Woolworths was a British
high-street variety retail chain and conglomerate. At its height, it operated as Woolworths Group PLC, which included other companies such as the entertainment distributor
Entertainment UK, and book and resource distributor
Bertram Books. In 2009, all UK stores shut down, and in 2015, so did the website, rendering it fully defunct.
The Woolworths chain was originally a division of the American
F. W. Woolworth Company until its sale in 1982.
It had more than 800 shops in the UK prior to closure. Woolworths sold many goods and had its own
Ladybird
Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to mother Mary. Entomologists use the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles ...
children's clothing range, WorthIt! value range and
Chad Valley toys. They were also well known for selling
pick 'n' mix sweets. It was sometimes referred to as ''Woolies'' by the UK media, the general public, and occasionally in its own television adverts. The British company also owned and operated divisions in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
which closed in 1984, and
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
which was sold in 1985.
On 26 November 2008, trading of shares in Woolworths Group was suspended, and its Woolworths and Entertainment UK subsidiaries entered
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.
** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
.
Deloitte
Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
closed all 807 Woolworths shops between 27 December 2008 and 6 January 2009, resulting in 27,000 job losses. Woolworths Group plc entered administration on 27 January 2009, and it was officially dissolved on 13 October 2015. The collapse of Woolworths was a symbol of the
credit crunch
A credit crunch (a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit crunch generally ...
and financial turmoil in the United Kingdom at the end of 2008.
In February 2009,
Shop Direct Group
The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the Speke area of the city of Liverpool, England. The brand was established in November 200 ...
(later known as The Very Group) purchased the Woolworths brand and website, which continued as an online-only business, until its closure in June 2015 when it was merged into
Very.co.uk.
In July 2021, the former German division of the F.W. Woolworth Company,
Woolworth GmbH, acquired the British and Irish Woolworths brand and website from The Very Group for an undisclosed sum.
History
Establishment of the business

The British branch of the
F. W. Woolworth Company, which had been founded in Pennsylvania, F. W. Woolworth & Co. Ltd, was founded by
Frank Woolworth in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, England, on 5 November 1909. Frank Woolworth allegedly had ancestry in
Woolley, Cambridgeshire
Woolley is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Barham and Woolley, in Cambridgeshire, England. Woolley lies approximately west of Huntingdon. The hamlet is in Huntingdonshire, which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridge ...
– Frank claimed he had traced his ancestry through the
Pilgrim Fathers
The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who travelled to North America on the ship ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. John Smith had named ...
to a small "farm in middle England". When Frank eventually travelled to England in 1890,
he docked in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and travelled by train to
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...
for the purchase of china and glassware for Woolworth's ranges, but also noted his love of England in his diary and his aspirations for bringing the Woolworth name to England:
During the buying trip, Woolworth met a young clerk, William Lawrence Stephenson, who was recommended to him by
John Wanamaker
John Wanamaker (July 11, 1838December 12, 1922) was an American merchant and religious, civic and political figure, considered by some to be a proponent of advertising and a "pioneer in marketing". He served as United States Postmaster General ...
. Wanamaker had established a large chain of department stores across the United States and was one of Woolworth's heroes. Stephenson was invited to London to meet Woolworth again, and was offered the job as director of the new company, which he accepted.
After the idea for the creation of the British business, Frank Woolworth had offered invitations to shope managers in the United States to establish shops in the UK and had only received offers to take positions at the time of his illness in March 1909 from Fred Woolworth of the
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The avenue is commercial for much of its length, and traffic runs northbound, or uptown.
Sixth Avenue begins four blocks b ...
and Samuel Balfour of the
14th Street shops in New York City.
[Woolworth, Frank W. (personal communication 19 May 1909) -- "It has been a dream of mine for the past ten years to establish a chain of stores in the UK and have asked for volunteers, but have received no offers from any of the managers until in March 1909 when I was taken ill, Mr. Fred Woolworth of the Sixth Avenue, N.Y. Store and Mr. Samuel Balfour of the 14th Street, N.Y. Store came up to see me while I was ill and offered their services as volunteers to open up stores in England."] After these initial offers, Byron Miller, a superintendent in a Boston shop, also offered his assistance and set sail with the other volunteers on the steam boat ''
Kaiserin Auguste Victoria'' on 29 May 1909 for England from Hoboken.
Frank Woolworth expected other members of staff to admire the volunteers in establishing FW Woolworth & Co in Britain. However, Carson C. Peck, vice president and general manager of the company, had reservations with enlisting staff members to travel to Britain, questioning whether Woolworth had indeed created the new business adventure following a dream, or due to his dissatisfaction with the current condition of the American branch.
