Virgin closing down?
I just heard that Virgin in Marina Mall is closing down and that Bershka will open in its place.
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Jul 10, 2007
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64 Comments, add your own...
1. zalooom | July 10th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I was in Marina 2 hours ago .. They closed %80 from Virgin , I saw Bershka banner on it , and I think they are keeping the rest %20 for Virgin
2. zaydoun | July 10th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
That’s gonna be one big-ass Bershka!
What a shame
3. w | July 10th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
seems that whoever’s been trying to close virgin down is intent on doing so no matter what!
what’s bershka?
4. Q80 BOY | July 10th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!
this is the only huge virgin in kuwait
theres another one in the airport that sells nothing.
They must open one in the avenues.
BTW
bershka is shop that sells boring clothes
5. Marzouq | July 10th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
That is really sad, MOC and MOI destroyed a business which could only help expand things.
6. Muh'd M. Mansour | July 10th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
whats goinin on????
Why???
7. Q8-Student | July 10th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
WTF ?!!!! are you serious ? if they close it i wont go to marina ever again :/
8. K.TheKuwaiti | July 10th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
See what you did mark .. its because of your post.
9. Holla | July 10th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
good fucking riddance.
10. salah | July 10th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
the sales are bad at virgin comparing to its big size, beside, who wants to buy a 10 kd dvd full of censorship when you can get it full and uncut for 1.5 kd around the corner..
11. Zorbon | July 10th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Good riddance of what Holla? You think businesses closing down becauser of stupid censoring laws is good?
12. Moey | July 10th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
virgin closing down is a huge backstep
13. No one | July 10th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
At last …
15. Teary Eyed Q8y | July 10th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY
WHY WHY WHY WHY
WHY y3ni WHY
WHY Y3ni Cause cham melte7ee yabi yafreth his wesaya 3la il ppl leaving in Kuwait!!!! WHY WHY WHY
We cant order our books and dvds from amazon anymore
We cant go to virgin and get a decent book or dvd
We cant do anything but go to jarir book store bs… thats your source of knowledge
shino hathaa!!!! Why dont people have choices? Why do i have to go all the way in the hell of 7awali to get a book while i hadv virgin!!! why just WHY give me one little good reason i could embrace and say “yeah ok virgin doesnt fit here” WHY WHY WHY
im having a mini nervous brake down!
16. Teary Eyed Q8y | July 10th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Walla b3d lo fat7een mokanah ma7al mal awadem!!!! bo kesha store hatha shino b3d!!!! why not villa moda mathalan? or Aizone? or something that is worth it … a chain of cafes … barnes and nobles!!! something nice o young o funky!!!! mo bu kesha!!!! AHhhhh ya virgin 7safa 3leek … ahhhh ya virgin kint il mokan il wa7eed ilee ashem feek re7at old q8y mentality now adays… ahhhh ya virgin le3baw feek le3eb ma sakeenoot … ahhh ya galbeee …
17. Holla | July 10th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Zorbon if u think virgin closed down solely bc of censorship than you are very naive. U think the ppl that own virgin don’t have enough wasta to circumvent censorship? you think alcohol in kuwait is illegal JUST bc it’s haram and not bc certain ppl want to keep it that way to profit from selling it through the black market?
A shop like virgin would just not work in kuwait bc of the prevalence of piracy, which virgin also illegally engaged in to keep up. that’s not counting their ridiculous pricing on almost everything they sold.
Like was mentioned before, who the hell is going to buy a stripped down version of a movie for 10KD when they can just buy a shitty but 10x cheaper copy for 1KD?
Virgin was simply a bad investment and now it’s closing. I say god riddance bc it was run very poorly in kuwait and ended up just another stupid marina mall ‘hangout’ for the local mallrats.
i wouldn’t be suprised to learn that Branson prob visited the branch and was horrified and closed the festering cesspit himself.
18. salah | July 10th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
try anger manegment classes holla it will do good for you, “local mallrats” ???
so every one who goes to a mall is a rat thats 90% of kuwait including some of ur family?
19. Holla | July 10th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Try english classes before you open your trap Salah.
Not everybody that goes to a mall is a mallrat. It’s a slang term to describe losers like you and your family (and yeah 90% of Kuwait apparently) that hang out in malls 24/7.
