Life without Woolworths: The end of an era
 

Just shy of its 100th birthday in this country, a beloved North American import – Woolworths – is about to vanish.

An enduring fondness for the retail chain's mix of clothing and housewares – not to mention its popular pick-n-mix sweets counter – has kept it afloat here more than a decade after the business disappeared in the United States.

But the global credit crisis and changing consumer tastes forced Woolworths to file for bankruptcy last month. The administrators for the collapsed chain, Deloitte & Touche, launched a going-out-of-business sale last week after failing to attract a buyer.

Employees have struggled to keep shelves restocked as bargain hunters have poured into the chain's 815 stores, eager to take advantage of 50-per-cent discounts.

One day recently at a Woolworths in Putney, a London suburb, some shelves were empty and clothing and other merchandise was strewn on the floor after being picked over by frenzied customers.

Everywhere, buyers were eager to find bargains. For example, a play kitchen set that was once about $91 (U.S.) had been marked down to about $36. Video games once priced at about $60 had been marked down to less than half that amount.

Carolyn Fincham was just one customer who said she was sad to see the stores go.

"Woolworths was a place I could go to get just about anything, whether it was shoes or socks or a last-minute birthday gift," she said. "It's just a real shame it won't be around any more."

Many Britons remember buying their first vinyl single record at a Woolworths. Many mothers say it was where they bought their child's first school uniform. In recent years, Woolworths became one of the first sellers of Halloween costumes and decorations in Britain. Often it was children who packed the stores on weekends, seeking to spend pocket money on toys and candy.

Peter Wood, an expert on the London economy at University College London, said he fondly remembers the "Woolies" of the 1940s and 1950s.

"We were relatively poor then, but as we have gotten richer, Woolworths seems to have fallen behind," he said. "Even 10 years ago, going into Woolworths was a depressing experience, with a confusing array of cheap tat."

Wood said that while the credit crunch may have delivered the final blow, Woolworths has not been meeting the needs of enough of its consumers for a very long time.

Woolworths was founded in Utica, N.Y. in 1879 by Frank Winfield Woolworth, who conceived the novel idea of selling a variety of goods for a fixed price of either a nickel or 10 cents – the original "five-and-dime" concept.

Following a rapid expansion across the United States, Woolworth decided to try his luck across the Atlantic, opening his first store in Liverpool in 1909. The concept was the same.

The F. W. Woolworth Co. eventually came under British ownership in 1982. But the last few years have been hard on the chain as shoppers started seeking better deals at supermarkets and on the Internet.

I started my very first job with Woolworths when i was just 15, its a real shame its come to this, do you have any memories of woolies???

Ah MAN I'm SORRY..

wow,I haven't heard of that name for years and didn't know it still exist.I remember shopping for my mom and dad with the little money i had to get them either birthdays or father and mother's day .

But now all these new franchise came out Walgreens ,Walmart,Target and few others i may missed and knocked out these little guys out.

With my beliefs and i'll share with everyone, life must goes on. Nothing is this world is an eternity

Has anyone ever thought How long Vb will last????

I just thought of something.

There were a few stores of my childhood that closed down and I purchased a few moments online through EBAY. I just checked for vintage Woolworth items and there is a ton of stuff.

Just a thought. Sort of helped me. :)

I'm in PB2003's general area as well and Woolworth's has not had a presence in this area for years. Before the rise of the strip malls and big-box-stores like Wal-Mart & Target, Woolworth's (in the area I grew up at least) was located in the middle of town and was the place for shopping, especially since most people walked to it.

As retail stores evolved to what we have now, the local Woolworth's stores devolved into discount stores, both in merchandise quality & the condition of the stores, and finally just disappeared altogether.

:(

Woolworth's went out of business in North America a long time ago. Probably 20 years. Amazing they held on this long in the UK.

Wow, I haven't heard that name in many years. Like Wayne and others said, Woolworth's went out of business here in the states a very long time ago. I didn't even know they still existed over in the UK.

There is a small shopping area near my house and the name woolworth's is still shown on some tiles where their old store used to be. Ah, good times, good times.

Our local store just sold the last of their stock. I was talking to one of the woman who worked there for 20 odd years and she was nearly in tears not only because of the job but because woolworths owns the block of flats/appartments where she is living so she may be forced out.

I never really shopped at woolworths but it was well known for it's pick n mix

I used to shop at Woolworth's when I lived in Illinois... That was years ago...

Sad to see them go, times are changing...

In the UK, Woolworths was everywhere. In fact, my first ever memory was in the toy section of Woolworths. I'm pretty sad to see it go, it is one of the biggest shops in our town :(

I bought my first album and my first single from there. I used to get all my games from there too.

3kg sweets = ?7

It's a real shame. I got ?20 Woolworths vouchers for Christmas too :eek:

haven't heard that name in awhile. I remember here in Canada shopping at Woolworths - I believe they also used the name Woolco here until around 94 when Walmart bought most of the Canadian locations (the one's that were not unionized of course!) the rest they renamed "The Bargain! Shop".

The Wonder of Woolies

Broken biscuits, sweets, light bulbs, cheap aftershave, hot roasted peanuts, hi-fi towers and haberdashery - it could only be Woolies.

Well its happened. the store is finally closed after 99 years trading.

Have a look at this short video, perhaps it brings back memories to you

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7777118.stm

yeah, i remember the woolworths here in Delaware, it was so cool as a kid, and had a nice diner attached too!

Their problem was they sold everything, and they weren't even cheap. They had no niche.