Peck also asked those who were willing to volunteer to reconsider their decision, claiming that those who had volunteered were unaware of the uncertainty and risks involved and that some were only tentatively willing to engage in Woolworth's new endeavour: His concerns mainly centred on the fact that the majority of the managers who followed the decision did so out of loyalty to Woolworth, and that moving such a valuable resource already established in the United States to what was a financially unproven "Little Infant" in the UK would have a detrimental effect upon the "Bread and Butter" of the Company.
1900s–1910s
Despite reservations such as Peck's, the decision to launch in the United Kingdom went ahead as previously planned by Woolworth. He considered several locations for the first shops, together with future possible sites. The chosen location for the first shop was 25-25A Church Street and 8 Williamson Street in the centre of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
(the street addresses of the different entrances). It opened on 5 November 1909 with a performance by a full orchestra, circus acts and fireworks.
[
As a means of adherence to American trading tradition, only viewing of items was allowed on the first day of the shop's opening. This included guests being given complementary tea while being entertained by a traditional brass band in the refreshment room. The event was reported positively by the local newspaper, ''the Liverpool Courier'', which praised the decor of the shops along with the value and range of items on sale.
Despite local press praise, British national newspaper the '']Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' likened Frank Woolworth to American showman P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was ...
and claimed that the location had been decided as part of a contingency plan in the event of failure so as to facilitate escape from any financial liability. Despite these reservations, the shop proved to be a success; large queues outside and low priced 3d. and 6d. ("threepenny and sixpenny") items leading to it being almost stripped bare of goods before the end of the first day of trading and being attributed to mass purchased mass-produced foreign and local goods.
The business expanded into Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, opening a shop on Grafton Street in Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
on 23 April 1914 Plans and one on High Street in Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
on 6 November 1915.
At the onset of the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, F.W. Woolworth & Co. had 40 shops in Great Britain and Ireland located in most major cities - from which a total of 57 staff including shop managers had enlisted; the majority of whom did not return after the end of the war in 1918. Despite American staff again offering their services to the Woolworths branches in Britain, remaining staff increased their efforts to cope with the lack of staff members throughout the war with several staff members being promoted to managerial positions.
Shops in the United States, which were then stocking ranges also present in British shops, were dependent upon European manufacturers which had adopted newer production methods than their American counterparts.
1920s–1930s
After the First World War, the company continued to expand with the opening of further branches. By 1923 there were 130 branches, and William Lawrence Stephenson (1880–1963) became managing director. He implemented a strategy of major expansion, with the company buying or building freehold properties. Many of the shops had distinctive faience
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white Ceramic glaze, pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide, oxide of tin to the Slip (c ...
tiled art deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
frontages. The expansion was funded entirely out of earnings and without any borrowing or further capitalisation. The 400th branch, at Southport, Lancashire, opened on 12 July 1930, and the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1931. The US parent company reduced its holding in the company to 51.7% at that time. In 1934, the 600th shop was opened, in Wallington in Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
.
1940s–1950s
Expansion was effectively suspended between 1940 and 1950, owing to the Second World War and post-war restrictions, but then resumed. The 800th branch, at Wilton Road, Victoria, London, opened in September 1953.
A shop was opened in Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
in Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
in 1954. This was followed in 1959 by one in Salisbury
Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
in Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...
(now Harare, Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
); its layout was based on that of a shop in Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
. Woolworth also operated shops in Barbados
Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
and the West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
.
On 22 May 1958, the 1000th branch (known as "Portslade" to distinguish it from the existing Hove branch) opened in Boundary Road, Hove. The peak of 1,141 branches was reached in the late 1960s. From then until the US parent sold out in 1982, a number of branches were closed and sold, and at the time that ownership shifted to the UK, there were about 1,000 branches.
1960s–1970s
Woolworths tried the large out-of-town or hypermarket
A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...
format in the 1960s with the Woolco
Woolco was an American-based discount retail chain. It was founded in 1962 in Columbus, Ohio, by the F. W. Woolworth Company. It was a full-line discount department store unlike the five-and-dime Woolworth stores which operated at the time. At ...
shops. While some of these were closed, the majority were sold to the Dee Corporation in the early 1980s and reopened as Gateway hypermarkets, later being taken over by Asda
Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
.
One of Woolworths' flagship locations, on Briggate in Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, suffered a major fire in 1969. The shop, which opened in 1913, was spread over four floors and sustained extensive damage, requiring a total refit. The shop was not open to the public at the time and the building was evacuated, avoiding fatalities, although some staff suffered minor injuries. It took several hours for the fire to be fully extinguished.
