San Francisco Blog

Pargon

Will the last Virgin please turn out the neon lights?

The days when you could feed your family hawking 45 rpm singles for 69 cents a pop are gone -- and, accordingly, so is another major San Francisco retailer. The Virgin companies seem to make everything from soda to syrupy pop music to SFO-to-LAX flights -- but they can't make money selling music. Officials announced yesterday that they will shutter the massive San Francisco Virgin Megastore on Market and Stockton by late April, leaving a major cavity in Downtown's retail smile -- a smile that is looking more and more like Leon Spinks'. The store will also close up shop in New York City.

The recession may be the cannon-shot that did away with an already troubled store and industry. It's no secret that CD sales have plummeted as consumers -- particularly younger consumers -- obtain music over the Internet without ever having to leave the comforts of home. Antiquated forms of news and entertainment -- local movie theaters, record stores, newspapers -- are going the way of lamplighters and steam trains.

Perhaps, however, the last laugh will be on the iPod-wearing downloaders with their ubiquitous white headphones. Those 69-cent 45 rpm singles never induced anyone to wander headlong into traffic.

Photo   |   Pargon