Life without Woolworths: The end of an era

[UKBusinessLive]

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???