1980s–1990s
In 1982, the British Woolworths and its sister chain B&Q were acquired by Paternoster Stores Ltd, the forerunner of Kingfisher plc
Kingfisher plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England.
It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher i ...
. Woolworths Group plc was formed by the demerger of Kingfisher's general merchandise business, and began trading as a listed company on the London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
on 28 August 2003, using the symbol WLW.
In October 1984, the Woolworths shops in the Republic of Ireland were closed. In August 1996, market research was undertaken by Woolworths investigating opportunities to re-enter the Republic of Ireland market. About 32 potential locations were identified that could support a Woolworths location. However, the project did not proceed beyond the market research phase.
During the 1980s, management rationalised merchandise lines into clearly defined categories: entertainment, home, children (toys and clothing) and confectionery. Many Woolworths branches were downsized during this time. Older branches in major cities were sometimes almost as large as the major department stores nearby. In 1987, for example, Woolworths left its five-floor branch on Briggate in Leeds (now occupied by House of Fraser
House of Fraser (rebranding to Frasers) is a British department store chain with 23 locations across the United Kingdom and 2 in Ireland, part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it ...
), which it had occupied since 1913, and kept only its smaller single-level branch in the Merrion Centre. This was in an area of the city centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
which had less pedestrian traffic, of shoppers who were generally on a lower budget.
Woolworths did have several smaller outlets during the 1990s which sold music and confectionery. Smaller outlets with a similar format were also tried at the Sheffield Meadowhall Shopping Centre, but closed in 2003; the Manchester Music and Video shop was superseded by a larger MVC shop, owned by Woolworths Group.
In the late 1990s, the management extended the Woolworths brand into other retail formats and alternative channels to accelerate growth by taking advantage of changing retail trends. Some larger-format shops were opened under the Big W
Big W (stylised as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of the Woolworths Group and as of 2024 operated 179 stores, with around 18,000 emp ...
brand, similar to Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
in the US. Although it was successful at the beginning, the format failed to catch on; the original plan had relied upon leveraging the involvement of other Kingfisher group retailers, but following the de-merger this was no longer possible.
2000s–2010s
Following a period of losses, Woolworths confirmed in 2004 it would abandon the Big W concept. The group sold seven of the 21 Big W shops in 2005 to Tesco and Asda. The gross internal floor area of the remaining sites was reduced to an optimum trading size of around 40,000 to . Following this, they were rebranded as Woolworths Out of Town shops.[
The newly independent Woolworths faced severe competitive and financial pressures. The market for physical copies of music, one of Woolworths' main money spinners, shrank in the early 21st century; specialist music chains such as Our Price collapsed. The major supermarket chains expanded into many of Woolworths' product areas, and the fast-expanding Wilkinson challenged it directly on the high street.
Woolworths did not generally follow the trend started in the 1980s of opening shops at out-of-town relocations. One of its few out-of-town shops opened at ]Dudley
Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...
's Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Merry Hill (formerly Intu Merry Hill, Westfield Merry Hill and The Merry Hill Shopping Centre) is a large Shopping center, shopping complex in Brierley Hill near Dudley, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several subsequent ...
in 1989, but this closed within a few years due to disappointing trade.
In an attempt to raise the group's corporate profile under the chairmanship of Gerald Corbett, Woolworths sponsored a show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2004. Designed by a group of graduate students from Pickard School of Garden Design, the contemporary-formal style garden was awarded a silver medal.
In the middle of 2006 the business launched an in-store collection service for items ordered on their website or in-store, to complement the already established in-store ordering system. In late September 2006, the Big Red Book was launched, to compete directly with the Argos catalogue.
Woolworths launched the ''WorthIt!'' brand as a value range in 2007. The first advertising campaign for the brand aired on 15 June 2007 and featured the characters of Wooly the sheep and Worth the sheepdog. Further advertising campaigns featured celebrities such as Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...
, Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...
and Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne (born on October 27 1984) is an English television personality, singer, actress, and fashion designer. She is a daughter of Ozzy Osbourne, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, and came to prominence while appearing on the reali ...
. The brand covered a wide variety of products including confectionery, electricals, alcohol, jewellery, perfumes and clothing.
Woolworths had a strongly unionised workforce, with shop stewards such as Paul Thompson of Unite (formerly the Transport and General Workers' Union
The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...
) particularly active in the north of the UK.