Are you posting from Starbucks Souq Sharq by any chance? LMAO
20. Teary Eyed Q8y | July 10th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
next target… showtime and orbit… showtime is already getting cries for censorship from some people around here… and you will see..
No virgin, no amazon with shop and ship(a man i know signed a paper in moi promising not to buy an offending dvd he bought on amazon again… guess what the dvd was? STAR WARS!!!!)
I for one had a dvd stopped by moi and the seal broken and the dvd watched for 3 weeks… guess which dvd it was? Halloween 3!!!!! the one where childrens halloween masks would react to a song on tv and kill all people on halloween night!!!! yeah by the way … when you sign with aramex shop and ship, amongst the forbidden movies they ask you not to buy, are horror movies… Ay wallah horror movies!!! why?! im not sure really …
21. Equalizer | July 10th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
Virgin shut down among many things is simply because of this, its crappy !!
no one can blame it on censorship, it just cant keep up with a world where piracy rules and downloading (although turtle speed) is widespread. Even the music selection sucked ! It is way too big for the market. How big is this Bershka? Would have been a perfect spot for Urban Outfitters.
22. Zorbon | July 10th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I’m sorry Holla, but you are the naive person. You think the Alcohol issue is because a couple of ppl are benfiting from the profits? The “person” you are refering to has an annual “allowance” of 50M KD. You think he needs this black market 2nd job?
23. Nonaw | July 10th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
its only a gaz place.. they sell.. NOTHING.. crapy CDs and crappier DVDs .. BUT.. i said THE BUTT .. they cant do that.. some people are addicts to virgin.. im not even half joking..
24. Maze | July 11th, 2007 at 12:05 am
it was expected…so sad!
25. Stafa | July 11th, 2007 at 1:10 am
now that I remember, I have a 20kd voucher, I guess I should use it before it’s too late :/
26. Aziz | July 11th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Teary Eyed Q8y, because its derat ba6y5. if you don’t want to be munafiq, steal, or suck up… you don’t belong here.
27. fractal00 | July 11th, 2007 at 8:08 am
Why is everyone sad … Everyone used to diss Virgin and make fun of it… we wont be losing anything. As for books you always have the bookshop in the basement of Muthana Complex it has a bigger and far better collection than virgin, and i don’t think anyone was paying money to get boring censored movies from Virgin so either download them or order them from amazon (someone said you can’t order from amazon anymore why?) and as for audio well limewire and kazaa anyone.
28. Feras | July 11th, 2007 at 8:15 am
Waaaaaaaaah Waaaaaaaaaaah Waaaaaaaaaaaah… quit whining about virgin.. the place sucked.. the selection sucked, the prices sucked. Other than the Virgin signs you would never guess that was the place.. and for all those that think that by Virgin shutting down is a backstep to the country’s future.. puuleeeeeeeeeeeez.. it’s only a store, and stores do not define countries thank you very much..
and I feel sad for all the ppl that have no where else to go now that Virgin is shutting down.. and how Marina is gonna suck so bad for them.. sheesh..
I’m with Holla on this one..
29. ran | July 11th, 2007 at 8:59 am
i have been to virgin off & on. it used to be a nice place to spend some time. i might have bought a total of 5-6 CDs & 2-3 DVDs from there over the last 4-5 years. so as a source for my music & movies i will not miss it.
however i will miss it as a place where i could browse & spend some time. & i hope that this is not an indicator of things to come.
30. zahed | July 11th, 2007 at 9:18 am
are they gone open a shawerma place instead ASK BASEL
31. April | July 11th, 2007 at 9:19 am
hehehe this is kuwait hehehe Teary Eyed Q8y guess what when u orderd halloween they stopped it but when i orderd “The “L” world ” heheheh they didn`t noticed what is it heheheheh
32. holla | July 11th, 2007 at 9:19 am
zorbon first of all i am not referring to that particular person and 2nd, just the other month a member of that family got sentenced to DEATH bc of DEALING DRUGS. so what was his excuse huh? no money?
seriously zorbon what r u? 5 years old and new to kuwait or something to not know the insides of the country? corruption is a huge issue here. virgin closed down bc of financial reasons, full stop.
33. Adam | July 11th, 2007 at 9:24 am
22. Zorbon | July 10th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I’m sorry Holla, but you are the naive person. You think the Alcohol issue is because a couple of ppl are benfiting from the profits? The “person” you are refering to has an annual “allowance” of 50M KD. You think he needs this black market 2nd job?
