Just heard that Virgin Megastore is going to be closing down by end of January. I’m not sure if they’re reopening somewhere else but their closure definitely isn’t a surprise. Their book collection is small, their music section is smaller and their movie section practically non existent. Still, it would be sad to see it go.
Update: Projekt Cyan just got me more information regarding the closure of Virgin. Firstly they won’t be relocating, they’re shutting down their Kuwait operation for good. Secondly, they’re also closing down the Moa, Pre Natal and Piazza Itala stores, all of which are located adjacent to Virgin. They’re instead going to group the 4 store spaces together and open up Decathlon which is a huge French sports equipment store.
45 replies on “Virgin Megastore is closing down”
I was part of the opening team when it first opened (when it was very big and very cool). It has been sad to watch it shrink until it is now going to just vanish.
Do vanish, it’s evolution. Torrent killed the radio star. Sad, but true.
Do we really need another sporting goods store? We need a good, solid music instruments store where the salesmen know about guitars and the instruments they sell…not like al yousufi where every guitar is not in tune and the salesmen get angry when you ask for help. Typical customer service in Kuwait.
Try aDawliah. They’re good!
They don’t have good equipment for a serious musician.
Blame on the spread of piracy in Kuwait.
Blame the government strict censorship.
so censorship justifies piracy??
I recommend taking Business Ethics class
Virgin wasn’t closed to due ”government strict censorship”.
No blame Virgin for their stupid massive price gouging, lousy selection, for responding to their lousy selection by shrinking it further and further, and for in general being useless
Hell I would rather pirate music then have to suffer through what Virgin thinks is good music and pay them for it. Also they charge ridiculous prices for Blu-Ray.
Good riddance honestly. Their prices were so high it was cheaper to ship CDs, Books, and DVDs over – if you ever actually found something you wanted.
Now it’s all digital and cheaper than ever – Instead of 5 for a CD, it’s about 3.5 off of iTunes, better selection, it’s still legal, and I don’t waste shitloads of fuel shipping tiny plastic discs around the world. Same applies to movies, same applies to books. Stop cutting down trees and wasting oil on things I can get wirelessly.
It’s not about piracy killing them it’s about stupid business practices killing them
I loved the store when it first opened until it was time to pay! Their prices were ridiculous. If a book cost $50 it was 50kd at virgin! It was cheaper to buy books and have them shipped than to buy from Virgin. Censorship was also a problem so I gave up!
Having said that I do get nostalgic when businesses fail! It is a little sad!
Actually, i found some great books cheaper than they would cost if I had them shipped here. In fact, I bought at least 10 books from there. Going to miss their business books collection.
I agree with you towards the end yes but not when they first opened. By the time they got their reasonable prices, the store got much smaller and damage was done. People viewed virgin as a rip off and a lot didn’t come back.
Now where else are we supposed to get random yet cool stuff from? 🙁
The Virgin Store in the Dubai Mall it is amazing! Part of Virgin’s business is concert tickets which are banned in Kuwait, then the censorship in Kuwait is ridiculous, then the videos which they claim are ‘real’ are still bootleg – I’m really surprised a store like this survived this long in a country like Kuwait.#$@@
Retail is getting hammered with the exception of a few brands. The size of the market has reached epic proportions, its bound to fail just like any pre 2008 excesses. The internet is also creating a huge aftershock to brick and mortar businesses.
In Kuwait? No, 2011 retail was up across most companies. The internet affects anyone selling music, books and DVDs but for clothes and food it’s a boon not a burden, they use it to reach more customers
Mark will they have a bazaar?
Thats sad, i like virgin when it comes to some of their tshirts and small fun toys.
they were just way too bloody expensive. one small angry birds soft toy was nearly 5 KD. even though its a trend, 5 KD is nearly 200% it’s normal price.
What is the difference between Kuwait and Qatar? and what is the difference betwen Virgin Kuwait and Virgin Qatar??? Both are moderate Arab countries and the franchisee is the same.
In Doha it’s expanding like hell and getting its realistic market share + customers’appreciation.
In Kuwait it started a slow death after the initial shrink and after while it became indifferent…
As mark said, blame the censorship
Doha has less competition, a lot of stuff doesn’t bother to open there since they have a smaller population than Kuwait.
I don’t think it’s censorship, I remember seeing a lot of metal CDs for sale, it’s easy to blame censorship instead of blaming the fact that they were selling a bad selection at bad prices
No it’s really censorship. No Megadeth, Slayer, Avenged Sevenfold or any other metal CDs since they became smaller. They closed down the stored back in 2007 I think, due to selling books about Christianity. Kuwait should get an HMV or Blockbuster videos.
We have the internet you don’t need an HMV
They closed it down due to selling books about magic (the real kind).
I saw Avenged Sevenfold. It wasn’t censorship at all, some of the albums they sold had songs called sex.
hope there is a close out sale!!!
circling vulture!
Torrents have affected sales for sure. But the prices of everything else wasn’t competitive at all!! Everything is much more expensive than anywhere else lol. I only bought a few books from there but that’s it. I remember a schoolmate did a project which involved virgin and apparently they needed to sell 1000 CDs per day to break-even (or the equivalent of that). Anyways it’s still sad cuz it was so iconic to marina mall.
Yeah they were losing 20,000KD a month from what I heard. Shame nobody told them raising your prices doesn’t actually increase profit
Please keep us posted if they announce stock clearance!!! Virgin was expensive but they did definitely have some cool stuff… especially the items on the left as you enter.. some good kids books as well..
IS there any clearance sale ?
They closed in the UK as well. Even when they were rebranded as Zavi, stores continued to close. I agree with many comments! Virgin charged more than they should.
I used to like going the coffeeshop on the 2nd floor (back when it was huge).
Most of the things could be bought at a lesser price and there was no incentive to buy from there.
Oh well; to the dustbin of history.
who buys CD’s Anymore , every hear of itunes?
Ever hear of collections?
Ever hear of wasting space and resources to collect plastic discs
Virgin is thriving in the Gulf – there must be at least five Virgins in Dubai alone (including the new Dubai Mall location) – everything from the latest Skyrim PC game to blurays and apple pcs and accessories.
Ministry of information killed Virgin in Kuwait.
No no no stop saying this people. Kuwait Virgin has Skyrim and Blurays and Apple PCS and accessories. THEY ARE ALL CHEAPER SOMEWHERE ELSE. They overcharge for games, they overcharge for blurays, and they overcharge for PCs. They deserve to die.
Ministry of Information didn’t kill Virgin in Kuwait. Kuwait has much less media censorship than UAE and Qatar.
Virgin killed itself in Kuwait. They also closed in the UK.
Virgin in Lebanon is amazing, they got a lot of great selections and merch as well, what happened to the Virgin in Kuwait airport?
i better go buy those wow battle chests for 6 KD soon..
such a sad news , this country customer base is so strange , i hardly see any shop doing good in malls these days
That sport shop is amazing the same company have a branch at City Center Mirdef Dubai its too huge all french and international sport brands.
Memories..