In July 2008, the board rejected a bid from Iceland founder Malcolm Walker to buy Woolworths' 819 shops for £50m. Walker's bid did not include Entertainment UK or the stake in 2 Entertain, and also avoided taking on Woolworths' debt and pension liabilities.
On 12 August 2008, Woolworths Group announced the appointment of Steve Johnson, former chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Focus DIY, to the post of chief executive. He replaced Trevor Bish-Jones, who had left in June. Woolworths scrapped its interim dividend in September 2008, after it announced a pre-tax loss of £99.7m for the six months to 2 August. At the same time, Johnson outlined a possible turnaround plan to sell 120 shops, axe a quarter of its products, reduce web operations and cut jobs.
At that time, the retailer's largest shareholder was Iranian property developer Ardeshir Naghshineh, with a 10.2% stake. A consortium led by Icelandic investor Baugur, called Unity owned a 10% stake in Woolworths. In October 2008 Sir Alan Sugar, founder of electronics firm Amstrad
Amstrad plc was a British consumer electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. During the 1980s, the company was known for its Home computer, home computers beginning with the Amstrad CPC and later also the ZX Spectrum range after the ...
, increased his stake in Woolworths to around 4%. Theo Paphitis, owner of stationery retailer Ryman, also stated his interest in the company.
The 2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
and the Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009. reduced availability of credit
Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...
and consumer spending.
On 19 November 2008, ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' reported that the Woolworths' retail business was a target for restructuring specialist Hilco UK, who would buy the retail arm for a nominal £1; this was confirmed the same day. The deal would have left Woolworths Group with its profitable distribution and publishing businesses and a reduced debt load. Ardeshir Naghshineh criticised the plan, recommending instead that the company sell some of the shops to raise more funds.
The group's banks, GMAC and Burdale, rejected the deal and recalled their loans, forcing the group to place the retail business and Entertainment UK into administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.
** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
. On 26 November 2008, the trading of shares in Woolworths PLC was suspended, and Neville Kahn, Dan Butters and Nick Dargan of Deloitte
Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
were appointed joint administrators. When the company entered administration it had a debt of £385 million. The administrators announced that they were aiming to keep the company as a going concern over the crucial Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
period, although analysts feared that any heavy discounting would create a domino effect
A domino effect is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a series of similar or related events, a form of chain reaction. The term is an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events ...
and drag down other high street retailers. Deloitte later announced they had received "substantial interest" in Woolworths.
When news of Woolworths' entry into administration was widely publicised, National Lottery operator Camelot
Camelot is a legendary castle and Royal court, court associated with King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described ...
immediately suspended Woolworths from selling their lottery tickets and scratch cards, as well as preventing claimants from redeeming prizes at the shops.
On 5 December 2008, Woolworths recorded their greatest single day takings of £27 million, and axed 450 head office and support staff jobs. A closing-down sale started on 11 December.
On 17 December 2008, administrators announced that all 807 Woolworths locations would close by 5 January 2009 (later changed to 6 January), with 27,000 job losses. Deloitte's Neville Kahn also said that it was unclear how much of Woolworths' debt would be paid. In the last few days of trading discounts of up to 90% were offered, and a number of shops sold all of their stock, many selling all of their fixtures and fittings too.
The shops were closed in phases, and the final two closing days were moved back a day to try to sell more of the remaining stock and to ease logistics of closing.
* 207 shops closed on 27 December 2008
* 37 closed on 29 December
* 164 closed on 30 December
* 200 closed on 3 January 2009
* remaining shops (199) closed on 6 January 2009
The former chief executive of Kingfisher, Woolworths' former parent company, and Ardeshir Naghshineh, a major shareholder of Woolworths, criticised the closures.
On 19 January 2009, the owner, Woolworths Group, announced its intention to also enter administration, as it could no longer pay its debts. The application was heard by the High Court on 27 January, and Woolworths Group PLC entered administration.
The trade unions complained of the collective redundancies and they started various legal actions before the UK tribunals based on the absence of proper consultation of the employee representatives. The UK Court of Appeal referred the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ( or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, this EU ins ...
which partially disagreed with the unions by an important decision of 30 April 2015.
2020s
In October 2020, an unverified Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account named @UKWoolworths announced that Woolworths UK was planning to relaunch. The announcement was reported by dozens of mainstream British websites, including MailOnline
MailOnline (also known as ''dailymail.co.uk'' and ''dailymail.com'' outside the UK) is the website of the ''Daily Mail'', a tabloid newspaper in the United Kingdom, and of its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday''. MailOnline is a division of dmg ...
and the ''Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
''. Within hours the Very Group, the owner of the Woolworths brand, confirmed that the account was a hoax. The stunt was perpetrated by a teenage student, Luke Castle, who claimed to have run it as an experiment "testing the brand loyalty of the British public".
