Virgin Megastores explore new territories worldwide.

Virgin Entertainment Group is taking its Megastores brand into previously uncharted territories such as Lebanon as it looks outside the UK to expand the operation.

A franchising agreement in Beirut will see the retailer opening a store in the city's former opera house in June, while discussions are underway to launch the concept in Egypt and Turkey for the first time. Openings are already lined up this year in Boston and Dallas in the US, Montpellier in France and Shinjuku in Japan in a strategy to give the brand a presence in the world's biggest destinations.

VEG CEO Simon Wright believes Virgin is in a unique position for a record retailer to expand into less obvious destinations. "One of the big strengths of the Virgin brand is that we can leverage our position all over the world which the competition can't. This is due to our heritage and links with the record label, plus the fact Richard Branson is known around the world," he says.

The Beirut store, which will be housed over 3,000 sq m, is being handled by Virgin's French retail team and marks a return for the retailer to franchising. Its only current franchised store is in Athens, Greece. "The context here is about how we're going forward," says Wright. "We want very much to focus on destination stores."

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