Comments on: Times Square To Lose Its Virginity This April

By: Poubelle

Poubelle — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:10:29 +0000

@moomintroll: Last time I was there, I think it was mostly skirts (a couple which were actually cute, but so cheaply made) and some cheesy tops.

By: moomintroll

moomintroll — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:31:15 +0000

Weird, they put a Forever 21 in where the Virgin Megastore was on Michigan Avenue too. Why is that? What kind of person goes to touristy shopping meccas for Forever 21 clothes?
Oh by the way Maura, your post’s title made me laugh…probably more than it should’ve.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:32:51 +0000

The last time I was in Other Music, sometime before the holidays, they seemed to have less stock than they used to and more empty floor space. Usually a sign of trouble.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:36:14 +0000

They closed two stores in Orange County, CA, too – even the rich kids in The OC don’t wanna buy $20 CDs…

By: Poubelle

Poubelle — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:26:50 +0000

@moomintroll: I was about to say the same thing. It is odd to have the same cheap-clothes place take over both spots.

In the Chicago store, the part where I bought several of much-loved albums is now an accessories rack. It would be slightly less depressing if Forever 21's accessories weren't so cheap and tacky.

By: moomintroll

moomintroll — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:52:43 +0000

@Poubelle: I haven't been inside it. I'm boycotting. What's in the section where they used to have the singles and vinyl? Dressing rooms? Leggings?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:32:02 +0000

I remember when it first opened. I had recently moved to NYC from CA and the Foo Fighters were doing a free in-store concert. We had to get a wristband in the morning and then come back later that night or maybe the next day to see the concert. I was so excited about living in NY and thought where else do these things happen but in NYC. The most memorable moment of the concert happened when some people from the audience slammed into the glass on the escalator and shattered it. Admittedly, I don’t go to the Virgin Megastore often but when I do, I always look at the escalator and think back to that concert and being new to the city. I’ll be a little sad that it’s gone but New York is still the best city in the world and I live here. Woo hoo!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:17:32 +0000

Other Music the new Retail Powerhouse? HA.

Even the Barnes & Noble music department in Union across the park from Virgin carries more music than Other. Same goes for the Discorama....AND Academy on 18th and 5th....

By: Dickdogfood

Dickdogfood — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:35:52 +0000

I want everybody to agree on this one thing: if they close Union Square, we’re all going to have a big fat semi-impromptu wake/party there. Like with whiskey and cake and everything.

By: dyfl

dyfl — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:55:23 +0000

@Chris Molanphy: "The Virgin magazines person just informed me that they no longer carry Billboard"

Wait, seriously? For real? Wow.

I'll agree that losing the Union Square location would be a more crippling blow, but the Times Square one always was good for killing time, it's true -- and since I work in Midtown it was generally where I went on my lunch break when I needed something now now now. But I guess switching over to Amazon MP3 makes me complicit in this, huh? (The way to turn it around on them: if they still stocked imports the way they used to, I'd have thrown them a LOT more cash.)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:53:30 +0000

My first purchase at that location was an overpriced copy of Superdrag's Head Trip in Every Key during a 1997 choir trip, and my final (pre-liquidation) purchase was an overpriced copy of Organized Konfusion's Stress: The Extinction Agenda about two years ago. The Union Square Virgin will be more sorely missed because I'll have to start telling friends: "I'll be at Forever 21 if I get there first."

By: Christian John

Christian John — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:52:02 +0000

I live in Hell’s Kitchen; once Tower closed (I LOVED that store) in Lincoln Center, I made do with walking through throngs of tourists to get to Virgin…now I have to make do with shuttling down to Union Square…J&R might be the only hold out left for anything approaching deep catalog.

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:50:45 +0000

Ha! Other Music as powerhouse. Just deserts.

For me, the loss of the Union Square Virgin will hit harder, because I've been working/shopping here for almost five years. But honestly, WTF do I care? The Virgin magazines person just informed me that they no longer carry Billboard, which was the entire reason I timed my record-shopping for Fridays. Now I've got no excuse left to make a weekly pilgrimage there.

(Of course, I used to do the weekly Friday thing at Tower, before they went belly-up. I've cried all the tears I can cry for chain music retail, honestly.)