Sometime last year Virgin sold it’s retail music business and was renamed Zavvi. The first I knew of it was when the Cork store had this strange forgettable green brand name plastered over the door. I could never remember the name, not a good sign for a retail chain.
They didn’t last long unfortunately. The notice above is displayed in their front window. The company appointed a liquidator on December 30th. If you go in there now they have some great sales. 30% off games, lots of DVDs and CDs slashed in price. Long queues at the cash registers though and I wouldn’t count on getting a refund quickly if they’re liquidating stock.
They should have stuck with the old name maybe that would have saved em. what kind of a name is zavvi? it sounds like the name of a ‘here one day, gone the next’ Web 2.0 start-up that offers ‘solutions’ nobody wants. but these made up, slightly african sounding two syllable names have really caught on in the last few years. jahjah, joomla, zimbra, imeem, etc.
“I wouldn’t count on getting a refund quickly if they’re liquidating stock”
or ever – the sign says they won’t give any refunds at all, which I think is against statutory rights…
Actually, they were renamed after a management buyout, with Richard Branson once again selling out just months before it became clear to everyone that buying trends had changed – he pulled the same stunt when he sold the Virgin record label, getting out by the skin of his teeth before it became clear that the music industry was going to be irrevocably changed by this strange Internet thingy.
The megastore managers probably felt they were going up in the world and paid a fancy agency to come up with the rebranding. They somehow ended up with a forgettable name for which they, a retailer, didn’t even own the .COM – this was in late 2007, by which time you’d have thought the Internet would be on their radar.
They’re now being pushed out of business as a knock-on effect of the Woolworths debacle.
If I sound bitter, it’s because Virgin bought and ruined both my excellent gym and my excellent cable broadband provider here in Edinburgh.
Virgin Gym? Yeah. I bet _THAT_ is pretty successful, too 🙂
Who needs a refund if everything is 30% off? I love fire sales.
Well, at least this means there won’t be a competing video game store directly across from GAME in the Blanch Centre…
Although if there are sales, I’m going in to greatly expand my game library! 😀
It’s only the internet website and warehouse that has gone into liquidation, not the stores.
It annoys me when people don’t understand what going into administration actually means.
And as for the name..yeh it’s chavvy Zavvi, but when a cheap re-branding is done, what do you expect?!
Hannah – where will they get products to sell if the warehouses are gone?
The warehouse linked with their online website which was owned by EUK which yes did go into liquidation. But obviously the stores are not getting anything in from any UK suppliers because of their administration status, they are just selling what is in store.
More importantly, if the Cork Zavvi disappears where will the nice girl with the labret piercings end up 🙂
I second the piercings comment!
and if they close the one in Liffey Vallley where will the nice boy go, and what will go there in its place. i suspose HMV will go in there, and if they do they should keep the staff thats there already.
ah we shall miss the friendly rivalry between the two.
i can now answer my own question, i was in there on Sunday 25 January. it does seem that yes they are indeed getting ready to close that store as well, they are having a clear out of the stock thats left, and the rest of the shelves are empty.
maybe HMV will go in there.
Its a shame, its the biggest music shop we have in Sligo, its still open here at the moment…but no idea how long for.
Hurrah,HMV opening in Sligo on November 7th in the old Zavvi unit!
whats there now?
In Johnstons Court!
Looking forward to the HMV in Sligo 🙂