Virgin Opens Doors

Students and locals who missed Tower Records when the Boston fixture moved off Newbury Street this summer proved their loyalty is not absolute.

A long-awaited 40,000-square foot Virgin Megastore settled into Tower’s prime real estate this weekend, opening its doors Saturday to a large and steady influx of music and movie buyers.

Area residents stopped by in droves to check out the merchandise, including CDs, DVDs, books and a vinyl collection that ranged from the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album to De la Soul’s “3 Feet High and Rising.”

Will Raskopf, a College of Arts and Sciences and College of Communication sophomore, picked up eight DVDs on his first trip to the store.

“I was so pleased to see what they had,” he said. “The reason I bought so many was it had been hard to find these in other stores.

“If I buy 10, I get one free,” he added.

The store employs a number of flat-screen TVs showing music videos, plus long walls of listening stations and an in-store DJ, who broadcasts music over the store from behind a glass booth.

“I play basically what’s on the shelves,” said DJ Wil Monestime. “We’ve been open a day, and a lot of people have been knocking on the glass, saying, ‘What’s this playing?'”

Peter Fanger, 44, who was scoping out video tapes with a friend yesterday, said the store’s location above the Hynes Convention Center T-stop was ideal for business, although he was more impressed with Virgin’s New York location.

“This is not as crowded yet,” he said.

Area businesses felt a squeeze when Tower vacated its spot. Tower had leased the building since 1984, and many credited the store with helping build the commercial center that Newbury Street has become.

Urban Outfitters manager Thoa Tran said the new neighbor has caused business to pick up all along the street this weekend.

“We’ve been busy,” Tran said. “Ever since Tower left, we lost our night business. It was usually dead at nine. Now, we attract more people to the area.

“When Tower closed, people wouldn’t come down here just to see us,” she said. “Now, there’s two cool places open, instead of just one. There’s a destination.”

Virgin outbid Tower Records for the building’s lease in February, and Tower was forced to relocate in July to a temporary location at 1249 Boylston St.

Tran said she checked out the Megastore Friday night, when Virgin allowed area businesses a sneak peak of its products. While she said she was impressed by the store’s cleanliness and organization, she said Virgin lacks the connection to Boston that was central to its predecessor’s reign.

“I wish it was a little more Boston, because that’s what Tower was,” she said. “They had local bands; they promoted the local scene. Everything from posters, how they designed the store — it was very Boston.”

Virgin will officially kick off its opening this Friday with a celebration that will include live performances and “a few surprises,” according to the company’s website. Performers have not yet been announced.