In January 2024, it was announced that Woolworths may make a return 15 years after it closed, when the German company announced its expansion throughout Europe and the UK was one of its high priorites and this looks more likely, following the closure of Wilko just a year earlier in the UK. Woolworth GmbH's chief executive told BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
that the UK was on his "bucket list" of destinations for international expansion.
Aftermath of insolvency in the UK
Former shops
The administrators announced on 10 December 2008, that they were having difficulty selling the company as a going concern, and as a result some shops might close before the end of the month. Talks were still progressing to sell individual shops and leases to a number of retailers, said to include the supermarket chains Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...
, Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
, Asda
Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
, Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
, The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, leg ...
and Poundland.
In December 2008, Woolworths executive Tony Page and former UBS banker Gareth Thomas were trying to raise around £30,000,000 to relaunch the brand after closure with a chain of 125 shops. However, a deal could not be met in time. The government was also asked in a final attempt to make the deal but without success.
Then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
noted that the government had considered saving Woolworths, but they concluded that it was a "financially unviable" business.
The supermarket chain Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
bought 51 of the shops on 9 January 2009 for an undisclosed sum. Baugur, one of the major shareholders of Woolworths, partly owns Iceland, and Baugur UK itself entered administration in February. A further five former shops in Wales were bought by The Original Factory Shop in April 2009. Across the UK, shops were sporadically replaced by other retailers such as Next
NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...
, Boyes, Boots
A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...
, Primark
Primark Limited (; trading as Penneys in Ireland) is an Irish multinational fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original ''Penneys'' brand is not used outside of Irel ...
, TK Maxx
TK Maxx is a discount clothing and homewares retailer, founded in 1994. It is currently based in Watford, England.
It is owned by American retailer TJ Maxx, who could not trade under the initials "TJ" in the United Kingdom due to the British d ...
, Home Bargains, and W H Smith
WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...
.
In August 2010, the BBC reported that over 300 (i.e., approximately 40%) of former Woolworths outlets remained empty, and that the largest group now using former Woolworths shops were discount retailers - such as Poundland. By January 2012, it was reported that there were still 105 empty former Woolworths shops, and a further 68 had been demolished.
Alworths
According to press reports on 17 February 2009, Tony Page and Gareth Thomas were planning to open a chain of shops adopting the Woolworths format, but under a different name. A shop opened under the Alworths name on 5 November 2009 in Didcot
Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, located south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Historically part of Berkshire, the town is noted ...
, on the site of a former Woolworths shop, without the involvement of Page or Thomas. By January 2011, 18 shops had been opened, although in April the company also entered administration and closed.
Wellworths
The Woolworths shop in Dorchester, Dorset
Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome, Dorset, River Frome to the south of the Dorset Dow ...
was reopened as an independent business named ''Wellworths'' by the shop manager Claire Robertson. It was officially opened by BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
DJ Chris Evans on 11 March 2009. It was later renamed ''Wellchester''.
Wellchester ceased trading in August 2012, after Robertson left to set up her own retail consultancy business.
Woolworths.co.uk
The Woolworths brand and domain was bought by Shop Direct Group
The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the Speke area of the city of Liverpool, England. The brand was established in November 200 ...
(later known as The Very Group), owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, on 2 February 2009. ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' estimated that they would have paid between £5 million and £10 million for the brand. Woolworths also launched an Easter egg website, called ''Woolies Wonderland'', for Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
2009. The company announced it would relaunch Woolworths as an online retailer
Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of t ...
. The website was launched on 26 June 2009. It has been closed since June 2015.
Incidents
Disasters
New Cross, London
Many branches of Woolworths suffered severe bomb damage and even destruction during the Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
attacks in the early part of the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. However it was towards the end of the war that the largest civilian loss of life due to direct enemy fire in Britain during the conflict occurred when, at lunchtime on 25 November 1944, a German V-2 rocket
The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...
fell on a packed Woolworths shop in New Cross Road, killing 168 people (including 15 children), injuring 122 others and razing the building to the ground. The neighbouring London Co-operative Society shop was also demolished in the attack. The shop was especially busy as news of a delivery of hard-to-obtain saucepan
A saucepan is one of the basic forms of cookware (not technically a pan), in the form of a round cooking vessel, typically deep, and wide enough to hold at least of water, with sizes typically ranging up to , and having a long handle protrudi ...
s generated huge crowds, many of whom were queueing outside at the time of the rocket's impact.
