High Street, Inverness with former Woolworths store (1 May 2010)

One of the hazards of visiting so many places – and taking so many photos of shops – is that I end up with far more potential blog topics than I ever have time to write about.

Some shots that I’ve had gathering dust since the beginning of May are from when I holidayed in the Scottish Highlands. Old Woolworths – or, in fact, any shops at all – are hard to come by in the wilds of Sutherland, but I did manage to bring in a couple of Woolies visits on the way back home.

Former Woolworths, Inverness - prior to Poundland moving in (1 May 2010)

First stop was Inverness, where the large former Woolies store at 13-15 High Street (store #233) was still empty when I visited. As Woolworths, the store had traded from the site for more than 80 years, opening on 11 September 1926 and undergoing a ‘reskinning’ in 1964 to give it its current, ‘modern’ appearance.

However, the news that Poundland would be moving into the ground floor of the five-storey property – opening a second Inverness store alongside its existing Eastgate shop – had been reported just the day before my visit. The new Poundland store is now trading, having opened last month.

North Berwick's characterful town centre (2 May 2010)

Almost at the other end of Scotland, the old Woolworths in the delightful seaside town of North Berwick, East Lothian (store #804) – which has been taken over by Poundstretcher – is a much more modest property.

Former Woolworths (now Poundstretcher), North Berwick (2 May 2010)

Despite Poundstretcher’s travails – blogged about back in August last year, and reflected in total pre-tax losses for its parent company, Instore, of more than £33m across the last four years – the retailer has picked up quite a few old Woolies stores, including, among others, sites in Penzance, Whitchurch, Hyde, Edinburgh, and several in Northern Ireland. These, along with the rest of the retailer’s estate, are adopting a revamped Poundstretcher fascia, following the abandonment of earlier plans to brand the entire chain as Instore.

These recent acquisitions have helped Poundstretcher to increase its store estate to about 320, still short of the peak of almost 340 that was reached in 2002, but an improvement on the 300 figure from early 2006. However, with Home Bargains and B&M Bargains expanding aggressively on one front (the latter now up to 197 stores, from just 10 in 2000), and single-price retailers Poundland and 99p Stores hammering away at another, it’s hard to know quite where Poundstretcher sits.

As the Retail Week Knowledge Bank sagely concludes, “the serious strategic dilemma facing [Instore's] management is that neither the Instore nor the Poundstretcher format is yet showing any obvious signs of making the required impact on enough consumers for the business to achieve sustainable long-term profitability despite all efforts.”

Former Woolworths in Llandudno (25 Sep 2009)

Well, that’s a coincidence. Having blogged about the former Woolworths in Llandudno just a couple of days ago, Alworths has announced today that it will be taking over the site for its 11th store – and its first in Wales.

Having been occupied by a discount book store (Publishers Book Clearance) from April last year until just a few days ago, the Mostyn Street premises will reopen as Alworths on 13 August – earlier, it would seem, than the unofficially revealed new Alworths stores in Hertford and Tiverton.

Former Woolworths and Publishers Book Clearance, Llandudno (25 Sep 2009)

I’ve made a bit of a habit lately of rumbling Alworths’ store plans ahead of the official announcements – probably to the despair of the lovely PR people – so all credit to MD Andy Latham and his team for getting one over me with this latest news!

The only whiff I got ahead of time was somebody finding Soult’s Retail View yesterday via a search for ‘Alworths Llandudno’ (which naturally piqued my curiosity), coupled with an awareness that the Llandudno site was now vacant again.

Pound-Mart's Cupar store (now Alworths), prior to closure. Photograph courtesy of Pound-Mart

Interestingly, just like the new Llandudno shop, several of the latest Alworths stores occupy former Woolies units that have temporarily housed other retailers – including those in Forfar and Cupar (previously Pound-Mart), and Hertford (formerly Well Worth It). As well as monitoring the BT Phone Book, it seems I need to keep an eye out for ‘end of lease’ sales as a possible sign of an impending Alworths.

Heading to Llandudno (20 Sep 2009)

Talking about the Llandudno outlet, Andy Latham rightly flags up that it will be Alworths’ “first coastal store”, and that Alworths will therefore “tailor the ranges accordingly”. In addition to the usual Alworths ranges, “holiday essentials and a range of beach toys” are promised during peak summer months.

