me and the people in my department are just as passionate and knowledgeable about music as the people on the shop floor. We all came from the shop floor.

But the people at the very top level who make the decisions about the direction of the company generally come from financial backgrounds and we all know what that means.

Needless to say we are all staggered at the new name, and the seemingly flippant loss of the Virgin heritage, history and legacy that will disappear down the drain.

I imagine there'll be lots of rats deserting the sinking ship (before they're pushed).

Other than that, I do think it would be a shame to see a total lack of record shops on the high street, even if they are just faceless chains.
 
^^^ hello person from PR :p
As i live in the "State" i never really shop at Virgin. Mostly at Best buy and ITMS, so it doesn't really matter to me. I'm shocked that he sold his baby
 
Flump72 said:
I work at head office (Virgin Retail) and I'm not a tosser.

Me and the people in my department are just as passionate and knowledgeable about music as the people on the shop floor. We all came from the shop floor.

But the people at the very top level who make the decisions about the direction of the company generally come from financial backgrounds and we all know what that means.

Needless to say we are all staggered at the new name, and the seemingly flippant loss of the Virgin heritage, history and legacy that will disappear down the drain.

I imagine there'll be lots of rats deserting the sinking ship (before they're pushed).

Other than that, I do think it would be a shame to see a total lack of record shops on the high street, even if they are just faceless chains.
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ok sorry about that i was making a broad generalisation
obviously i'm not going to name names here but some of the regional mangers in Virgin (and Our Price before that) are amongst the worst people i've ever met
I could also name some great managers also but as always the bad outshine the good.

i agree with you on the last point i'd prefer to buy music from a big high street faceless chain shop than Tesco or Asda
 
I used to quite enjoy Virgin Megastore. It was one of the main reasons I went to Gateway mall here in Salt Lake. It closed a couple months ago now, and so now really the only reason to go is the Apple Store there.
 
The only Zavvi (crap cheap-sounding name) I have been into a few times was definitely a step down from the former Virgin store.

They'd slashed their range and had lots of cheap specials piled up everywhere... they'd closed the jazz and classical section, the store was quiet and it just felt as though it was never going to amount to much. Say what you like about the Virgin megastores, at least they tried to have something for everyone.
 
Blue Velvet said:
The only Zavvi (crap cheap-sounding name) I have been into a few times was definitely a step down from the former Virgin store.
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They're awful aren't they. The ones I've been to feel like a Poundstretcher of then cd/dvd world.
 
What? I liked Virgin Megastores. The bigger the better. I have bought lots of music from the one near TCR station in London because they'll even have albums from smaller bands in stock. They also had free concerts and such from upcoming bands. I saw Idlewild perform at the TCR store before they got massive, and they stayed behind and signed autographs. I think it was when they released The Remote Part, with the song American English on it. I'm actually not a big fan at all, so I don't remember.
 
Abstract said:
What? I liked Virgin Megastores.
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I generally liked them too but didn't like their prices in certain sections. I buy everything through Amazon and its resellers, and eBay these days. Gone are the days of paying £11-12 per album, even up to £14 for some releases. Eight CDs have just shipped today to me from Amazon for about £55, far better value.
 
Blue Velvet said:
I generally liked them too but didn't like their prices in certain sections. I buy everything through Amazon and its resellers, and eBay these days. Gone are the days of paying £11-12 per album, even up to £14 for some releases. Eight CDs have just shipped today to me from Amazon for about £55, far better value.
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Hitting the nail on the head. And even the biggest stores which you would have to travel to don't always have the artist you want. I only go in when someone gives me music vouchers for birthday/christmas.
 
Blue Velvet said:
I generally liked them too but didn't like their prices in certain sections. I buy everything through Amazon and its resellers, and eBay these days. Gone are the days of paying £11-12 per album, even up to £14 for some releases. Eight CDs have just shipped today to me from Amazon for about £55, far better value.
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Well then it's not the store that's the problem. Online purchasing just happens to be a lot cheaper, which is understandable considering the money they save by not having a physical shop.
 
OllyW said:
Except Poundstretcher is cheap.

I used to like Fopp, loads of choice with great prices. It's a pity it wasn't economically viable. :D
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Some Fopps reopened as Fopp (around 14 I think) and others just changed their names.
I was pleasantly surprised last time I went to Bristol to find Fopp was open again.

In Leamington Fopp changed it's name to Head. Still the same prices and doing very well. I guess Fopp's original management were the problem.
 
Turns out after further reading that their main problem is that they now get all their stock through Entertainment UK which is part of Woolworths:eek: so they can't get any stock in December which is pretty much fatal for record shop.
Back when i worked for Virgin we use to get the stock directly from the distributors EMI, BMG, TEN etc so this wouldn't have been a problem.
I think they were in for a very tough Xmas anyway but really is a disaster
 
bartelby said:
Some Fopps reopened as Fopp (around 14 I think) and others just changed their names.
I was pleasantly surprised last time I went to Bristol to find Fopp was open again.

In Leamington Fopp changed it's name to Head. Still the same prices and doing very well. I guess Fopp's original management were the problem.
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I see the new Fopp is part of HMV.

Bristol is a bit to far to save a couple of quid on some CDs, but I'll have to take a look in Head next time I'm over that way.
 
i think Fopp was doing ok but the Bank lost confidence in the chains management. the problem they had is that that their margins were really small you don't make much profit from a £5 back cat CD!
 
Every corporate record store- Tower, Virgin, etc has closed in Chicago. The only ones tha have survived (ironically) are the small independent stores that sell vinyl as well as books, memorabilia, etc. The days of the corporate record store are completely over.
 
leekohler said:
Every corporate record store- Tower, Virgin, etc has closed in Chicago. The only ones tha have survived (ironically) are the small independent stores that sell vinyl as well as books, memorabilia, etc. The days of the corporate record store are completely over.
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There are (or were) some bloody awesome record stores in the Chicago area. I remember having to lug back about $400 of second hand vinyl about 10 years ago. Mainly from the 3 Evanston stores I found
 
bartelby said:
There are (or were) some bloody awesome record stores in the Chicago area. I remember having to lug back about $400 of second hand vinyl about 10 years ago. Mainly from the 3 Evanston stores I found
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Yes there are! We have one in my hood called Laurie's Planet of Sound. It's great and does tons of business. The corporate record stores lost out because they lost sight of what was important- quality.
 
leekohler said:
Yes there are! We have one in my hood called Laurie's Planet of Sound. It's great and does tons of business. The corporate record stores lost out because they lost sight of what was important- quality.
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Since when does quality sell?
the general music buying public have no concept of quality
look at the charts

The reason corporate record shop chains have failed is that their business model has been under-cut from about 6 different directions.
 
DAC47 said:
Since when does quality sell?
the general music buying public have no concept of quality
look at the charts
.
Click to expand...

I think leekohler may have been talking about the quality of the store rather than the music they sell.
 
bartelby said:
I think leekohler may have been talking about the quality of the store rather than the music they sell.
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fair point
but that's subjective also
a lot of people would prefer to go bright well laid out megastore than spend Saturday afternoon flicking through photocopied CD covers in Spllers
(you and I might prefer the latter but the great unwashed probably wouldn't agree)
 
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