Planning and economic restrictions after the war meant Woolworths did not build a replacement shop on the site until 1960; this closed in 1984. It was reported that some employees there felt the building was haunted.
Lewisham Council
Lewisham London Borough Council, also known as Lewisham Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Lewisham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour major ...
and Woolworths erected a plaque on the site commemorating those who died that day. There is now an Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
supermarket on the site.
Fire safety
During the period from 1971 to 1981 a series of fires occurred in Woolworths premises which brought into sharp focus the company's complacent attitude towards fire safety, a policy which culminated in a number of fatalities.
Central Warehouse, Rochdale
On 6 May 1971, a fire broke out at the main distribution depot at Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
, Lancashire. The site was split into three sections, along with an administration block that housed the company’s new mainframe computer system and all stock and accounting records. The fire soon spread owing to the failure of the sprinkler system; this led to administration staff frantically dis-assembling the computer and passing parts of it, along with stock cards and other records, out of windows onto waiting lorries.
Over 100 fire fighters attended the blaze and they managed to save two-thirds of the building with no loss of life. The resultant insurance payout of £3m was the highest of its kind in the north-west of England at that time.
High Street, Colchester
On 2 October 1973, a fire broke out in the storeroom of the shop at 40-50 High Street, Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''.
Colchester occupies the ...
. The blaze soon spread to the rest of the shop and the building was totally destroyed. Although all customers and staff were evacuated, subsequent findings blamed a lack of a sprinkler system (which was not, and still is not, a legal requirement) and poor procedures in place for staff to deal with fires and evacuations.
Central Manchester
A fire erupted just after 1pm on 8 May 1979 at the Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
shop opposite Piccadilly Gardens, said at the time to be the largest Woolworths in Europe, with six floors plus two basement levels. The fire, which started in the second floor furnishing department, killed nine shoppers and one member of staff, of whom three were found just six feet away from an exit with another three bodies nearby. Of the 12 calls made to the fire service that day, none came from the shop itself. It is believed that the fire was started by a damaged electrical cable, which had furniture stacked in front of it. An inquiry showed that, although the shop's fire precautions met all legal requirements, the spread of the fire and the high number of casualties were in part due to the absence of measures such as a fire sprinkler system
A fire sprinkler system is an active fire protection method, consisting of a water supply system providing adequate pressure and flowrate to a water distribution piping system, to which fire sprinklers are connected. Although initially used on ...
to stop the spread of the fire from the furniture department, and the use of polyurethane
Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...
foam in the furnishings, a material which is highly inflammable and highly toxic, but cheap and, at that time, legal in furniture. This finding would have consequences for later safety legislation.
The second floor was gutted by the fire, while the third floor suffered severe smoke damage; the ground, first and second floors all received extensive water damage when the fire was extinguished. Due to the loss of life and devastation to the Manchester shop, the Fire Research Station conducted a number of tests to develop sprinkler systems that could handle a similar large department store fire. However, there is still no legal requirement for United Kingdom retailers to have a sprinkler system in place, with many preferring to focus on evacuation procedures rather than fire containment. The catastrophe also resulted in modifications to the Fire Precautions Act and was among the factors that led to the ban on the use of polyurethane foam in home furnishings (a long-time concern of the fire service) forcing furniture manufacturers to develop new fabrics and materials for sofas and other items.
The fire brought graphic images into the public consciousness (including footage of female office staff trapped behind barred windows on the top floor) due to the shop's location next to the then studios of BBC Manchester (above the National Westminster Bank) and near to those of Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...
, the offices of the ''Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
'' and the northern offices of several national newspapers.
The disaster has become a significant object of study for academics interested in the behaviour of people in emergency situations, after research showed a number of customers (predominately in the public restaurant area) refused to leave despite the sounding of alarms, requests from staff and even the smell and visibility of smoke
Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...
; some even continued to queue at an abandoned check-out. The majority of those who perished were in this area.
The shop was re-opened, but closed in 1986. The site became an amusement arcade
An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mercha ...
for many years, until the building owners evicted the tenants in favour of a building renovation to house a 157-room Travelodge hotel, a Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...
convenience shop, and Zizzi and Nando's
Nando's (; ) is a South Africa, South African multinational fast casual restaurant chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled, peri-peri style Chicken as food, chicken.
Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outl ...
restaurants.
