Ever since the killing of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, the Virgin Megastore stands on an island. To the left, Martyrs Square is effectively a camping site. Consequently, the road to reach Virgin has been closed, due to security concerns. Virgin’s former parking in front of the store has been turned into a memorial site for Hariri, while two construction pits separate the store from the rest of the BCD.
“The building sites don’t hurt us that much,” said Jihad el Murr, CEO of the Virgin Megastore. “Construction started well before the killing of Hariri and in that time sales were still good. Only after the death of Hariri sales went down by 70%, which in recent months has slightly improved. Today we have about $40% less in sales. I expect it to improve further when the tents are removed.”
The last diehard demonstrators in downtown have sworn to stay under Lebanon’s statue of independence, until former Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea is released, which according to many may happen any time between July and September. There are no signs yet that the tent in honor of Hariri will disappear. In fact, some say it will remain permanently, a move that could severely affect the store’s access and positioning in Lebanon’s retail consciousness.
“As we now we have a new parking left of Martyrs Square, the Hariri site doesn’t affect us much,” said Murr, who is mildly positive about the upcoming summer. Last year the months of July and August produced a 60% sales increase thanks to the large numbers of Arab tourists and Lebanese expatriates that visited Lebanon. “The signals we get from the hotel sector are positive,” he said. “Most hotels claim they are fully booked, so I’m upbeat about the summer. It will probably not be as good as last year. If that’s the case we are happy.”
