Chicagoist: Who Says the Virgin Never Dies?

geekgrrl

Mon, 21 May 2007 11:47:58 -0600

all right, what local place has the nerd selection of compusa? and don't give me that fry's bullshit, i'm talking about in the city. all i can think of is microcenter. and since i can't get to microcenter very easily, i'll be turning to the internet now. wouldn't shopping in chicago, even though it's a chain, be a better choice?

amyc

Mon, 21 May 2007 10:10:09 -0600

Virgin, Tower, CompUSA -- whoop-de-shit, another chain store closes. These places mean nothing to Chicago. Shop local first.

amyc

Mon, 21 May 2007 10:07:45 -0600

Virgin, Tower, CompUSA -- whoop-de-shit, another chain store closes. These places mean nothing to Chicago. Shop local first.

Rob

Mon, 21 May 2007 01:21:01 -0600

I still buy CD's and DVD's and can download illegally if I choose to, but I'd rather have the real deal as I don't feel like I can appreciate it otherwise. But I rarely buy either one at Virgin The answer? They were way too over-priced. It's a great store but their CD's and ESPECIALLY their DVD's are 200%+ what you can find them for online or even at Target. Also, there's really nothing new and exiting for me that a general American record store can carry nowadays. In terms of imports and world music (which I buy tons of) I had to go order online from the get-go so the closing of this store will really not affect me as they didn't fulfill my needs in that department. Tower Records was great with both and was a shame they had to go. I was sure Virgin was a tourist trap and would continue but obviously they can't. What will happen to the FYE on Randolph now??? Is there no hope?

Andy

Sun, 20 May 2007 19:45:38 -0600

Some people DO kill for 72 virgins though!

james

Sun, 20 May 2007 19:40:19 -0600

sorry, The Real Tankboy. let me amend my comment to reflect that 1) I still like Tankboy and 2) #15 is an idiot. I'm half-loopy from popping allergy pills for the better part of the day and didn't notice the 'not.' Hope it doesn't affect my membership in the Chicagoist writers' fan club.

tankboy

Sun, 20 May 2007 18:38:53 -0600

Um, yeah, #14 is me, #15 is an impostor and I've adjusted his nom de plume to reflect that. I still buy CDs, for the record. Just picked up Gtaham Coxon's newest album yesterday even though I've had it digitally from when it was sent to me to review last year.

geekgrrl

Sun, 20 May 2007 18:09:42 -0600

comment #14 is tankboy; #15 is not.

james

Sun, 20 May 2007 17:45:11 -0600

tankboy wrote: "Only idiots buy CD's [sic]." Brilliant. Always a wise move to insult some of your readers.

not-tankboy

Sun, 20 May 2007 16:52:00 -0600

Only idiots buy CD's. There is this new technology called the "Internet", and you can listen to all the music you want for free.

tankboy

Sun, 20 May 2007 14:41:09 -0600

I think the last thing I bought there I couldn't get anywhere else was the Blur singles box set that came out ... and that was years ago. The one thing Virgin was always good for was import singles, but now you donload those from any number of online stores for $0.99 a track so it seems pretty silly to pay ten bucks for three songs one one CD.

Steve

Sun, 20 May 2007 13:41:16 -0600

Virgin had so much shit I really wanted to buy. Imports, weird singles, all my weird brit bands who's albums don't even get released in the U.S, weird progressive rock stuff. Amazing. ...And at their prices, I couldn't afford a fucking thing. Most of it is the RIAA's fault and their whole price-fixing scam, but still.

There, There

Sun, 20 May 2007 12:36:07 -0600

Virgin was great. A great place to kill time. Listen to some awesome music, discover new movies. They had a great international/foreign section as well as anime section. Also they managed to pull in big names for free in-store performances. More often than not off of their label. But it was still awesome to see a free show in there. Guess I'll have to clean up like i did with Comp USA, and get some early X-mas shopping done. But it really sucks that its leaving, I've been to the new Reckless and its NOTHING to brag about.

Chicago 2016

Sun, 20 May 2007 08:36:20 -0600

While Virgin was good, I'll miss Tower even more.

Chicago 2016

Sun, 20 May 2007 08:35:31 -0600

At least it's not a SuperMega Starbucks...

empt

Sun, 20 May 2007 04:05:21 -0600

Between this and CompUSA, how am I supposed to get my after work, impulse buy video game fix?

james

Sat, 19 May 2007 20:59:17 -0600

Out of all the places to have closed or changed hands recently, this is about the worst one for me, since i actually shopped there, in addition to buying songs online. Virgin had a great import section and i think because of their international presence, you could often find a deal on some of the import CDs, like virgin's own compilations. I also think they had a great selection of dance and electronica, and i don't know how i'll keep up with those genres because i'm not quite hip enough to spend time in the CD/record stores that deal exclusively in dance/electronica. I also liked their book, dvd and clothing sections. Virgin was just a fun place to spend a bunch of time, especially if you work near Michigan Ave. You could just listen to a bunch of stuff, look for deals, and if something you wanted was too expensive, well, then you go home and shop for it on itunes. I would have thought/hoped that the tourists and downtown workers would have kept that store alive. And what's it being replaced by? Another clothes store with a narrow demographic? Just what we need. Yep, one less reason for me to venture down michigan ave. way.

Abhay

Sat, 19 May 2007 20:45:53 -0600

Typical ... blame the pirates on bad business decisions. Music purchases were up over 19% from 2005, but not all of it was in physical form. This is no different than blaming oil prices on GM car sales -- hey, Toyota is selling more cars than ever -- and it sure as fuck isn't blaming the price of oil. Maybe if Virgin didn't charge two arms and a leg for a CD, I might shop there. If it is a rare CD, I will search a used CD store first and then eBay. If I can't find it at the used CD store, then I'll definately find it on eBay.

You're welcome!

Sat, 19 May 2007 19:42:32 -0600

What should happen to the people who download music legally? Wouldn't their shift in purchasing procedures also have led to the downfall in the store?

matty

Sat, 19 May 2007 19:12:50 -0600

never been there and now i never will. 26 bucks for a cd! thanks virgin!

geekgrrl

Sat, 19 May 2007 17:37:58 -0600

mmart: earbuds with inline volume control. i picked up some sonys, MDR-E829V. i can't find the things anywhere else.

Thanks!

Sat, 19 May 2007 17:27:46 -0600

Well, there goes my only reason for visiting Michigan Ave. People who download music illegally deserve the tremendous fines they get.

mmart

Sat, 19 May 2007 17:24:56 -0600

What kind of headphones?

Double A

Sat, 19 May 2007 16:26:14 -0600

I'm gonna miss Virgin as they had a great World Music section and carried a somewhat slightly obscure selection in all genres as well. But now I can't wait for the storewide clearances!!! I cleaned up at all the Tower stores when they went out of business ;)