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Woolworths - Anyone Miss It This Time Of Year? |
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#51 |
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Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: The North!
Posts: 2,184
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Our Woolworths used to have a cafe which was gorgeous. Have memories of going with my mum on a Saturday morning when my dad worked until dinner and doing all the shopping with her.
Woolworths was always good for videos, DVDs and toys. TJ Hughes is pretty similar to it but I miss Woolies pick and mix most! |
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#52 |
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: The sane side of the pond
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I miss the Woolworths of my childhood when they had decent toy departments, cafés and even butchers, but not the characterless later stores so much.
80's kids might remember this Woolies Christmas advert: https://youtu.be/1m_0ENIw4os |
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#53 |
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Daventry
Posts: 14,894
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You can see from the replies on this thread that most people miss it more from a nostalgia point of view rather than actually missing anything which Woolworths sold!! Which about sums up why they went in the first place.
I remember fond times going in there in the early 90's in my youth buying cassettes etc but the Woolworths of the 00's was a grim place stuck in the past, it's evolve or die in retail and they ended up the latter. |
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#54 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 4,087
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Quote:
sunglasses are an all-year-round purchase.
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#55 |
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 8,076
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I hardly ever shopped there nearer the end but i worked there for a while and i miss the Christmas eve pub trip after work.
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#56 |
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,251
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Very.co.uk has basically squandered and trashed one of Britain's best loved brands.
I wonder sometimes that had any other company been lucky enough to buy the Woolworths brand, they would have made good use of it. |
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#57 |
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,981
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By the time Woolworths has closed all of its stores in the UK, I had been living outside of the country for quite a few years. I already missed shopping in Woolworths, never mind which time of year it was!
But I definitely miss Woolworths in the run-up to Christmas, especially the changing window signs for Hallowe'en and Christmas. Hell, I even miss seeing the big window posters for "Back to School" at the tail-end of the summer hols! The Woolie's in my hometown was situated next to John Menzies (and later WH Smith) so you pretty much had a large chunk of your Christmas shopping (on a student budget) covered in one area! Most of the Christmas and birthday shopping is done on-line in our household these days, pretty much like everybody else. But I miss the atmosphere of the slightly stressful and busy seasonal shopping at Woolworth's quite a bit. Rose tinted specs I suppose.... |
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#58 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Central Belt
Posts: 12,271
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Bring back Woolworths, Littlewoods and C & A
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#59 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Central Belt
Posts: 12,271
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Quote:
This was half their problem - nostalgia and rose tinted specs.
Loads of people came out of the woodwork bemoaning the loss of Woolworths but when asked whether they used it regularly or when the last time was they bought anything in there it turned out they hardly ever went there and the last purchase was years ago! Nostalgia won't keep businesses running. Anyway, no I don't miss Woolworths. For me, it lost its relevance years before it closed down. Other retailers, on and offline managed to do what Woolworths did, but better. The closest to Woolworths we have now locally is Wilko, who do what they do well, at reasonable prices, in generally well-laid out stores. |
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#60 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 8,640
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I remember watching a documentary about an offspring shop that replaced a Woolworths store. It was called Wellworths and it kept all of the old staff on. Does anyone know how that shop is getting on?
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#61 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Pit of Despair
Posts: 50,130
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They don't even have a Card Factory! Imagine the horror!
![]() I know ![]() You have to be means-tested just to walk into town in Bath ![]() ETA: So many times I think 'where the hell am I meant to buy a (insert item) in Bath' because, unless you want to buy clothes or expensive trinkets, there's really not a lot here
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#62 |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 5,303
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Only if you have a medical condition or in advent of your half-Danish husband kicking down the bathroom door, smashing the bathroom to bits and then throttling you before spitting in your face and leaving you crying on the floor, like a previous Welsh neighbour of mine in November 2009...
But then you are in Wales. |
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#63 |
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: At college, in L.A.'s office
Posts: 54,214
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I used to love it as a kid. I bought (or my parents bought for me) toys, Pokemon cards, tapes, CDs, videos, games, sweets, books and all sorts of things from there. I kinda miss it now, even though they were still going when I moved to Ireland. I guess B&M or Poundland are the nearest thing to Woolworths now and whenever I'm in the UK I go in B&M and stock up on essentials which are cheaper than in the supermarkets. I don't bother with Poundland as we have them here (they're called Dealz but sell the same stuff).
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#64 |
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,348
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Quote:
It was always busy compared with wilkos.
I would guess that smaller market towns etc probably miss their Woolworths more than big city areas would, because it would be quite often the biggest shop in town whereas in London and other major towns and cities there would have been far more alternative places for everything that they sold. |
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#65 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,348
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Quote:
I remember watching a documentary about an offspring shop that replaced a Woolworths store. It was called Wellworths and it kept all of the old staff on. Does anyone know how that shop is getting on?
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#66 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 8,076
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Quote:
Went into administration and closed down in about 2012. Unsurprisingly. Who would be stupid enough to try and replicate an already failed business model?!
B&M, Wilkinsons and The Range. |
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#67 |
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: At college, in L.A.'s office
Posts: 54,214
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Quote:
Bring back Woolworths, Littlewoods and C & A
![]() http://www.c-and-a.com/uk/en/corpora...res/locations/ |
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#68 |
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,348
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Quote:
I think thats already been answered.
B&M, Wilkinsons and The Range. |
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#69 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 8,076
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Quote:
Big chains who manage to do the parts of Woolworths business that were still relevant, and got rid of the parts that didn't work. That Wellworths idea was brought about out of nostalgia, and failed basically for the same reason Woolworths did.
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#70 |
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: looking for tinned loganberrie
Posts: 17,497
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I've just spent a few days in Essen, staying in Mullheim ab Ruhr. In the Mullheim shopping mall was a Woolworth's! It's new - definitely wasn't there last year.
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#71 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,262
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Quote:
You can see from the replies on this thread that most people miss it more from a nostalgia point of view rather than actually missing anything which Woolworths sold!! Which about sums up why they went in the first place.
I remember fond times going in there in the early 90's in my youth buying cassettes etc but the Woolworths of the 00's was a grim place stuck in the past, it's evolve or die in retail and they ended up the latter. I remember at the time Woolworths closed wondering why/how BHS was still going. And finally it has gone. Argos still does well though. |
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#72 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,348
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Quote:
Woolworths did try to evolve. They introduced a "Big Red Book" in an attempt to compete with Argos. They began doing in store ordering/online ordering etc...
I remember at the time Woolworths closed wondering why/how BHS was still going. And finally it has gone. Argos still does well though. |
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#73 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 8,076
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Quote:
Woolworths did try to evolve. They introduced a "Big Red Book" in an attempt to compete with Argos. They began doing in store ordering/online ordering etc...
I remember at the time Woolworths closed wondering why/how BHS was still going. And finally it has gone. Argos still does well though. |
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#74 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,348
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Quote:
Only because it was sold. Up until then it was questionable how long it would last.
When Argos was first around it was the only place in Britain you could get all the goods it sells under one 'roof'. Now with Amazon etc Argos' niche isn't quite what it was. I still use it if I want something more or less instantly, as we have a branch about 100 yards away from our house, but it definitely isn't the go-to destination it was. |
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#75 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 8,076
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Quote:
Argos is now owned by Sainsbury's so they can do things like open Argos stores and click & collect counters inside the supermarkets etc. It also means they own Habitat too. Quite a shrewd move by Sainsbury's.
When Argos was first around it was the only place in Britain you could get all the goods it sells under one 'roof'. Now with Amazon etc Argos' niche isn't quite what it was. I still use it if I want something more or less instantly, as we have a branch about 100 yards away from our house, but it definitely isn't the go-to destination it was. I expect its just a way of expanding the range they can deliver with groceries before the name disappears. |
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