Funny how you jumped to assume people, first off its 80m.. but a job dealing in trade of such would reel in quite a couple million. I do however agree with holla, because like he said, and like i see… virgin was going down forever… first its cafe sold that out to nissan, then the sony section was sold out, then wataniya…
stop being foolish and ignorant im not in kuwait and i can see it aint fucking do well… it doesnt take a genius to figure it out.
salah, ur an idiot. You wouldnt know a normal discussion if it creeped ur ass like ahmad ur cousin the last time he slept over
34. Anonymous Coward | July 11th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Virgin Megastore’s main line of business is selling DVDs, Music & Videos. Due to the ministry’s censorship, and pressure from Islamists, virgin was deprived from one of its main sources of income, which is DVD movies. Recently, the DVD lineup of the store was pathetic, consisting of “Islamically” approved DVDs, which were mostly children movies and documentaries.
DVDs in Virgin Kuwait, in better times, were priced similarly to Virgin stores in Dubai and other media stores in the Gulf. However, with the recent crackdowns, Virgin was not able to make money nor compete, and that is why Virgin Kuwait became an electronics/cars/toys store instead of its normal line of business.
People must know the real reasons behind the store’s failure instead of complaining about its expensive/poor products and lineup. A store must pay rent and salaries for its employees, and it must make a profit somehow.
On the issue of piracy… yes, piracy is rampant in Kuwait, and Kuwaitis flock to pirated movie stores in Hawalli and elsewhere. But at some point, the government will have to crack down on that as well, not because the government wants to go legitimate, but more likely due to Islamists pressure. (Something that is already happening). Aramex, showtime, bittorrent will follow eventually.
So, when all that will get shut down, where will you get your movies from?
If cannot afford to pay for an original DVD, can you afford to lose your freedom to watch a DVD?
35. steve_leb | July 11th, 2007 at 10:21 am
why everyone is aggressive todays..
cant we just live in peace love and harmony..
seriously guys.. take it a bit easy..
36. Ozy | July 11th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Lol…damn that sucks…but whatever.
37. nxman | July 11th, 2007 at 11:05 am
A friend told me about this long time ago he said rent is To high and sales volume were declining.
38. yellow camel | July 11th, 2007 at 11:15 am
whats the fuzz about? did you guys ever think that Virgin in Marina will shut down BUT MAYBE they will transfer to another location? all you cry babies ever do is grumble peevishly!!
39. Ansam | July 11th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Check out Grey Blog
http://greyfort1.blogspot.com/2007/07/virgin-update.html
40. holla | July 11th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
to all the crybabies complaining about virgin being shut down by mulla’s and govt conspiracy please check out the very much open branch in the airport.
they still sell their overpriced CD’s and DVD’s there in case you miss buying your ‘freedom’
41. Anonymous Coward | July 11th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
If somebody thinks that the shutting down of virgin is not a mullah conspiracy, think again.
I am posting a link from an Kuwaiti forum has a long discussion about how one member of “Thawabet AlOmmah” campaigned for the closure of Virgin.
What he and people like him do is purchase “suspected” DVDs from the store, watch them, and record any “violations” that the movie contains, which include nudity, kissing, or any other thing deemed against our “traditions & values”, then report them to the ministry or Islamic MPs in order to do the necessary.
The technique succeeded, and the person in question posted snapshots of a movie he purchased in virgin with the bill. The movie in was “Cruel Intentions”. I have never watched the movie, and I don’t know what the individual found inappropriate.
Snapshot here:
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4650/3122005qh0.jpg
For the full discussion on the national kuwait forum, visit this link:
http://www.nationalkuwait.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9204
The same group is also currently campaigning for the shutdown of the pirated DVD trade, and for the closure of Showtime and other satellite network offices in Kuwait.
This is not about Virgin in particular, or their overpriced products, but about the new ways in which Islamists are propagating their agenda. Shutting down Virgin was a show of force, and it will happen again, on larger scales.
So, think again before poking fun at such things, this is a serious matter that concerns us all.
42. Biohazard | July 11th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
The progress of a country culturally and economically lies on Virgin Megastore?