Very true Dean, But its sad to see 33,000 people lose their jobs as a result, I think woolworths dabled too much in too many things, and like you said had no niche, so they couldn't excel,

Gonna miss Wooly & Worth on TV too :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSni2QMUMc4

:D

I bought a shirt from one in Cape Town. It had good deals, though that could have just been CADZAR.

http://www.roadsidenut.com/dhm204.jpg

http://www.roadsidenut.com/wool204.jpg

:D:D

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Apparently theres a woolworths in Austrailia too, I wonder if they are connected or related in any way http://www.woolworths.com.au/

Both very close (about 5 minutes) from my house. My wife goes to that Happy Harry's daily she works down the street. I remember going to the woolworths in prices corner though..

Get used to this news, as 2009 hits, expect more large names to close up shop in the retail world

I loved woolworths as a kid, some of the best memories i have with my Late grandmother took place there when i was a kid :(

Does anyone in the UK remember when pick n mix in woolworths was affordable ;)?

Woolies is a great Aussie icon. It's named after the Woolies you're talking about, but has no connection with it. It's one of the two "big" supermarkets. Everyone either goes to Woolies or to Coles. Business wise, they're doing great (largest retail company in Australia).

Woolthworths deserves to go under simply because it could not manage to finance its money.Everyone talking about woolworths but look at the big picture -
Woolies Folded beacuse they where in so much debt - well that means they owed retailers money,now these retailers who provided services will no longer get paid and they may even fold because of woolthsworth.The Knock on effect so why u all thinking back to the good old days think about all the other companies who have lost out.

Wow, strange how things end up, Now the aussies have the only woolies left in the world ;)

Send us a half pound of pick and mix ;)

Unfortunately economies are based upon lending and borrowing these days. If it wasn't woolworths, it would have been someone else.

all those thousands of people deserve to lose their jobs?

Not deserve, but recessions are necessary to get rid of bad businesses. There is still a demand where Woolworth's was, and it will be filled. Recessions allow someone else to rise to the top, instead of the same people stay there.

Pick and mix? What does that happen to be? :confused: My guess is lollies.

[sarcasm]Pounds? What is that as well? All metric here. :D[/sarcasm]

I thought the pound wouldn't buy you anything anymore these days. ;)

http://www.beddysblog.com/images/P1270538.JPG
thats pick and mix :)

Loose sweets of all kinds, you just pick what you want, put them in a bag and pay for it based on the weight.

I used Wollies sometimes, but not enough to miss it.

no one deserves to lose their jobs but if they where bailed out then they would go under a few yrs down the line as it would not address why they got into this problem in the 1st place.Shame to see the workers lose jobs but in time they can be retrained to do something else.
Also lets not forget,about all the other firms that are owed money by this big mega company - dont they count because they are smaller,because they certainly aint going to see any of their money now are they so their workforce will proberly be fired.

Bye woolies - crap store anyway.You served your time now you`ll be replaced by `Pound shops`

In a funny sort of way i think Lasto is about right, Woolies had 800 stores and 33,000 employee's and owed ?350,000,000 in debt, if you lent money or goods to the store you'd be worried about getting paid, At the end the only solution was to sell everything, the stock, shelves and displays and finally the stores themselves.

Yes 33,000 people are out of work but the blame lays on the management, and this just can't be blamed on the current credit crunch, This has been going on for years, Its only been since the credit crunch that they realise that they just couldn't go on any more.

Say we didn't have a world credit problem then they may of been able to drag out a couple of years and millions more in debt.

The Credit Crunch has definately seperated the weak from the strong.

:D

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Sadly the coin will buy you less abroad than it used to. A ?1 is pretty much worth the same as one euro, after sterling lost 25 per cent of it's value against the currency in the past 12 months alone.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::o

Does anyone know if Woolworths was in California in the late 60's, early 70's. ?

Yep... Given that you're from the area that I live in, there used to be one at Avenue I and 10th Street West by Winchell's Donuts and across from Denny's. Winchell's and Denny's are still there.

Sounds fun. :)

Every supermarket that I have ever been in within the U.S. has a variation of Pick Mix. The best is Winco which has not only candy but granolas, crackers, sesame sticks (in 20 flavors) and much more in their bulk foods section.

Here is the most popular candy maker for this sort of thing:
http://www.candyfavorites.com/shop/brachs.php

Woolworths lives again as online brand

The move brings the famous brand under the control of Sir David and Frederick Barclay, whose interests also include the Telegraph newspaper group.

High street brand Woolworths is to be relaunched as an online store after the name was today bought by the UK's biggest internet and home shopping retailer.

Shop Direct - which also owns brands such as the Littlewoods catalogue - plans to launch Woolworths online in the summer following the deal to buy the brand for an undisclosed sum.

The move brings the famous brand under the control of Sir David and Frederick Barclay, whose interests also include the Telegraph newspaper group.

Woolworths was forced into administration late last year after plunging sales and mounting debts, costing 27,000 jobs. The last of its 807 stores closed in January.

But Shop Direct, which has also bought Woolworths' childrenswear brand Ladybird, said it was confident that the store would "stay at the heart of British retailing" as an online presence.

Chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said: "Woolworths is a much-loved brand that engenders huge affection among British consumers and is an important part of the country's retail heritage."

Woolworths first opened its doors in the UK 100 years ago this year. The move would revive the brand for future generations, Newton-Jones added.

Details of the new product ranges to be offered will be announced in the next few months, the company said.

Shop Direct employs around 10,500 people and has around five million customers. Its other well-known catalogue brands include Kays and Marshall Ward.

Woolworths appointed Deloitte as administrators in November after efforts to rescue the business failed. Deloitte was unable to find a buyer for the firm and launched a closing-down sale in December

Well its a nice comeback for the name, Perhaps it will be successful as an online retailer.

I was thinking about what they were going to do with the name, and how much it was worth???

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/

They didn't need a niche if they sold everything LOL

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