Worcester
On 1 October 1979, the Woolworths shop located in Worcester's High Street was severely damaged in a large fire. There were no casualties but the shop remained closed for several months until it re-opened in 1980. It was later discovered that the fire was purposely started by a disgruntled staff member, and was worsened by the fact there was no sprinkler system.
Wimbledon Broadway
In 1981, a fire was discovered in a storeroom at the shop in Wimbledon. Better staff training as a result of the Manchester fire led to a successful evacuation, but the building was totally destroyed by the blaze. A firefighter was killed when he and two colleagues became trapped when the upper levels of the building collapsed.
As a result of the damage caused to the reputation of the business by these events, the American parent owners decided to sell the British operation to Paternoster Stores, which was eventually renamed Kingfisher. The company actively promoted the use of smoke detectors after these fires, a policy which helped increase their usage and reduce their cost.
Terrorism
As a result of the targeting of high-profile British businesses in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
by the Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
(IRA) during The Troubles
The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
, a number of Woolworth shops suffered significant damage.
High Street, Belfast
This was the flagship Woolworths shop in Northern Ireland. It suffered a series of incendiary attacks, with one such attack in 1972 gutting the shop. Owing to telephoned warnings, no-one was killed in any of these attacks.
Bognor Regis Incident
On the 3rd of August 1994, two bombs were planted in bags placed on bicycles outside Woolworths shop. The Bognor Regis bomb detonated damaging shops but resulted in no casualties, the Brighton bomb was located and defuzed. The one in Bognor Regis was hidden in the pannier of a bicycle and locked to a post outside the Woolworths shop, London Road. 15 shops were damaged after it exploded at closing time around 5:57 pm, littering the street with glass.
The Bognor Regis incident prompted a security alert along the south coast seaside resorts and the Brighton bike bomb was subsequently located. The Brighton bike bomb pannier contained 2.5kg of Semtex explosive along with an IRA Time Power Unit (TPU).
Bangor, County Down
Woolworths' shop at 18/22 Main Street, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland (Shop No. 380) was targeted by terrorists on 30 March 1974 as part of co-ordinated incendiary bomb attack on the town centre.
At 5pm, a telephone warning was received that 15 incendiary devices had been placed in the town centre and were due to explode in 30 minutes. Immediate and successful efforts were made by the police to evacuate the commercial centre of the town, however there was inadequate time to prevent the devices from exploding. The Woolworths shop was badly damaged after a device exploded on the sales floor. A policeman suffered concussion after he was blown off his feet by the blast from the device, and a female civilian was cut by flying debris.
Other shops targeted in the attack included the town's Co-operative Department Store and FA Wellworth Department Store. The town's Woolworths shop was demolished after the attack. A new shop was built on the same site, which reopened in the mid 1970s.
The rebuilt shop suffered minor damage after a 200 lb car bomb exploded a short distance away, near the town's FA Wellworth's shop on the evening of 21 October 1992. Nobody was injured in the explosion, which occurred after most shops in the town centre had closed for the day. However, significant damage was caused to the entrance area of the Woolworths' shop, with windows being blown out, the porch roof being destroyed and a small quantity of stock toward the front of the shop being damaged. Additionally, minor structural damage was caused to the shop's storeroom with two internal portioning walls adjacent to the generator room and fixtures having to be rebuilt. The shop recommenced trading on 23 October 1992.
Music
Woolworths was for many years a leader in the UK music industry. In the 1950s and well into the 1960s, Woolworths issued recordings available only via its shops on its own label Embassy Records, produced and manufactured by Oriole Records. These releases were double-sided singles featuring two cover versions of current hit singles sold at a much cheaper price. This venture was very successful at the time, but was eventually killed off when other record companies started to issue compilation albums. However, Woolworths remained in the music business selling a wide range of singles and albums, and remained the UK's biggest music retailer well into the 1990s. Even successful nationwide music specialist shops such as Virgin Megastores
Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street.
In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Tottenh ...
and HMV
HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson.
The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...
did not overtake Woolworths during this time. They later suffered from strong competition in this field from the large supermarket chains Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
and Asda
Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
.
Cafés
In the early days many Woolworths locations had cafés. However, as the years went on and many larger shops were either closed or downscaled, fewer had cafés. When the shops finally ceased trading in 2008/9, only around 10% of them had cafés. These were usually located at the back of the shops or, when a shop had a second sales floor, they were located either in the basement or upstairs on the first floor. They sold the usual range of hot and cold drinks, with hot food available, including breakfasts and lunch-time meals.