43. Q8expat | July 11th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
You run biz for a profit… no revenue…. you got to close…. and life goes on in Kuwait…
44. sfsa78@hotmail.com | July 11th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Soon there will be no difference between kuwait and saudi arabia.. the islamofreaks will start roaming around our malls with sticks shouting at people if they consider them as unislamic. We in the arab islamic world have the modern version of the spanish inquisition. I’llrepost what i posted in an earlier post:
“These islamic imbisiles are being given too much face.
This is their attempt to cover the eyes of the public, controlling what everyone is exposed to, in order to fool everyone with their properganda and ideologies.
For them, the more ignorant the public is, the more easier it is for them to control. IGNORANCE IS THEIR WEAPON.(IN THE FORM OF CENSORSHIP).”
45. sfsa78@hotmail.com | July 11th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
This is the kinda crap im talking about:
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is blocking one of the Arab world’’s most popular online news outlets because of pressure from religious conservatives who are “fighting the future,” the site’’s Saudi editor said this week.
http://dailystar.alwatan.com.kw/Default.aspx?MgDid=522555&pageId=282
46. Mek | July 11th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Aww man, this sucks. They had a really great book section. I honestly don’t know of any better commercial classical book collection in Kuwait. :(
Help, anyone? Where do we go now?
47. naser m | July 11th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
i think bershka is owned by Group 7, the same owner of the virgin mega store, and zara, and pull and bear, and …..
well they might think there is another source of better revenue that could b made
48. Sara | July 11th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
What?! Why? :s
What’s Bershka anyways?
49. Salo | July 11th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
it’s about time , good for online shops like amazon and people who hate censorship ,there were no point of opening it up in the first place if the dvds were censored , stupid!
50. gizmoshow | July 11th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I think I can explain what’s happening. Virgin company Alda is owned by by 51% Kuwaitis and 49% Lebanese. The new law of 2006 says that any company selling books, medias etc.. should be 100% Kuwaiti owned. They just could not renew their license. And this applies to advertising agencies too. They will lose their licenses if they don’t sell their shares to Kuwaitis. This is all because Kuwait intends to “compete” with the GCC countries by returning to the stone age.
51. Adam | July 12th, 2007 at 1:39 am
oh ffs, u and returning to the stoneage, grow some nuts will u ?
52. Abdulaziz | July 12th, 2007 at 9:24 am
The importance of virign closing is that it didnt close out of poor sales and sad little profits… it a trimph for those mota2aslemeen who want every thing to return to their own rules! thats what people are cryin about.. and thats why its a step backwards, its not as much as the store but whats inside the store… people get a little perspective and if your head is in the sand… wake up and see the glare of terrorism!! yes forcing a store to close down just because its materials are not sooo appropriate in your eyes and not giving people freedom to choose for their own is one kind of terrorism… intellectual terrorism!
And no you cant buy from amazon anymore… cause you will be hassled and stopped by moi and have to pay extra money for that dvd and sign papers until you say “God i better wiat for the movie to show on Showtime” but then again… shotime is being persued!!! So when it eventually close down and some people say “so what its a cable channel why do you complain?!” … orbit will be gone too and you will say “Ok i will wait for it to show in MBC Channel 2″ but think agian! Thats the ultimate target… no more mbc’s since they show BAAAD MOVIEESSS no more sattelitee… no more websites… im not even suprised if your blogs are closed down since it gives you freedom to talk and express what you want… a red line in the dictionary of mota2aslemeen…. There you go…
53. Q80Warlock | July 12th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Come on guys have some sense of reality, the owners of Virgin Megastores didn’t give a f@#k about the MOI the early years, they had everything passed including blacklisted books, CDs and DVDs.
I have people in customs and they swear anything for Virgin just passes by the door untouched !
Virgin was just a failure and the owners just needed an excuse to slowly close it down without losing face, why were they renting space if they were actually making money out of the DVDs,CDs, Books and other stuff.
People here don’t buy DVD’s that cost more than 2KD’s, people here don’t read books that cost 20KD but actually have a $10 price tag on them !. Virgin was overpriced in everything that’s why they failed miserably.
