Latest news with #VirginMegastore
Qatar Living
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Qatar Living
Events this weekend : May 22
Doha, this week is buzzing with various entertainment to suit all ages and interests! From Qatar Economic Forums to moving performances by Michael Buble, who's performing for 2 nights, to thrilling races, Qatar has it all this week. Join in for an exciting week ahead and mark your calendars for the exciting line up of evens this week! Michael Bublé live in Qatar This 2025, prepare to experience the magic of Michael Bublé live in Qatar, as he makes his long-awaited debut! The global music icon will take the stage for a two-night concert that promises an unforgettable showcase of soul-stirring ballads, smooth jazz-infused melodies and Bublé's signature charm. Mark your calendars! Date: May 23 – 24, 2025 Timings: 9.00 pm Location: Al Mayasa Hall, QNCC Access: Ticketed event QNB ONE RUN FOR ALL Join us for the 2nd edition of QNB ONE RUN FOR ALL at the F1 circuit in Lusail! ONE RUN is an annual large-scale running event, which first took place on May 21, 2017. Since then, we have expanded our geographical reach and rapidly increased our participant numbers. The half marathon has been included twice in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest half marathon with a synchronized start in the world in 2020 and 2021. Date: May 23, 2025 Timings: 7.00 pm Location: Lusail Circuit Access: Registration via QATAR SPORTS FOR ALL app. ABAYA RALLY 2025 The Abaya Rally Qatar 2025 is set to make history as Qatar's first all-women drive, taking place on May 24 at the iconic Lusail International Circuit—the nation's ultimate motorsports destination. After four successful editions in Dubai, the rally is now bringing its empowering spirit to Qatar, celebrating women, culture, and the power of the Abaya. Date: May 24, 2025 Timings: 6.00 pm onwards Location: Lusail International Circuit Access: Ladies Only. Tickets available at World Table Tennis Championships Finals The ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals Doha 2025 will take place at Lusail Sports arena and Qatar university sports complex from 17th to 25th May 2025. The matches include Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Date: May 17 - 25, 2025 Timings: 9.00 am onwards Location: Lusail Sports Arena & Qatar University Sports Complex Access: Tickets on Q-Tickets Jazz Festival - Bagatelle Beach Club Get ready for an unforgettable musical experience as the Qatar Jazz Festival returns to Bagatelle Beach Club – Doha at Al Maha Island. Set in one of Doha's most iconic beachfront venues, this year's edition promises a sensational fusion of live jazz performances, elegant ambience, and elevated dining. Date: May 20 - 21, 2025 Timings: 8.00 am onwards Location: Bagatelle Beach Club - Doha Access: Tickets available at Virgin Megastore Lebnan Yoghani Concert Experience the spirit of Lebanon like never before at "Lebnan Yoghani", a one-night-only concert that brings the heart and soul of Lebanese music to Qatar. This exceptional evening features four of Lebanon's most celebrated vocalists, coming together to honor the nation's rich musical legacy. More than just a live performance, it's a captivating journey through timeless melodies, presented with sophistication and artistic flair—right in the heart of Qatar's dynamic cultural scene. Date: May 22, 2025 Timings: Doors open at 6pm Location: QNCC - Exhibition Hall 5 and 6 Access: Ages 7+ Tickets available at Junior's Ready, Set, Summer! Your Summer evenings are now booked at Junior's! 🏖️🍔 Gather the family for an exciting night of games, snacks, and good vibes Date: May 24, 2025 Timings: 6:00PM to 8:00PM Location: Junior's Ain Khaled, Wakrah and Al Sadd Immersive BOSS Kids Pop-Up Kick off the fun! Gather your friends and dive into the ultimate soccer experience at our immersive BOSS Kids Pop-Up — only for a limited time. Don't miss it! Date: Until May 27, 2025 Location: 1st Floor – Printemps Doha. Geekend Save the date for Geekend – a weekend full of fun! Date: May 22 – 24, 2025 Timings: 3.00 pm – 11.00 pm Location: Geekdom building – Lusail Boulevard Access: Tickets available at link in bio @ 'The North' Beach Clean-up This Friday we are going to a beautiful beach in the North of Qatar. This is a kid and family friendly event. DM @deapqatar to register Date: May 23, 2025 Timings: 3.45 pm Location: North beach in Qatar Access: Register at @deapqatar 100 Desi night VL We are going to lift the Thursday with brand new concept at brand new venue called 100 Desi night VL 01 only 100 people are allowed to attend it. Date: May 22, 2025 Timings: Doors open at 6pm Location: Yolo Club, Whydam Grand Regency Hotel Access: ONLY FIRST 100 PEOPLE ARE WELCOME Tadhiya & Tasleem – The way of Ibrahim Join Dr. Osman Umarji for a powerful two-part lecture series delving into the life and legacy of Prophet Ibrahim (AS) — a timeless model of unwavering faith, profound sacrifice, and total submission to Allah. Date: May 23, 2025 Timings: 12.30 pm (After Jummah prayer) Location: Minaretein Center Access: Register at @minaratein on IG Show Case 2025 Art in Motion turns 2! Two incredible years of creativity, rhythm, and passion — and we're just getting started! Join us for SHOWCASE 2025 as we celebrate this milestone with spectacular CULTURAL PROGRAME,Kids Drawing Contest, and a special appearance by Cine Star @_saniya_iyappan_ Date: May 23, 2025 Timings: 5 pm onwards Location: Lulu Hypermarket, Barwa Madinatna Access: Free entry --- Make sure to check out our social media to keep track of the latest content. Instagram - @qatarliving X - @qatarliving Facebook - Qatar Living YouTube - qatarlivingofficial
Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Virgin ponders rebirth of the Megastore in central London
Few high street stores were as iconic as the Virgin Megastore — until their demise at the end of the 2000s. But the listening rooms, record displays and in-store gigs could be set for a return to at least one central London site, with Virgin Group chief executive, Josh Bayliss, viewing a potential space as a chance to bring back the 'human connection' to the brand. The stores became a fixture on the high street in the decades after Sir Richard Branson opened his first, on Oxford Street, almost 50 years ago. After a combination of online and supermarket competitors, plus acquisitions that failed to pay off, the struggling business became Zavvi in 2007 before they closed for good in 2009. Now, 16 years later,
Daily Mail
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Sir Richard Branson reveals he's bringing back much-loved Virgin business and his plans to rival Jeff Bezos
Music has been at the heart of Virgin ever since the first Virgin Megastore opened on London 's Oxford Street in the 70s. Originally a mail order company, Sir Richard Branson first set up shop in 'a little shoe shop with an empty floor', after a postal strike threatened the end of the business. 'We put headphones on the walls, people sat on the pillows and smoked a joint while they listened to music, we had people behind the counter that really knew their music - and Virgin was born,' he tells us in an exclusive interview with MailOnline. Virgin Megastores quickly became one of the most popular record shops, with hundreds of branches worldwide. But, as streaming took over, Richard's brainchild began to struggle – and, by 2015, it was operating only in the Middle East, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. However, that all could be about to change, according to Richard, thanks to a surge in people buying vinyl again. 'We used to have a great Megastore in New York,' he tells us. 'And we may even go as far as reopening some Megastores in other places, because I think people are loving discovering vinyl again, and Virgin could also sell them some holidays, Virgin balloon trips, and a few other things in these Megastores. 'They're still going in the Middle East, so maybe we can get them going again in the UK. 'We'll most likely give it a shot.' Richard's lightbulb moment came during the unveiling of Virgin Hotel Shoreditch's brand-new listening bar Hidden Grooves. Just hours after seeing it for the first time, Richard says: 'Coming into Hidden Grooves was almost emotional. 'It's just so beautifully done, and they really tried to create a blast from the past with music and 12-inch discs, a drawer full of all my favourite albums and pictures from days with the Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson and the Sex Pistols, and it was just lovely to see. 'Today, seeing it in person, we decided on the spur of the moment to open a Hidden Grooves in our big hotel in New York, just off Times Square, too. 'In our New York hotel, the one thing I don't particularly like is the entrance area and this would just sort that out straight away.' Hidden Grooves is just one new element of the London hotel, which has been undergoing a phased transformation since last August. Virgin Hotel boasts a rooftop pool, stunning new suites with the brand's iconic red doors and famous 'lounge beds'. Guests can also enjoy Marlin's on the Roof restaurant, a private gym, treatment rooms and rooftop club - and a new signature restaurant will be arriving later this spring. Richard confesses that his 'mind is always racing' when it comes to building his business. 'If I feel that something's not been done well, I'll just jump in and do it. And obviously, I'm lucky, because I own the company, I can just say, "Screw it, let's do it' and get it done. 'And I try to enable everybody who works for Virgin to be able to do that, but, in the end, the buck stops with me, so I can just make decisions and get on with it.' Richard has plenty of plans for Virgin over the next few years - including more Virgin Atlantic flights to India, Virgin Voyages cruises to the Red Sea, and also a rival to Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel. But it's Virgin Galactic that Richard is most excited about. He says: 'Virgin Galactic is building a number of spaceships and, by the end of next year, they should be ready to fly. 'We're also looking at other countries where we can build space ports, and not just America, so that's quite exciting.' But does he think Virgin Galactic can compete with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin? 'Jeff and I, we're good friends,' Richard says. 'He'll pop by Necker Island if he's in the area, and then we'll play pickleball together. 'I think it's important in life to be friends in the night time, with the people you're competing with in the daytime, and there are so many people who want to go to space that there's room for us both. 'I obviously think Virgin Galactic is the better of the two experiences, and I'm sure if Jeff was here, he would argue that his his experience is the better, but there's room for both!'