Llandudno from the Great Orme (20 Sep 2009)

This sounds like a canny move – after all, Llandudno is a vibrant and highly attractive seaside resort, that still attracts a great many holidaymakers to enjoy the Great Orme Tramway, the Haulfre Gardens, and the town’s impressive pier. The top end of Mostyn Street has reportedly suffered from the loss of Woolworths, so a store that caters equally for both locals and visitors may be just what’s needed to perk things up again.

Empty unit in Llandudno's Mostyn Street (25 Sep 2009)

Just as Alworths’ press release for the Alloa store was interesting in flagging up its plans to open a further seven stores in Scotland “over time”, the Llandudno announcement reveals ambitious plans for Wales too. Latham reveals that the fledgling chain is “looking at a variety of other sites in both North and South Wales and we are looking to open a minimum of five more Alworths stores in Wales over the next year.”

This inevitably raises the question of where in Wales Alworths might open up next. As we know, many of the old Woolies sites have been snapped up already, including several – among them Barmouth, Cardigan, Chepstow, Porthmadog and Pwllheli – by The Original Factory Shop, a retailer with a product mix not too dissimilar to that of Alworths.

Of the three vacant Woolies sites in Wales that I blogged about a couple of days ago – in Caernarfon, Holyhead and Colwyn Bay – the former would seem the most likely potential location for an Alworths. Colwyn Bay, in contrast, has quite a bit of competition already, including Home Bargains, Instore and Argos in the buzzing Bayview Shopping Centre, and the planned branch of The Original Factory Shop that I mentioned in my earlier post.

When I first blogged about Holyhead back in November, I remarked that it was “just the kind of place where the closure of Woolies has left a really big hole.” I continued: “Though there is a Wilkinson on one of the out-of-town retail parks, I couldn’t spot any department store or good quality variety store in the town centre – just the type of gap that a store like Alworths could hopefully fill in the future.”

With Alworths now making its presence felt in North Wales, we’ll have to wait and see whether Holyhead is indeed part of its future plans.

Alworths fascia

Following on from my blog post about Alworths opening in the Clackmannanshire town of Alloa, it has now been confirmed that the new store will open this week, on Wednesday 21 July. The site, at 49 Shillinghill, was occupied by Ethel Austin, prior to that retailer’s collapse earlier this year. 

Quoting the MD Andy Latham, Alworths’ press release about the store opening highlights the point made in my earlier blog about it being the first store in the chain not to be located in an ex-Woolworths site: 

“Opening our tenth store will be a significant milestone for us. We’ve always maintained that we were not limiting our store search to just ex-Woolies sites… Our priority, as always, is to find good sites in traditional market towns and to be a local department store on the high street.” 

Like the nine other Alworths stores to date, the Alloa shop will stock “a mix of branded toys, sweets, homeware, stationery, entertainment products, seasonal goods and garden items”, as well as offering “a large selection of pic ‘n’ mix along with party accessories, cards and wrap.”

Alworths in Amersham (14 May 2010)

Given a blank canvas rather than the shell of a former Woolies, it will be interesting to see how the interior of the Alloa Alworths turn out.

This picks up on the point I made in my earlier review of the Amersham store, following my visit back in May, when I remarked that “as the Alworths chain expands further – and particularly if it starts taking over shops that were not formerly Woolworths – it will be interesting to see how it develops its own, more confident store interior style.”

The Alloa store now gives Alworths that opportunity to do something different and distinctive with its shopfit, defining it as a modern retailer with its own identity and vision, rather than one that some might perceive as harking back to the past.  

The news release also confirms Alworths’ plans to open a further seven stores in Scotland “over time”, and its intention to have 22 sites across the UK by the end of 2010. With the chain set to have ten stores by the end of July, it suggests that new shops will be opening at the rate of two or three a month for the rest of the year – a  similar rate of expansion, in fact, to when Woolworths was at the height of its growth in the 1920s.

