Capital Summertime Ball 2024

[Jono]

I remember this store being my childhood and part of my 'exciting' days out when I'd buy a CD or tape or book or some sweets. We only had small stores here so they'd always be crammed full of people and you'd barely be able to move when the Christmas period came around.

Now though they seem empty and it seems like a dying high street name. Do you still use them?

[kitty]

I do still shop in Woolworths, as there is one round the corner from my flat which is open til 8so it is pretty handy to pop into after work, but I mostly just buy magazines, sweets, lightbulbs or batteries etc.

Back in the day I used to love going into Woolies to spend my pocket money on crap toys, tapes or pick n' mix- my nine-year-old brother loves it, I think it's more of a kids store!

[sinister]

Yes on occasions that I should be passing one. The one in South Harrow's been trading for nearly half a century now.

[Bumble_85]

I got 2 litres of orange squash for a quid from Woolworths the other week. I love a bargain. Especially if it means I get orange squash.

[YoppaDo]

Dying high street store? They're usually packed around here, apart from the Pontypool one (because the whole town centre is dead apart from Tesco).

I usually browse in there and don't buy much, most DVD's and Games bought off of the interwebs instead.

[Viv]

INow though they seem empty and it seems like a dying high street name. Do you still use them?

I agree. The Woolies in Ayrshire are quite often empty, or nearly empty. I use them purely for cheap notepads. I like to scribble down notes a lot, and their pads are only £0.16.

[Lucinda]

They still sell CDs for about £15. Woolworths and WHSmith are still stuck in the late 90s-early 2000s thing where CDs cost that much.

It's not a bad place for household stuff, like coathangers, light fittings etc. I got a bed sheet in there a few weeks ago. In Nottingham it's pretty redundant though apart from as a sweet shop because Wilkinson's sells everything else so much cheaper. I remember as a little kid buying the 99p pocket money toys like 'kitty in my pocket'.

[dstrkzn]

I used to work in one, it was in one of scotlands biggest shopping centres but it shut down and hasnt been replaced. I only really go in if im bored on a break at work

[E*F*4L]

woolies is rubbish !

its dvd,cd,games sections are tiny & expensive.

they sell cheap & tacky household items.

[sinister]

woolies is rubbish !

its dvd,cd,games sections are tiny & expensive.

they sell cheap & tacky household items.

But if not for Woolies, where would all the people with cheap and tacky houses get their household goods?

[Jono]

But if not for Woolies, where would all the people with cheap and tacky houses get their household goods?

It seems to be the pound shops people flock to these days here.

[E*F*4L]

the pound shop is much better than woolies, i think the problem is that they have lost their identity.

[kitty]

But if not for Woolies, where would all the people with cheap and tacky houses get their household goods?

Not just chavs buy their household goods from Woolies...

http://www.heatworld.com/Article/7474/Lily+Allen/THIS+is+EXACTLY+why+we+love+Lily+Allen!

well, maybe not

[Hammer]

But if not for Woolies, where would all the people with cheap and tacky houses get their household goods?

Oi, as a student I think Woolies household goods are a godsend

[DelDalek]

I wonder if the Woolworths in the UK is related to the one in the States. It sounds like they sold similar items. Ours went out of business earlier in the decade.

[Guest]

This time next year there's the probability no one will be shopping at Woolworths:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/22/woolworths-retail-mk-one

[Behelzebub]

I read somewhere that it's up for sale for £1, anyone want to buy it? Anyone at all...?

[Rob]

I think it was just more exciting from a child's perspective. I agree it did seem more packed back in the day than now, but that's probably because ours upgraded from a 5X6 room to a 2 story uber building

[kitty]

I loved buying stationery (still a favourite of mine), 'Twinkle' comic and a pick and mix. If we didn't get a pick and mix from Woolies we would often go to the Barras and get hot doughnuts. Yummy.

Aw, just got all misty-eyed at this...

[E*F*4L]

apparently you can buy woolworths for £1,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7743906.stm

Talks are continuing between troubled retailer Woolworths and its two main banks in an attempt to establish if it is possible to save the iconic chain.

Woolworths has debts of £385m and it is at risk of going into administration.

The firm, which employs 30,000 people around the UK, has been suffering as a result of intense competition.

Earlier this week, it was reported restructuring specialists Hilco were set to pay a nominal £1 for Woolworth's loss-making retail business.

But the BBC's business correspondent Joe Lynam said the banks might prefer to recoup their money by calling in the administrators sooner rather than later.

He added that shares in the firm have tumbled by 92% over the past year - falling 32% on Friday alone - as confidence that the company could not meet its day-to-day activities, as well as repay its existing loans, started to fade.

The general retailer has been struggling for some time as competition from more specialist outlets, large supermarkets and the internet has forced down sales.

It has suffered further as the economic slowdown has hit consumer spending.

The firm announced a record first-half pre-tax loss of £90.8 million in September and scrapped its dividend to shareholders.

In August, it rejected a takeover bid of £50m for its 815 stores from a group headed by the founder of the Iceland frozen food chain, Malcolm Walker.

Woolworths has been an icon of the British High Street for almost a century. It also has a distribution business and a DVD publishing business.

[Jono]

Well done einstein, it was mentioned on the other page.

[Eyl9]

.

[dstrkzn]

The BBC are reporting Woolworths are on the verge of going into administration. MFIs going the same way.

[E*F*4L]

may be worth checking out if they have some sort of sale in the next few weeks, the stuff dvd's/cd's & games are way to expensive & that is where a lot of shops make their money now.

if wollies does close their could be 10,000 job losses

i hope it doesn't close, but they have had long enough to try & do something, they just didn't sell anything anyone wanted & the stuff people did want was cheaper elsewhere.

[Nik B.]

Yep, into administration now, Which is quite depressing really, my Childhood wouldn't have been the same without Woolies...

The Views I've read on other forums seem to suggest that they spread themselves too wide, tried to cover every market possible, and well... Have failed. I don't want it to close but yeah, probably will... Sad loss.