Subsidiaries
Entertainment UK
Entertainment UK (EUK) was founded as Record Merchandisers Limited in 1966 by EMI Music Publishing to distribute music to non-specialist retailers. It later became a joint venture between a number of record companies. Woolworths became Entertainment UK's largest customer and in 1986 Record Merchandisers Limited was acquired by Kingfisher plc. Record Merchandisers was renamed Entertainment UK in 1988.
EUK became the property of Woolworths Group plc after the de-merger from Kingfisher in 2001. In 2006, Woolworths Group acquired Total Home Entertainment Distribution Limited (THE) and combined it with EUK. In November 2007 the company acquired the book wholesaler and distributor Bertram Books.
EUK was the main supplier of Zavvi under an exclusive supply deal. As a result of EUK entering into administration, on 24 December the music retailer was also forced into administration as it was unable to source stock on favourable terms direct from suppliers. Zavvi later closed entirely, but still continues to this day as an online retailer.
Streets Online
Streets Online, founded in 1996 by Stephen Cole, was one of the pioneers of online retailing in the UK. The company was the name behind the online bookseller Alphabetstreet and music site Audiostreet. 85% of the company was bought out by the Kingfisher Group in 2000 for £15.7 million, and then became part of the Woolworths Group with its de-merger in 2001. It then became responsible for the web operations of MVC and Tesco. When Kingfisher bought this 85%, the remaining 15% was owned by Sky New Media Ventures (part of BSkyB
Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), trading as Sky, is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers ...
). In 2003 the company headquarters was moved to the EUK site in Hayes.
2 Entertain
2 Entertain was established in September 2004 as a joint venture between the Woolworths Group, and BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
. It combined the group's former video publishing, music publishing and video production business (Video Collection International
2 Entertain Video Limited, trading as BBC Studios Home Entertainment, is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International by BBC Worldwide and the Woolworths (United Kingd ...
) with BBC Worldwide's former video publishing business (BBC Video
2 Entertain Video Limited, trading as BBC Studios Home Entertainment, is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International by BBC Worldwide and the Woolworths (United Kingd ...
), BBC Worldwide would hold 60%, while the Woolworths Group would hold 40%, additionally, both BBC Worldwide and Woolworths Group wanted 2 Entertain to better compete with the major studios. After negotiations with Woolworth Group's administrators, BBC Worldwide purchased Woolworths' 40% stake in 2 Entertain in March 2010 for £17 million, taking full ownership of the company and would eventually be renamed BBC Studios Home Entertainment (although 2 Entertain is still the legal name of the company).
Brands
Winfield
The Winfield brand was launched by Woolworths in 1963 and continued until the 1980s. Goods sold under the brand included household cleaners, groceries, kitchenware, perfumes and other ranges such as fishing tackle
Fishing tackle is the equipment used by fishermen, anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being fishing hook, hooks, fishing line, lines, fishing bait, baits/fishing lure, lures ...
.
Chad Valley
Chad Valley was launched in 1991 to create an own label range of merchandise. The Chad Valley brand name, which has been in existence since 1860, is used on a range of toys and games suitable for children under 8 years old. Home Retail Group
Home Retail Group plc was a British retail company established on 10 October 2006, following the spin-off of GUS (retailer)#Other retail and manufacturing growth, Argos Retail Group (ARG) from GUS (retailer), GUS plc. It was listed on the Londo ...
, then the parent company of Argos and Homebase
Homebase was a British Home improvement center, home improvement and garden centre retailer that operated across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
It was founded by British supermarket chain Sainsbury's and Belgian retailer GIB Group, GB-Inno ...
, purchased the brand for £5 million on 20 January 2009. Chad Valley first appeared exclusively in the Autumn/Winter 2009 Argos catalogue.
Ladybird
Ladybird was a brand of children's wear for children aged 0–10 years which was sold exclusively in Woolworths. Before the collapse of the Woolworths chain it was ranked third overall in the childrenswear market, with a market share of 5%. Woolworths purchased rights to the Ladybird brand in 1984, purchasing it outright from Coats Viyella in 2001. The brand has a history which dates back to a trading partnership beginning in 1934 between the original firm Adolf Pasold & Son and Woolworths. On 1 February 2009, Shop Direct Group purchased the brand and whole rights from the administrators.
References
External links
Woolworths Virtual Museum
{{Authority control
Defunct companies based in London
British companies established in 1909
Retail companies established in 1909
British companies disestablished in 2009
Retail companies disestablished in 2009
Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom
Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom
F. W. Woolworth Company
1969 disasters in the United Kingdom
Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom