RETAIL : Virgin Group to Celebrate Opening of 2nd U.S. Megastore in Costa Mesa

Virgin Retail Group’s second U.S. Virgin Megastore--at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa--plans a grand opening celebration on Nov. 26 with a “Rockin’ California Holiday Beach Party.” The grand opening follows the “official opening,” which will be Saturday.

Virgin’s first Megastore opened in London in 1970. The first U.S. Virgin Megastore did not open until last year in Los Angeles.

The Triangle Square location is the first joint effort to involve the Virgin Retail Group and Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. Virgin and Blockbuster hope to open as many as 50 of the retail stores in the United States during the next five years.

The Megastore’s developers promise “unparalleled entertainment features,” including more than 150,000 music titles, laser discs, assorted video products, computer game software, clothing, 100 “music posts” where customers can sample favorite cuts, an in-store disc jockey and a Virgin Atlantic Airways ticket counter.

As if that’s not enough, a “full virtual reality entertainment center” will open in 1994.