Woolworths

[bensmum]

with the news that Woolies (and MFI) are going into administration, will you miss Woolies? It's dreadful for the people who will be losing their jobs just before Christmas but the store has been on the way down for some time. I'm old enough to remeber when you could but loose biscuits in there (mmm.... coconut pyramids)

[theonlyone]

I will miss Woolies as where I live there is not
a shop that sells the range of things that they do .
We don't have a china or a hardware shop ,and no
place to buy bedding ..Woolies sell all of these things ..
I can get in the car and go elsewhere but the older
ones can't ..ok having a bus pass if you can change
buses to get to the big shops ...

[QueenOfAmber]

I won't miss woolies because their clothes range is made by kids in sweatshops with I hate. The sweets (pick & mix) are cool! lol :)

[bensmum]

Ooohh yes, knobby - love coconut mushrooms!
I know what you mean theonlyone. We have a Woolworths locally and it's the only store of its sort in the area so people without transport will have problems. Mind you, they seem to sell mostly toys, sweets and DVDs just lately.

[jen78]

I like Woolies though not got to go in one much for years, used to go in the one in Shrewsbury a lot though and know people who worked there :(

No more silly sheep adverts!

[theonlyone]

QoA..don't suppose Primark or Matalan have
sweat shops ?? Not many of the big chains
are ethical ..you buy cheap as it's produced
cheap ..

[QueenOfAmber]

......which is why I buy expensive stuff like Prada,Gucci,Chanel and Dior. fashionable and ethically good. :)

[LoftyLottie]

It's about the only well known shop left in our little market town!! That and Boots. Neither of them are any good, they don't stock much. Oh well, another charity shop to forward to in its place!!

[lankeela]

So MFI has collapsed as well? Probably missing a few screws. Nothing new there then.

[theonlyone]

QoA...glad you can afford it ....

[QueenOfAmber]

If you don't want to buy expensive stuff then go to Dorothy Perkins or someone like that, it's still good just not as big name.....

[Gormless]

I go to Woolies locally because there is nowhere else to go apart from the Co-op. There is a devastatingly attractive girl in there (and in the Co-op), but the store has lost its way.

It is uninteresting to walk around. Do they stock DVDS? Do they stock software? Sweets?

They are just not interesting anymore.

[bensmum]

Lol Lottie - you don't live in Hampshire by any chance? Our town has Boots and Woolies and every other shop is a charity shop! It will be interesting to see what takes its place - the local traders try to keep the bigger names out. I don't think Waitrose wants the competition

[DSJ]

Woolworth's store in Stroud, Gloucestershire, brings back such very happy memories for me. As a child of the late 30s, it was like Aladdin's Cave. Woolworth's sold pretty well everything a child could want. With a couple of pennies, a threepenny bit, or even a sixpenny piece, the world was one's oyster.

I remember buying skeins of thin plastic in various colours to plait bracelets and necklaces, tiny plastic doll's house chairs & tables for a few pence, and little packs of bubble gum, each containing a small photo of a film star to stick into an album. I still have my album today in a drawer & somehow I managed to buy enough bubble gum to get a complete set of film star photographs.

The day when sweet rationing ceased was definitely a day to remember. I got up early and walked the mile into Stroud with a friend. We each had sixpence to spend. The crowds around the sweet counter were huge and quite threatening to two little girls. We kept getting pushed back while larger and stronger customers forced their way forward. By the time that we got served, the only sweet left was Turkish Delight so we bought a few cubes of that and ran back home with our booty! Our mothers were thrilled with their gifts and my friend and I felt pleased that we had pleased them!

Those were the days. Woolworth's stores R.I.P.

[wolf63]

I really like Woolies - it reminds me of when I was much, much younger when our store had a cafe and deli counter and sold steak pies.

It sells almost anything that you would want to buy - it is difficult to wander around the store without buying something.

I have MFI office furniture for my computer room - it is really poor quality and I only bought it because I used my Tesco clubcard vouchers.

On a more mercenary note - I wonder it they will be having a closing down sale.

[bensmum]

Lovely memories DSJ!
As I said before I remember the biscuit counter and being able to buy biscuits by weight. They also had a bacon counter in ours as well as a haberdashery area where you could buy loose buttons - nothing was packaged like it is today. (I'm a child of the late 50's). I will miss it for what it was but not for what it's become.

[sweetpea...!]

and broken biscuits, mishapen chocolates and hot peanuts!

[theonlyone]

Bensma ..where i live the residents didn't want
Planet Tesco ..but it took nearly 7 years for them
to get in to the town and mega bucks to alter
stuff ...but the novelty has worn off and people
are are going back to where they shopped before ...

[sweetpea...!]

mis-shapen even!

[poohshunny]

I worked in Woolwoths for a total of 11 years. I loved my job and the people I worked with. I only left 3 years ago, when I moved form Scotland to England. If I hadn't moved, I'd still be working in the East Kilbride branch now! I have a load of very good friends within the company and I am devastated at the news today. I don't pretend to know how they are all feeling, but I wish them all the best for the future. Sorry this wasn't a happy jolly post about childhood memories and the like :(