Virgin Megastore peaked at 23 US stores — its landlords shut the chain

Virgin Megastore brought Richard Branson's record-label brand to American retail, and by 2002 it had grown to 23 US stores selling CDs, DVDs and electronics in landmark spaces like Times Square and San Francisco's Union Square, doing about $230 million a year in revenue.

Then the floor gave way. Digital downloads hollowed out physical music sales and revenue slid toward $170 million by 2009. In 2007 the US chain was sold to two real-estate firms — Vornado Realty Trust and the Related Companies — leaving the stores' fate in the hands of landlords rather than retailers.

On 4 March 2009 the owners announced all six remaining US stores would close by summer. Their calculation, reported by the Los Angeles Times, was that new tenants would pay more rent; once the Times Square flagship was given up — it became a Forever 21 — supporting the rest of the chain stopped making sense. The San Francisco store, 45,000 square feet on Market Street opened in 1995, began liquidating that March and closed in late April. The last stores were gone by June.