End Of The Line For Woolworths

[DaveM]

Administrators have confirmed they are to close all 807 Woolworths stores in the UK by January 5 with the loss of 27,000 jobs.

Some 207 are to close on December 27 followed by another 200 on December 30.

A further 200 stores will be shut on January 2 and the remaining 200 on January 5.

Administrators Deloitte say they hope to sell 300 stores to other retailers.

The decision to close the outlets was taken after all attempts to find a buyer for the business failed, a spokesman said.

Woolworths' 27,000 staff will be retained for a short period after the closures but will then be made redundant.

Some 22,000 are currently employed full-time, the other 5,000 are temporary workers. The first will leave on December 31.

Read the fully story here - http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Administrators-Confirm-Reports-All-Woolworths-Stores-To-Close-By-January-5-With-Loss-Of-27000-Jobs/Article/200812315184385?lpos=Business_First_UK_News_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15184385_Administrators_Confirm_Reports_All_Woolworths_Stores_To_Close_By_January_5_With_Loss_Of_27%2C000_Jobs

 

[CarlS]

Woolworths closed down years ago in the States. I hate to hear this.

 

[Geoff587]

End of another Institution I connect to my childhood. Did my first shoplifting there at the Pick and Nick sweet counter. Fond memories. :wink:

 

[Dschief]

The last F.W. Woolworth in my area went under about 11 years ago. I worked there when I was in High School. The end of an era!

 

[dazco]

I had no idea they have had any open stores anywhere for decades. Didn't even know they were international. I remember when my mother would take me shopping and we'd always end up there and have lunch at the little restaurant they had inside.
Anyone in the U.S. remember W.T. Grant? Orange Julius? So many chains from my youth, and they're pretty much all history. Sometimes i think that when theres nothing left in my hometown that i recognize from my youth, that's the time i'm scheduled to leave this world. If thats true, i don't have much time left !

 

[Dschief]

Grants? Oh yeah I remember them! The last time I was in one I was about 7 years old getting a birthday present from some friends of my Mom & Dad.
I thought Orange Julius was gone too, but my wife told me that they are still around, they just can't make the drink like they used to. It seems that using raw egg is a health hazard.

 

[CarlS]

I remember Grants well; but I had never heard of Orange Julius.

 

[DaveM]

Woolworth is still quite big here in SA but they are not the super type store that this seems to be.

 

[dazco]

[quote author=CarlS link=topic=2982.msg20132#msg20132 date=1229649242]
I remember Grants well; but I had never heard of Orange Julius.
[/quote]

Really?! Well i guess maybe it was a west coast thing, i dunno. But it was a small hot dog and burger place, but the featured item and namesake was a drink that was orange juice and a orange powder and i guess an egg like Dschief said, tho i couldn't remember that. But they put it all in a blender and it became a sort of thick shake like orange drink. I loved them. wish there was one around today, but they seemed to have gone bye bye around 8-10 years ago. the one and only one i ever went to was in the same location from when i first went there at around 10 years old till just a few years ago, and i'm 55 today. For many years i went there, and whats even more amazing is it was run by a guy named Jerry who was there from the first time i ever went in there to the last !!! It was his life and he loved that place. And i guess it did him good because he didn't seem to age ! What i wouldn't give to go there again and see Jerry behind the counter and order a orange julius ! (in fact, the WT grant store i was familiar with was in the same mall)

 

[Silli]

[quote author=DaveM link=topic=2982.msg20133#msg20133 date=1229655297]
Woolworth is still quite big here in SA but they are not the super type store that this seems to be.
[/quote]

Dave..... Woolworths in the UK is not the same as here. Our (SA) Woolies is the equivalent to "Marks and Spencers" in the UK.
Its so long since I was in a uk woolies store I forget what they sell.........but seem to remember it being a cheepie shop of sorts????