Also for Virgin fanboys, you guys gonna miss walking by from one exit to the other without buying anything ! now that’s another reason why it’s closing down, if you loved Virgin so much why didn’t you buy all those DVD boxset and all those albums and books…you were just passing by watching and saying “Oh DVD’s I love this place…10KD ! pass” ^_^
54. Abdulaziz | July 12th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
q80warlocks, virgins owner ship has changed last year… just FYI
55. A E R O | July 12th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Virgin is the store we love to hate but as all of you pointed out, the issue is a lot wider… and yes, Kuwait is going backwards. IF someone doesnt think so, please point out ANY progressiveness achieved. If conservative Kuwaitis want to keep it for themselves and run it to the ground (or better yet, annex it to Saudi), fair enough! Sad sad for a country “blessed” with limited natural resources.
56. mady | July 12th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
god help us all !!!!
57. sfsa78@hotmail.com | July 13th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
It’s unfortunate that most of the voting public here in kuwait waste their votes on these extremist MP’s who are out to limit our liabilities and freedoms, and spread their twisted idiologies and inforcing them upon the whole of the country. Imagine if these people where allowed to get stronger? Imagine the consequences of that happening..its not hard to imagine Kuwait being pushed into the dark ages by wy of a religious state which has no place for individual liberties.
Why are people putting up with their shit? Why aren’t their more people out there explaining to the voting puplic how dangerous this path is? Making the voting public more aware of the ramifications.
58. Q80Warlock | July 13th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Like you guys don’t know who’s supporting these MP’s with money and support to win elections. A religious state means CONTROL to some peoople !
59. Topagi | July 13th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
“traditions & values”, Bullshit, this country is getting worse day by day and thats all because they are trying day by day to get the religious more into the government, all country who are like that are getting down in the world, give me one country who religious in the Govermeant and its not by far one of the worst in world in everything.
I never cared about virgin, i get my from elsewhere as i think most of you, and i Completely agree To what Holla said, they didnt like it the closed it, not because “traditions & values”, but just because they felt too, thats all.
and im afried someday they will forbid shaving because as usual “traditions & values” is always in the way.
Note: im not saying “traditions & values” is not good but everyone has his/her “traditions & values” now, u cant just change everyone because its offeing to some, and btw censering movie, and closing showtime because of sexual senses, DONT WATCH IT IF YOU DONT LIKE IT, its simple as that. and dont tell me kids and girl and teh bullshit,. everyone know what he/she doing and everyone has parents who can tell them whats right and wrong.
wow long speach and was too late post lol, sorry if i offended anyone just saying what i think, and dont flame me.
60. Nancy | July 13th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Is bershka some Taliban set up…….selling up market abaya?
61. Nancy | July 14th, 2007 at 11:14 am
The books and magazines are too expensive anyway, the DVDs we can get for a dinar elsewhere ( and who cares if the piracy laws are broken ? Its only the fat cats in the US who get rich anyway), to have photos developed is also too expensive and you can download everything you need on limewire…..so I guess this Bershka sounds like a better use of space to me!
62. Zeyad | July 19th, 2007 at 2:25 am
This is sad. When Virgin first opened up I was pretty happy with it. The movies were uncensored, there was a better selection of music and the books were great. Although slowly the books I liked started disappearing and the movie section got raped into submission and the music section turned into… well… garbage.
Personally I see this as a shame, granted yes the pricing was horrendous at times and the variety disappeared sometime in early 2006 but I still had hope for the store.
For the record, I dislike bershka and their clothes. I would have preferred American Eagle or something along those lines.
Oh well, as long as I can get my movies pirated I will be fine. Once that goes down the drain then I am just going to have to head to Dubai every few months to pick up the things that I want.
63. Mauled by malls | July 22nd, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Maybe all Virgin is looking for is a change of scene read exiting Kuwait permanently. Who knows Virgin Megastores may have wanted to make way for Borders or somesuch. :)
We are not in the least bit surprised by such a move to clamp down on Virgin. It is the Q8y way after all - flash back to the ban on the Arab Times Bingo contest, ban on male coiffeurs at women’s hair dressers and various other mumbo jumbo that keeps happening all the time.
64. stingrn-q8 | October 14th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Whats the point in having virgin in marina right now ??
I mean when they first opened they had lotttttttttttttts of really great dvd i wanted to own ! i mean look at the virgin in dubai, thats amazing and lebanon OMG! its even better! Im mean come on ever lebanon has a better than the crappy one we’v got here?? I really dont care about this problem ! I just wish that anyone can open a dvd store with really great classics and the new ones too……..which unforcunatly have to be original and not copys ! But I know for sure that won’t happen in kuwait !
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