Posted on 02/28/2009 7:23:31 PM PST by Steelfish
Virgin Megastore in S.F. will liquidate Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
February 27, 2009
The Virgin Megastore in San Francisco will shut its doors in late April, adding a large vacancy at Stockton and Market streets to a growing number of empty storefronts around Union Square, the retail heart of the city.
The music and video retailer, which opened its estimated 45,000-square-foot store 14 years ago, will start liquidation sales sometime next month, company officials confirmed Thursday.
Union Square is still considered one of the country's most vibrant shopping districts and a destination for international tourists.
But one of the worst holiday shopping seasons in recent memory, low consumer confidence and an overall dismal economic scene have made retail among the hardest-hit sectors of the economy.
"It's a tough time. It's probably as tough a time I've seen since I've been in business here," said Ken Brownell, partner in Blatteis & Schnur, a retail brokerage firm that manages and owns some buildings in Union Square.
But he remains optimistic. "In San Francisco's history, the retail comes back sooner than the rest of the country.
We're the last ones to get hit and first to come out of it," he said. And the economic downturn has opened up opportunities for retailers to adjust their rents and for new businesses to come into the area, he added.
Altered landscape
The landscape, however, paints a different picture.
The closure late last year of Shoe Pavilion left an empty storefront at 838 Market St. The Escada boutique, formerly at 259 Post St., and Ann Taylor, at 240 Post St., closed a couple of years ago, and their spaces remain vacant. The former Disney Store at 400 Post St., which shut its doors last year, has yet to be filled.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I guess you just can’t get virgins in San Francisco anymore...
I’ll be the first to uh...crack open the merchandise....
Tell ‘em to call Pelosi, ask for an earmark ?
Why anyone would buy retail in the middle of a city by choice is beyond me.
CDs sold at list price.
Virgin is closing their megastore in Times Square New York as well.
Good riddance, the “market” has ruled.
Reading the comments at the end of the article is great.
Oberliberal city drives business out.
Ha, ha, ha. She’s no Virgin.
They celebrate Christmas in downtown San Francisco?
Last time I was there, admitedly a few years back, the south end of Powell had been taken over by vagrants. The city has kindly provided convenient housing for them in the nearby tenderloin district. They were all over Union square too. I suspect that has something to do with the lack of desire potential customers might have to visit.
Too bad, really, it used to be a happening place.
I shopped there many many years ago. Believe it or not I bought my first cordless from SI over the phone. Restoration Hardware just closed the very first store Steve Gordon started here in Eureka as a true hard to find restoration hardware source. He built a home near me that my Doctor now owns...
“They celebrate Christmas in downtown San Francisco?”
Actually, yes, I shop downtown SF every year and it is fantastically decorated and a lot of fun, right down to ice skating in Union Square.
I get a lot of good deals, too. Macys basement, ooh la la.
Too bad. It's been some years, but the last time I was in friscansanto there was a big yellow and black sign on a building just off Union Square--it said "REAL LIVE GIRLS!!!". Maybe they just sell dead ones now, what with AIDS and Nancy Pelosi and all.
Well, that’s great! Glad to hear at least one time a year they can make the place cheery.
I can take the place for a day or two but then feel the need to run away.
The drive there is nice though :) As long as it’s not up 101.
Awesome news. The stupid V store on Stockton is repulsive to visitors waiting for a cable car, overpriced, and had few customers. On the contrary, the Tower Records on Columbus was a tourist attraction, had smart staff members, but sadly closed in 2006.
I'm going out and by a paper, the sixth Tuesday of the month!
there’s a ‘market’ in the People’s Republic of San Francisco?
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