Yesterday, Richard Branson sold all his Virgin Megastores in Britain and Ireland, shedding the brand which launched his Virgin empire.
Virgin Megastores have been facing hard times, with challenges from supermarket and online sales. Branson sold the Megastores for an undisclosed sum to a management buy-out team.
The Megastores will be rebranded as Zavvi. Branson, who opened his first record store at 16, said it was a sad day to see them go. But also commented:
"I'm selling them to the people who ran the stores so I'm certain they'll be in good hands."
Going on to say:
"There's no question that with online sales and cheap supermarket prices that music retailing has become a different business than it was 30 years ago when I started."