 

[DaveM]

Ah yes I have heard this about our one but could not remember the "Marks and Spencers" :y114:

 

[Dschief]

[quote author=dazco link=topic=2982.msg20136#msg20136 date=1229665712]
[quote author=CarlS link=topic=2982.msg20132#msg20132 date=1229649242]
I remember Grants well; but I had never heard of Orange Julius.
[/quote]

Really?! Well i guess maybe it was a west coast thing, i dunno. But it was a small hot dog and burger place, but the featured item and namesake was a drink that was orange juice and a orange powder and i guess an egg like Dschief said, tho i couldn't remember that. But they put it all in a blender and it became a sort of thick shake like orange drink. I loved them. wish there was one around today, but they seemed to have gone bye bye around 8-10 years ago. the one and only one i ever went to was in the same location from when i first went there at around 10 years old till just a few years ago, and i'm 55 today. For many years i went there, and whats even more amazing is it was run by a guy named Jerry who was there from the first time i ever went in there to the last !!! It was his life and he loved that place. And i guess it did him good because he didn't seem to age ! What i wouldn't give to go there again and see Jerry behind the counter and order a orange julius ! (in fact, the WT grant store i was familiar with was in the same mall)
[/quote]
Actually, the Orange Julius shops we had were mall kiosks. They did have some light fare, but the drink was the main attraction. This is on the east coast, BTW. So they are/were somewhat national.

 

[stevethelondoner]

[quote author=Geoff587 link=topic=2982.msg20104#msg20104 date=1229609156]
End of another Institution I connect to my childhood. Did my first shoplifting there at the Pick and Nick sweet counter. Fond memories. :wink:
[/quote]

I hear ya mate.....blimey we use to go to the one in me town to play the atari on summer holidays. Me mum told me about this Moday when i called her....sad.

Ride Safe

 

[Rocky]

Since Nova Scotia is so close to the New England States we've travelled there a great many times over the years. Orange Julius was popular all over New England in the shopping malls.
We had Marks & Spencers stores here and I liked shopping there, but they're gone now.
I was in a huge Marks & Spencers store in London, England a few years ago and got tired of waiting for the elevator. I pushed open a door I thought lead to the stairs but it was an emergency exit and I set off the fire alarm.
I apologized very loudly that there was no emergency, it was a mistake, spotted the real stairs and ran for it :ya2:

 

[stevethelondoner]

[quote author=Rocky link=topic=2982.msg20197#msg20197 date=1229773001]
Since Nova Scotia is so close to the New England States we've travelled there a great many times over the years. Orange Julius was popular all over New England in the shopping malls.
We had Marks & Spencers stores here and I liked shopping there, but they're gone now.
I was in a huge Marks & Spencers store in London, England a few years ago and got tired of waiting for the elevator. I pushed open a door I thought lead to the stairs but it was an emergency exit and I set off the fire alarm.
I apologized very loudly that there was no emergency, it was a mistake, spotted the real stairs and ran for it :ya2:
[/quote]


HAHAHAHAHA! Thats awesome mate.....where in London was the Marks? They are all over bloody London. The Grub is a bit steep to buy but its good quality stuff. I went to a bit of a Christams doo last week. it was a guy my wife works with and what was sitting there but a plate of Marks and Spencer mince pies.....The host gave me a couple boxes. She is an air Hostess and gets this stuff all the time. Gone through one box already....hahahaha

Ride Safe

 

[Rocky]

I don't remember where the Marks & Spencers store was, but it wasn't too far from Harrod's as I recall.
It might have been on Oxford Street.
The M & S underwear wore like iron and that's what I bought most.

 

[stevethelondoner]

[quote author=Rocky link=topic=2982.msg20232#msg20232 date=1229802206]
wore like iron and that's what I bought most.
[/quote]

Don't know if thats a good or bad thing mate....hahahaha Kind of heavy...haha

Ride Safe

 

[The Seeker]

Orange Julius were big in the shopping malls around Pittsburgh. I loved the drink and the Julius Burger.

Woolworths weren't too plentiful around here...we instead had Grants and J.C. Murphy Co.

I'll never forget buying a helium balloon at Murphys and putting my name and address on a note attached to the string. I let the thing go and like a Month later I got it back in an envelope with a note. That balloon had gone East about 700 miles and landed in a reservoir in New Jersey. The guy that worked there saw it come down and wondered what it was. He rowed out and retrieved it in a rowboat then sent it back to me.

 

[CarlS]

Now that is cool! I put many a note in a bottle and threw them in the ocean; never got a reply.

 

[stevethelondoner]

[quote author=CarlS link=topic=2982.msg20255#msg20255 date=1229813929]
Now that is cool! I put many a note in a bottle and threw them in the ocean; never got a reply.
[/quote]

Thats because they probably ended up on some island where they aint even seen a bottle let alone a note inside one...hahahaha

Ride Safe