The Guardian
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Joni Mitchell's Blue revolutionised the way I saw music': Emeli Sandé's honest playlist
The first song I fell in love with Samson by Regina Spektor, when I was 16 and falling in love for the first time. I got introduced to her music when I was working in Virgin Megastore in Aberdeen. Then I met someone in a club. The first single I bought All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey, from Asda. My dad had played me the Music Box album from when I was about seven, so I loved Mariah. I saw it in the bargain section for £1.99 and thought: 'Let's get it.' The song I do at karaoke I heard … Baby One More Time by Britney Spears when I was 12 and thought: 'Gosh, this is amazing.' It was my introduction to pop music. I loved her dancing and her style. At karaoke, I think everyone expects me to do some big ballad but I'd rather just have fun. The song I inexplicably know every lyric to I was part of a youth music theatre group and we sang Seasons of Love from the musical Rent, that starts with: 'Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six-hundred minutes / Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear'. For some reason I can still remember every lyric, 25 years later. The best song to play at a party Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill. It's hard to be in a bad mood when the hip-hop drums come in on the harmonies. The song that makes me cry A Song for You by Donny Hathaway, I guess for knowing how his life ended and the sadness he was in, but also the intimacy. I love the line: 'I've acted out my life in stages with 10,000 people watching / But we're alone now and I'm singing this song to you.' There's something about that fragile intimacy that gets me every time. The song I can no longer listen to My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. I was obsessed with Titanic as a kid. We sang it at school concerts, we played it at record club in the choir. I rinsed it, so it needs a couple more years' rest. The song that gets me up in the morning Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder. I love the energy. The song I secretly like, but I tell everyone I hate My friends and I were obsessed with Grease. Every time I hear Greased Lightnin', I pretend it's a bit annoying, but the whole Grease soundtrack is one of my earliest passions. The song that changed my life I was taking the night train from Glasgow to London in my early 20s and my manager said: 'You should really listen to Joni Mitchell.' Blue revolutionised the way I saw music because I'd really only listened to pop and R&B. It was the first time I realised there are no rules, you can do what you want; it's about the story you're telling. The song I'd like played in my funeral My Love Is Your Love by Whitney Houston. Emeli Sandé's latest single Roots is out now on Venus Records.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
From Detroit's Meat Town to L.A. Luxe: Christos Garkinos' Comeback Tour
If you want to understand Christos Garkinos, start with the sign that hung outside his family's Detroit restaurant: "This ain't no Burger King. You get it my way, or you don't get the thing."Fast forward several decades and several thousand miles to Los Angeles, and that same irreverent spirit has powered the Greek American entrepreneur through the city's notoriously fickle fashion landscape—and one hell of a is a city that worships reinvention almost as much as it fears a fall and Garkinos has experienced both. After pivoting from Disney executive to Virgin Megastore marketing maven to Bravo TV personality, he built his reputation as the "Robin Hood of fashion," connecting celebrity closets with luxury-hungry customers through his LA boutique. When he landed on HSN, it seemed the Detroit kid had truly came the tumble down Mulholland—literally. From his party palace perched high in the Hills, Garkinos descended into a perfect LA storm: addiction, divorce, death of loved ones and financial ruin."Life became life," he says with characteristic bluntness. By 2016, he found himself in a one-bedroom by Target on Cloverdale and a city built on occasional artifice, Garkinos' rock bottom had a certain authenticity. On May 1,2016—"Mayday, literally"—he decided to get sober. Of course, getting clean meant, as his sponsor told him, facing everything he'd been tossing in the back seat: "You stop, and all the trash hits you, and you're buried."LA loves a third act almost as much as it loves a celebrity closet sale. After COVID shuttered his traveling trunk show, Garkinos did what any resourceful Angeleno would do: he went digital. His first Instagram Live, he says, attracted "eight of them Russian bots, I'm sure." But Garkinos showed up religiously at 5 pm every day and his audience grew, so much so that one day a Chanel dealer asked about paying to join his stream. That's when Garkinos had an epiphany: his Instagram page had become a modern-day QVC. These days, a variety of hosts go live on his page, selling selections from the closets of the world's biggest celebrities—people with last names like Aniston, Cox, Kudrow and Garkinos built a digital empire that's now crossed $100 million in sales. He's married to the 'love of his life,' influencer Rolland Ryan. And Garkinos' followers have formed such a tight-knit community that they've formed a 'Stos Squad' that travels together Garkinos announced (on Instagram Live, of course) that his first book Covet the Comeback was available for pre-order, thousands of his fans flocked to buy it, driving the yet-to-be released book up to one of Amazon's top that the book is out—complete with a blurb from Garkinos' best friend, Real Housewife Garcelle Beauvais—he's taking the ultimate comeback loop with book launch events at NeueHouse and Spago (presented by Etro), followed by a country-wide book tour. At the same time, his Instagram channel will continue to broadcast all day and through the night. As his dad surely would have said, Garkinos is doing it all his way.
