Related Companies, in a 51%/49% joint venture with Vornado Realty Trust, bought the Virgin Megastores North America chain for an undisclosed amount in late 2007. At the time, the chain had 11 U.S. stores totaling about 400,000 square feet (this is down from a peak of 23 stores in 2002). Now it has only six -- but that won't last for long, as the company recently announced it is closing all of those stores as well, starting in Mid-April with its Times Square store. According to various reports, Virgin's revenues have fallen about 26% over the last six years. From the closure of these stores, about 1,060 employees would be displaced. The hopeful silver lining to this news is that Related and Vornado will be able to profit from leasing these prime retail locations to other users. If accomplished, such users would be paying significantly higher rent than Virgin currently pays. While this is the first official announcement the company made that it would be closing these six stores, CoStar reported in June 2008 that its two major New York City stores were rumored to be closing. At the time, Billboard Magazine had quoted Vornado EVP Sandeep Mathrani as saying rent at Virgin's Times Square location is "$54 a square-foot when the market rent in the area is about $700." That space, located at 1540 Broadway, is approximately 65,000 square feet. Also at that time, Winick Realty Group was marketing Virgin Megastore's 57,695-square-foot space in Union Square (at 14th Street and Broadway) for lease. Virgin's other remaining stores are located at: