Sir Richard Branson's music retail group, Virgin, is abandoning the market in Dublin city centre, with the closure of its store on Henry Street.
With CD and record sales under pressure from online music technology, Virgin's departure will give virtually a clear run on one of the city's busiest shopping streets to British-owned HMV, one of its biggest rivals.
The move comes despite the renewal of Henry Street following major investment projects by Roches Stores and Arnotts. It follows the closure in May 2002 of the landmark Virgin Megastore on Aston Quay.
Virgin's spokeswoman in London confirmed that the store will close. She was unable to say when, or identify the retailer that will replace Virgin on the street.
"They received a very good offer from another retailer on Henry Street for the store, basically one they couldn't refuse."
While other Irish-based music retailers are profitable, the most recent accounts for Virgin Retail (Ireland) Ltd indicate that Sir Richard's group has accumulated significant losses since opening its first Irish store in 1986.
The spokeswoman said Virgin remained committed to the market. "Virgin are really serious about building profile in Ireland."
The group is planning to open an 11,000 sq ft (1,022 sq m) Virgin Megastore in August at the new shopping centre in Dundrum, south Dublin. All staff in the Henry Street outlet will be offered the option of transferring to Dundrum, she said.
The new outlet will be in addition to Virgin's store in Cork and three stores in the west Dublin shopping centres at Liffey Valley, Tallaght and Blanchardstown.
The most recent accounts for the Irish operation indicate that Virgin Retail (Ireland) had an operating loss of €797,000 in the year to February 2003 on sales of €23.39 million. The operating loss was down from €1.52 million a year earlier, while sales were down from €25.85 million. The accumulated deficit in the profit and loss account on February 1st, 2003, was €6.32 million.
Recently filed accounts for HMV Ireland indicate that its pretax profit fell to €7.68 million in the year ending on April 24th, 2004, from €8.26 million a year earlier. Sales rose to €61.3 million from €60.47 million.
Pretax profits at Irish-owned Golden Discs rose to €858,085 in the year ended March 31st, 2004, from €819,262. Sales rose to €38.56 million from €37.4 million, its most recent accounts show.
