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Woolworths - Anyone Miss It This Time Of Year?
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Nakatomi
14-10-2016
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!
5hane
15-10-2016
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
Psycho_Ned
15-10-2016
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.
Isambard Brunel
15-10-2016
Originally Posted by TUTV Viewer:
“sunglasses are an all-year-round purchase.”

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...
1Mickey
16-10-2016
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.
Pencil
16-10-2016
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.
BinaryDad
16-10-2016
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....
david16
16-10-2016
Bring back Woolworths, Littlewoods and C & A
david16
16-10-2016
Originally Posted by malpasc:
“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.”

It was always busy compared with wilkos.
rfonzo
16-10-2016
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?
muggins14
16-10-2016
Originally Posted by Creamtea:
“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
TUTV Viewer
16-10-2016
Originally Posted by Isambard Brunel:
“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...”

Clearly you don't drive or cycle in bright sunshine then.

But then you are in Wales.
cnbcwatcher
16-10-2016
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).
malpasc
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by david16:
“It was always busy compared with wilkos.”

Probably dependent on the branch. Our local branch in Walthamstow, east London, was never that busy whereas the Wilko that replaced it is always busy.

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.
malpasc
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by rfonzo:
“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?”

Went into administration and closed down in about 2012. Unsurprisingly. Who would be stupid enough to try and replicate an already failed business model?!
1Mickey
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by malpasc:
“Went into administration and closed down in about 2012. Unsurprisingly. Who would be stupid enough to try and replicate an already failed business model?!”

I think thats already been answered.

B&M, Wilkinsons and The Range.
cnbcwatcher
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by david16:
“Bring back Woolworths, Littlewoods and C & A”

C&A still exist in mainland Europe. I've been in the one in Cite Europe and also a few stores in Luxembourg and Germany. If you want to shop in C&A just head on the Eurotunnel to Cite Europe or to Germany. Most major cities still have one

http://www.c-and-a.com/uk/en/corpora...res/locations/
malpasc
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by 1Mickey:
“I think thats already been answered.

B&M, Wilkinsons and The Range.”

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.
1Mickey
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by malpasc:
“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.”

I wasn't denying that to survive it had to evolve. My point was just that, from a customer point of view, they're still basically the same kind of thing.
droogiefret
17-10-2016
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.
Liparus
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by Psycho_Ned:
“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.”

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.
malpasc
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by Liparus:
“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.”

Littlewoods tried and failed the 'catalogue' shop to compete with Argos too - Index. Woolworths should have learnt from that...
1Mickey
17-10-2016
Originally Posted by Liparus:
“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.”

Only because it was sold. Up until then it was questionable how long it would last.
malpasc
18-10-2016
Originally Posted by 1Mickey:
“Only because it was sold. Up until then it was questionable how long it would last.”

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.
1Mickey
18-10-2016
Originally Posted by malpasc:
“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.”

Time will tell how shrewd it is. Personally i haven't been in Sainsbury's or Argos in years and unless they open one on my road i doubt that will change.
I expect its just a way of expanding the range they can deliver with groceries before the name disappears.
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