To be replaced with a HMV ..

HMV Canada Inc, Canada's leading music retailer
and fastest-growing DVD chain, announces today that it will open the country's
largest store dedicated to music and DVD, on the site currently occupied by
Virgin Megastore in Vancouver, B.C. As a result, Virgin's only Canadian Virgin
Megastore, located on Vancouver's Burrard Street, will cease from trading
under the Virgin brand name on September 4, 2005, as Virgin Entertainment
Group has decided to withdraw from the Canadian marketplace to enable
resources to be fully focused on its retail business in the United States.
The 40,000 square foot, three-level store is located on the corner of
Robson Street and Burrard Street in central Vancouver, the city's busiest and
most prestigious retail destination.
When it opens for business on September 4, 2005, the new HMV flagship
location will offer the most extensive selection of CD's and DVD's in a single
store in Canada, with access to a range of more than 400,000 different titles.
With eight stores already located in the greater Vancouver area, and a
further two stores opening in Burnaby the summer of 2005 in Lougheed Town
Centre and Metrotown Centre, HMV will be the city's number one music retailer
and fastest-growing DVD chain.

Humphrey Kadaner, President of HMV Canada, commented:

"Vancouver is a key market for HMV. Not only is it Canada's third largest
city, but Vancouver also has a great music and movies tradition, making it a
fitting location to open HMV Canada's biggest store to date. Our prime retail
location on the corner of Robson and Burrard puts HMV right at the heart of a
city which is preparing to 'welcome the world' for the 2010 Olympics, and we
are delighted to offer Canada's biggest selection of music and DVD from our
new store."
Employees of the Vancouver Virgin Megastore will be offered continuous
employment with HMV. Virgin Entertainment Group wishes to thank all of its
staff, customers and suppliers for their support of the Vancouver Virgin
Megastore.

FROM SSP: Prank on Virgin ... :hahaha:http://www.improveverywhere.com/mission_view.php?mission_id=33

That's not good news for Toronto's Virgin Megastore plans (at Metropolis). Isn't there one nearby it already? I hate how HMV is driving everyone else away, it's getting near anti-competitive. Tower Records cited HMV's dominance as one of the two reasons it closed its two stores in the GTA, the other reason being their own financial troubles.

bah to HMV...i hate that store....but then again, i didn't like the virgin megastore because i found it too expensive.

hmv is better than music world, even though i would like to support local record shops more, if they dont have what i want then i cant buy it. i was looking for No Need For Alarm by DEL tha funkee homosapien for almost a year until i found it at hmv, also virgin was reasonable, my favorite cd was 10 dollars there and its between 20 and 30 everywhere else

Virgin's withdrawal music to HMV's ears

By MARINA STRAUSS
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 Updated at 12:56 AM EDT
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

While a flashy music retailing icon is pulling out of Canada, the country's dominant merchant in the sector is mapping out expansion plans — even as the industry is being hit by competition from discounters and on-line music downloaders.

HMV Canada Inc., with 102 stores here, is eyeing another 50 over the next several years. At the same time, it is snapping up the Vancouver mega-outlet soon to be abandoned by Richard Branson's Virgin Entertainment Group Inc. “While there are, of course, challenges in the market today, as there are in many industries, we are of the opinion that there are also opportunities, and we are actively pursuing those,” Humphrey Kadaner, president of HMV Canada, said in an e-mail interview.

HMV was helped by its decision about two years ago to bolster the number of DVDs it carries.

Meanwhile, British parent HMV Group PLC closed the last of its money-losing U.S. stores late last year — having abandoned that market just before Virgin decided to exit Canada.

It's an example of how global retailers must sometimes turn up the volume in countries where they can dominate, and switch off in markets where they can't be a leader, said David Gray, a retailing consultant at Sixth Line Solutions in Vancouver.

He said Virgin has made a conscious decision to focus on its U.S. superstores, while HMV is doing what it can to boost the business in Canada.

In an industry as tough as music retailing, something had to give, he said. “It's just been a bad stretch for music,” Mr. Gray said. “The guys that really get squeezed are the retailers.”

It was almost nine years ago that the flamboyant Mr. Branson rappelled down the side of the five-storey building, spraying champagne onto the crowd during a celebrity-studded event to mark Virgin music stores entry into Canada.

But it was risky from the start. After all, Vancouver has been one of the most competitive music markets, with perpetual price wars that have led to some of the lowest prices in the world, according to a number of observers.

“I don't see anything on the horizon that suggests a real turnaround in the fundamentals of the industry,” Mr. Gray said.

Despite the challenges, HMV Canada has seen improvements.

Its parent reported Tuesday that the Canadian division's annual sales of about $370-million rose, on a same-store basis, by 13.5 per cent in the year ended April 30. For the seven weeks ended June 18, same-store sales jumped 12.3 per cent. Same-store sales are those at outlets open a year or more, and are considered a key barometer in retailing.

More than 40 per cent of HMV Canada's sales now comprise DVDs, and that business is growing, Mr. Kadaner said.

He is also closely following the parent company's move into the digital world. In late 2004, HMV Group teamed with Microsoft Corp. to develop software for the retailer's new digital downloading service for Britain. It is to be rolled out in September.

Music retailers have been forced to find new areas of growth — especially in DVDs — over the past few years to deal with the challenges in their core field.

The pressure was evident in early 2005 when the venerable A&B Sound Ltd. of Vancouver filed for bankruptcy protection. It was another victim of Wal-Mart Canada Corp., Best Buy Canada and others, all selling music at deep discounts.

Meanwhile, everybody has had to deal with competition from free on-line music downloads.

Virgin said Tuesday that it will close its sole mega-store in Canada, never having gone ahead with a planned expansion. It had slated Toronto as its next destination for another huge outlet.

“It is not feasible to continue to run a single store in Canada any longer,” Virgin's North American entertainment division said in a statement.

The move means that Virgin will no longer make plans for stores in Canada, a spokeswoman confirmed.

It will allow Virgin to focus on investing in its U.S. business.

Its cheaper to use iTunes and then you don't waste time ripping your cds, you just get the songs you wan't, they have a bigger selection, you dont have to leave your house, plus you dont end up with like a hundred CD's.

All though Virgin has a great DVD selection.

Hopefully the HMV is flashier than the Virgin megastore was, afterall it will be Canada's flagship store. Add some giant video screens, with flashing signs or something like that. Then again theres Vancouver city council in the way of that.

Great news! HMV has more music that I like anyway. Lets hope its as extensive or more so than the Toronto Yonge Street store.

SAM-THE-RECORD-MAN

SAM closed in Vancouver quite a few years ago. In 1998 or earlier maybe??

Aww...oh well.

I think the only one that's remaining is the Toronto flagship at Yonge and Gould.

Lame...

I was in VANCOUVER last year and went to Virgin shop..

I looked at a season box series of the SOPRANOS which they wanted $109 for..

The Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar are about the same.... I bought it here for $39.95.

No wonder it's getting out.

I was in VANCOUVER last year and went to Virgin shop..

I looked at a season box series of the SOPRANOS which they wanted $109 for..

The Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar are about the same.... I bought it here for $39.95.

No wonder it's getting out.

I got Ronin there for $36. (giftcard)

I later found it at Future Shop for $9.