LOS ANGELES, CA -- 04/07/08 --
Against the backdrop of a challenging U.S.
marketplace Virgin Megastores achieved one of the most successful years the
U.S. chain of stores have ever had.
"Virgin Megastores are being recognized as a lifestyle entertainment
shopping destination, rather than solely a music retailer," explains Simon
Wright, CEO, Virgin Entertainment Group, North America. "This is our second
consecutive year that has produced sales that have exceeded our
expectations. We attribute this success to a shift in our product
offering, an increase in our marketing strategy and a new focus on
e-commerce."
2007 has been a busy year for the North American chain of Virgin
Megastores. The entire fiscal year of 2007 was a strong sales year for the
Virgin Megastore chain, up 11.5% nationally since last year on a same store
basis, and up more than 10% in the New York City market alone.
The chain's five largest stores have had double-digit growth over last
year, with the Orlando Virgin Megastore up 24% and the west coast flagship
in Hollywood up 21%. The Virgin Megastores are also making themselves more
available online. The company has launched a new retail website
(www.VirginMega.com), a Social Media Online Newsroom
(www.VirginMegaMashup.com), a customer feedback online Bulletin Board
(www.VirginMegaMashup.com/board) and a popular Blog that discusses the
entertainment and fashion industry and dishes about upcoming artist events.
"We know that a large portion of our core customers spend a significant
amount of time online. In order to reach out to them we created relevant
sites full of product and information dedicated to what they need," states
Dee Mc Laughlin, Vice President of Marketing, Virgin Entertainment Group,
North America. "We re-launched our e-Commerce site, www.VirginMega.com,
where we offer a much deeper catalog of music, fashion items, games, DVDs
and electronics than ever before. We also launched a first-of-its-kind
Social Media Mashup site, www.VirginMegaMashup.com, which brings relevant
events, entertainment and a customer feedback forum to both press and to
our customers. Having a strong online presence is part of our marketing
strategy."
Mc Laughlin and her team were given the task to not only improve online
traffic for the brand, but also increase customer traffic at the
brick-and-mortar locations.
"For the first time in five years our store traffic is up over plan. We
attribute this increase to hard work done by Virgin's marketing department
and to our diversified product offering," explains Wright.
The brand's diversification strategy, which provides many different
entertainment products to the consumer, is a contributing factor to the
on-going success of the British-born entertainment retail store. These
areas have seen significant sales increases in the fiscal 2007 year
including: DVD sales up 13.9%, Fashion sales up 35.5%, Video Game sales up
93.9%, and Books up 19%.
"There's simply more to do in our stores these days. It's a fun place to
shop -- whether you are a gamer, a pop culture junkie, fashion maven or
music fan," states Mc Laughlin.
ABOUT VIRGIN ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
Virgin Entertainment Group is the world's leading multi-channel music and
entertainment retailer, providing customers with a range of superior
entertainment experiences through a family of integrated Virgin-branded
businesses. The "category killer" Virgin Megastores and Virgin Megastore
Online at www.virginmega.com are integral parts of a strategy to provide
entertainment customers with what they want, how they want it, and when
they want it. For more information, or to check out the location of the
nearest Virgin retail, go to www.virginmega.com or
www.virginmegamashup.com.
*To set up an interview with a Virgin Entertainment Group executive, please
contact Krysty Ronchetti:
SJ Communications
Krysty O'Quinn Ronchetti
818-881-3889
Email Contact
www.sjcommunications.com
