NOT since Melanie C and Richard Branson abseiled down its front and Travis played to 3000 shoppers outside it has there been a Glasgow store quite like it.

The mighty Virgin Megastore on Buchanan Street was a music mecca for Glaswegians in the Noughties.

With its massive open-plan floors reached by giant zig-zag escalators, all-new state of the art ‘listening posts’ and edgy prints on the walls, this was a shopping experience like no other and one of the best places in the city to lose three hours of your life while you browsed CDs, DVDs, games and more.

It opened amid a blaze of publicity in December 1999, when boss Branson and Spice Girl Mel made their triumphant entrance.

Sub-zero conditions had not prevented around 700 fans from camping out overnight to see Travis’s free concert outside and Fran Healy and the boys had a blast.

Glasgow Times: The Sugababes.

A galaxy of stars turned up over the years to promote CDs, DVDs and books, from violin superstar Nicola Benedetti and Glasgow’s own Jack and Victor from Still Game, to the Sugababes, Westlife, Paolo Nutini and legendary moviemaker Quentin Tarantino.

Legend has it when a little-known outfit called Coldplay came to the city, staff had to make up the numbers waiting for them as the crowd barely topped double figures...wonder what happened to them?

Glasgow Times: Quentin Tarantino in Glasgow

The Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction director was in town to promote the screenplay for his latest film Death Proof, which was showing the same night at the GFT.

Nicole Wright, 18, a shop worker from Charing Cross, said: “I am going to ask him what it was like working with John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. I was 18 yesterday so meeting Tarantino will be a great birthday present.”

Andrew Baird, 21, a painter and decorator from Balloch, near Loch Lomond, said: “I’m going to ask him to put on his best Glaswegian accent."

Glasgow Times:

Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Brian McFadden and Kian Egan caused absolute mayhem when they came to Glasgow in November 2000.

Otherwise known as boyband Westlife, the lads were overwhelmed by the thousands of fans who turned up to meet them.

Glasgow Times: Listening posts at the all-new Virgin Megastore

The comedy stars of sitcom Still Game thought someone was having a laugh when more than 2000 fans laid siege to the store for a chance to meet their heroes.

Actors Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played grumpy old men Jack and Victor in the longrunning and recently retired BBC show, could not believe the size of the crowd that greeted them when they arrived to launch the sixth series on DVD.

Greg said: “It’s bizarre how many young people like a show about a bunch of old guys. When we were here six years ago we thought the queue for Robbie Williams was ours so we got a bit of a rude awakening.

“It’s great to see how many people enjoy the show and we really appreciate it.”

Andrew Greening, 24, from Govanhill, and Melanie McCluskey, waited an hour to meet their comedy heroes.

READ MORE: How Glasgow's old cafes and jukeboxes brought magic of pop to city

Melanie said: “The patter is just brilliant, it’s like people you know in your own life.”

The store was short-lived - after just eight years, it closed and became Zavvi, but was never quite the same.

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