Yamaha Home Theater
The Virgin Megastore is following Circuit City into the abyss, with the chain's US retail stores in the process of closing down. Similar to Circuit City's infamous liquidation sales, Virgin is currently offering its wares at "up to 30-percent off," according to the copious signage spotting outside Virgin's Union Square location in New York.
Where am I going to find $17.99 CDs now?
(Credit: Dan Ackerman)Ironically, that Virgin Megastore sits on exactly the same block as the Circuit City store we visited in January, and the two liquidation sales are also very similar, judging from what we found this week.
The actual signs and policies are nearly identical to the ones found at Circuit City, and the discounts offered are equally uninspired. Most items, including CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and games, were still listed at 10 or 20-percent off MSRP, which means you're likely to find a better deal at Amazon.
The Virgin Megastore always had a decent consumer electronics section, but the deals there were in the 5-10-percent range, and we spotted a few iPods and Apple TV units (at 5-percent off), a non-HD Creative Vado video camera, several Sony digital photo frames, lots of Rock Band instrument kits, and a JBL Soundstage iPod speaker system.
Check out our gallery of surreptitiously snagged in-store spy shots below for details on what we found, plus price comparisons on specific deals.
[Previously: Spying on the Circuit City liquidation sale]
In Episode 22 of the Digital City, we discuss rumors of a new iPhone, Amazon's new video game trade-in system, how to use your Netbook as a Kindle alternative, and some upcoming video game launch events that might be coming to your town (as long as you live in Los Angeles).
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On this week's installment of the Digital City podcast, we discuss New York's bankrupt unemployment system, Circuit City's liquidation sales, playing around with Windows 7, Apple's iPhone vs. iPod Touch, and Joey gets some hate mail for his PS3 fanboyism.
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At the risk of beating a dead horse, we dropped by our local Circuit City store this weekend to see if the oft-derided liquidation sales had picked up any steam. Hopefully, a couple of weeks into the CC death spiral, the discounts would ratchet up and we'd finally see some good deals.
While others have been prevented by store managers from getting actual in-store shots of the liquidation sales, we ninja'd our way through with the help of the iPhone's built-in camera, much as we did when sneaking pics of Wal-Mart's iPhone kiosks.
Many items were still listed at 10-percent off -- and that's 10-percent off the MSRP, not Circuit City's normally discounted prices, a distinction that has been noted repeatedly by reporters and bloggers. A few categories went up to 30-percent off (time to stock up on video game-hint books!), and even the 10-percent is worth checking out for items that normally don't get any kind of list price discount.
Check out the gallery below for a quick survey of what's on sale. We've even tossed in a few direct price comparisons for laptops and video-game gear to test just how liquid this liquidation sale really is.
Our ongoing conversation about technology and urban spaces continues, with longtime CNET editor Matt Elliott joining us to discuss slumping e-commerce sales, the new high-tech Yankee Stadium, and competing plans for adding GPS and Wi-Fi to mass transit systems.
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Former radio DJ turned
journalist Dan Ackerman grew up in the Bronx and now lives in
Manhattan. He’s covered music, technology, and video games for
more than 10 years. His latest album, Tales Out of Night School
is available now. 
Joseph Kaminski,
when not juggling the dual demands of parenthood and HD gaming, is a
life-long Manhattanite and can be found testing the latest tech in
CNET’s Lab. 
Julie Rivera grew up
and currently resides in Brooklyn. When she's not deejaying,
bartending, or fixing gadgets for friends on the outside, you'll find
her testing, troubleshooting and developing benchmarks for laptops in
the "fish bowl" known as CNET Labs. 
Scott Stein, CNET's
newest laptops editor, was born in Queens and grew up a Long Islander -
and is now raising a kid in NYC. In addition to covering games and
tech, writing screenplays, and performing improv in seedy downtown
establishments, he's also a die-hard, season-ticket-holding Jets fan.
