Woolworths appear to have gone into administration, also MFI have done the same.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7751064.stm

That's so dreadful. I have so many happy memories.I cannot imagine High Streets without Woolies

I also have memories for Woolies from my childhood, but in the last fifteen years or so it has been tacky.

MFI has been struggling for a few years now and is a bit of a sad and sorry store to visit - dull lighting, disinterested sales assistants. Great pity for those who may be out of work for Christmas although today there are several interested buyers for both stores.

Woolies had long lost the plot after being such an icon of Saturday morning pocket money shopping. Let's hope a new consortium may turn it around. Heard that Alan Sugar and his bestest buddy Philip Green had bought shares a few weeks ago.

They've been gone, I think, in Canada for quite some time. They morphed into Woolco in the seventies, and then when Walmart came to Canada the Woolcos all got eaten up by that monster.

The rise of the shopping mall was the end of stores like Woolworth's and Kresge's, around here.

Our local Woolies (which is modern and bright and one of the larger stores in town) was very busy today. Catching snippets of conversation, it seemed there was a lot of nostalgia and a feeling of having a last shopping spree. I had a good look round as I am one of those who had deserted a sinking ship. I had just forgotten to shop there. Surprised by the range of purchases on offer, I came away with a cd, fabric dye, a throw and some food containers.

I will miss Woolies just being there and being part of most town centres. It was the place where I had my very first weekend job - selling loose Christmas cards. None of these six in a pack or a till to work out the totals!

Apparently the Woolies we have here is about their largest shop and the most profitable.

I don't tend to shop there often, when they had the huge refit some years ago they seemed to have a huge selection of sweets, masses of them.

When I was a child Woolies was wonderful, lots of small items, I used to drool over their knitting yarns, I covetted it all. I think my first bra came from there, and my first stockings.

From today's business news, it looks as though Philip Green is looking to expand his BHS Furniture only stores by some 30 or 40 more - maybe all is not lost for MFI stores in some towns.

Wouldnt it be great to open a retro Woolies: loose biscuits, cards, boxes for Christmas presents, Easter eggs, American cloth plastic tablecloths by the yard, Loose freshly roasted warm pea and cashew nuts, ordinary writing paper pads with lines: anyone remember anything else so specific to Woolies.
Think I bought my first pair of stockings there too.
Our headmistress forbade girls to work there at week-ends! Bet they wouldnt get away with that now.

Bath crystals by weight in deep pink, purple and yellow. I always coveted some of those but never bought any nor had any bought for me. I bet they smelt vile.

Plastic flowers were quite a hit too.

I could probably draw a floor plan of my local Woollies from when I was a child/teenager.

In the summer they had the bedding plants on a particular counter, then later in the year the Christmas cards and tree ornaments were there, oooer the plastic icicles.

Perhaps a retro Woolies would work better. I suppose it's a sign of the large supermarkets taking over again - most of the stuff in Woolies can be purchased with the weekly food shop.

I haven't bought anything in there for ages. The Woolies in Basildon is enormous, and they usually have about two people manning the tills. Now I'm British, and queuing is part of my heritage, but I dislike it when I think stores are treating their customers with contempt. I tried to buy a DVD a couple of years ago, queued for ages with the empty case only to be told the DVD wasn't in stock. Life is too short for that!

When I came back to this town after thirty-odd years away from it, Woolworths was just about the only shop that still stood where it always had in the town centre. Somehow, although it must have been going downhill for years, the chain seemed to be immortal.

I must admit, though, that like most of you I hardly ever go there these days. I think the last thing I bought there was a potato-peeler for something like 50p.

A retro Woolies might be worth a try – if they try it here they should revive the old cafeteria that occupied the top floor in my childhood.

Memories.

Along with Kresge's (later K Mart), Woolworth's was the original 5 & 10 cent stores. It even had a lunch counter!

Though it disappeared in the USA in 2001 to become a 'Foot Locker' (a sport shoe chain), it was until now still extant in the UK, South America, Germanny, Austria and South Africa.

It sounds silly to miss or get a iitle emotional over a store with today's chrome and glass malls on every corner, but it's more than that. It was familiar, reliable, and comfortable like an old bedroom slipper.

When Britain was restricted to a three day week in 1973, to conserve electricity, I didn't get any extra time off as I was working at our local Woolies which still had it's original gas lighting in working order and we were able to hand crank the tills.

How dreadful for the staff that closure could be before the end of the year.

The store in Jersey is supposedly the largest and also the most profitable store in the chain. I have no idea would would buy the store here, or lease it if it isn't owned by Woolworths. We already have a large Bhs next door and M&S are further down the road. We only have two supermarket chains and both have large stores nearby and wouldn't want the high costs associated with the position of this shop. I can't see Bhs wanting to knock into the shop and extending to that extent, it would be too large.

Having frequented Woolies all my life, I went into the store today, on the first day of the closing down sale. It was sad to see. I must say however, that the queue at the check-outs was probably the longest I've ever seen it.

I remember going to interview our store manager, so I could present a talk about the chain as part of my college work, about 25 years ago. Very decent of him as it was only going to be heard by my class mates.

The Barclay Brothers have bought the brand name and will be using it for online shopping, not stores.

Our local Woolies have been taken over by the store B & M 's

Woolies reopens as 'Wellies'

An uplifting item of news, for a change. I hope it's a success.

I think ours is going to be New Look or something, a clothing store. Yesterday in the local newspaper the owner of a small jewellery shop opposite said that his sales have dropped off since Woolies closed.