The Virgin Megastore on the Champs Elysées, pictured last month. Photo: Joel Saget/AFP
French Virgin stores bust as world goes digital
Published: 04 Jan 2013 10:26 GMT+01:00 | Print version
Updated: 04 Jan 2013 10:26 GMT+01:00
Entertainment retailer Virgin, which employs 1,000 workers in France, is to declare itself insolvent, a management spokesman said on Friday.
The company, which has struggled to maintain sales of CDs and DVDs in the face of increasing digital distribution of music and films, is to hold a works council meeting with employees on Monday to announce the insolvency, the spokesman said.
Virgin, controlled by French investment firm Butler Capital Partners, operates 25 stores in France.
It has already taken steps to terminate its lease on its landmark location on the Champs Elysées boulevard in Paris, which accounts for 20 percent of its sales.
Butler bought 80 percent of Virgin in 2007 from French media company Lagardère, which had purchased Virgin France from Britain's Virgin Group in 2001.
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