We already know where the 11th store will be, and have a strong hint as to the location of the 12th. The arrival of a new Alworths in Hertford was reported a few days ago in the local press, with the customary job ad on the Peopletime website giving an opening date of August. The store will occupy the former Woolworths in Maidenhead Street – pictured here in happier times – which until this month housed a Well Worth It store. The latter is apparently moving to the nearby town of Hoddesdon instead, but is not, as far as I can tell, any relation to the Wallsend shop of the same name.

Former Woolworths, Tiverton (22 June 2009). Photograph by Lewis Clarke

Though there is no official confirmation yet, the 12th Alworths will, reportedly, be in Tiverton in Devon. Many thanks to the eagle-eyed John, who let me know that “according to the BT Phone Book, [Alworths] have had the telephone put on at the old Woolworths premises in Fore St, Tiverton, Devon.”

Alworths Tiverton - revealed via the Phone Book

Sure enough, a quick search of BT’s online Phone Book brings up details of the yet-to-be-announced Tiverton store. Presumably, however, no-one will be there to answer the phone for a few weeks yet…

Thank you to Lewis Clarke for the shot of Woolworths in Tiverton, which is © Copyright Lewis Clarke, and licensed for re-use under the Creative Commons Licence.

Alworths fascia

Just a week after its first two Scottish stores opened in Forfar and Cupar, the variety store chain Alworths is now “recruiting for enthusiastic, customer focussed individuals to work at its newest store opening in Alloa in July 2010.” 

Alloa, in Clackmannanshire, is exactly the type of location that we are getting used to Alworths opening stores in – a small town of less than 20,000 people, with a pleasing, compact centre. However, given that Alloa’s former Woolworths was snapped up by Poundland over a year ago, it appears that Alloa’s new Alworths – the retailer’s tenth shop in all – will be the first to open in premises that were not previously a Woolworths store. [UPDATE, 28 June 2010: I now understand that Alworths will be taking over Alloa's former Ethel Austin site.]

This move is both significant and inevitable. The dwindling pool of vacant Woolies stores in half-decent and suitable locations has always meant that Alworths would, before long, need to cast its property net wider if it is to grow. More importantly, perhaps, doing so is also likely to benefit the brand, by helping Alworths to build a distinctive and modern identity that isn’t just based on bringing former Woolworths sites back to life. 

The lack of appropriate former Woolworths sites may well be one reason for Alworths not yet making it to the North East, and I understand that there are no imminent plans for the retailer to open stores in this region. However, I’m told that the chain is continuing to scout for suitable locations across the country, and that there would be no bar to opening North East shops if the right premises in the right locations could be found. 

Meanwhile, another recently launched retail chain – the supermarket Haldanes – appears to be having some difficulties in finding, and sustaining, the right store locations. 

Launched at almost exactly the same time as Alworths, Haldanes’ first store opened in Prestonpans, in East Lothian, back in November. Since then, the business has been busy snapping up stores that the Competition Commission had required the Co-operative Group to divest following its acquisition of Somerfield, with its estate peaking at 25 shops. However, sites in Dunbar and Hemsworth have closed this month after less than three months of trading, while the company’s Chairman, Arthur Harris, has “confirmed there is a consultation process ongoing with staff and unions about redundancies across the chain”. 

Somerfield logo

The reasons for Haldanes’ “drop in returns” are unclear, and could be a combination of factors, such as location, range, price, or an unfamiliar brand. It’s interesting, however, that even the Co-op has reportedly seen a “plunge” in sales in the Somerfield stores that it has retained and converted to its own fascia, while independent retailers who bought stores are apparently projecting sales declines of up to a quarter. 

Whatever the reasons are, blaming the presence of an existing out-of-town Tesco store for the challenging trading at Wick’s Haldanes doesn’t really wash. It’s true that Tesco’s unceasing expansion provokes strong reactions from many – most recently the ‘Queen of Shops’ Mary Portas – and that its arrival can impact negatively on existing centres.

However, if a supermarket, like Haldanes, chooses to open a store in a location where Tesco is already established – in Wick’s case since November 2006 – the onus must surely be on that incoming retailer to do its homework beforehand, and to develop a way of trading better and cleverer than its competitors.

Sometimes, I feel, it’s just too easy for retailers to blame Tesco for their difficulties instead of reflecting on what they can do to improve and differentiate their own performance.

Alworths fascia

It seems that the ‘son of Woolworths’ chain Alworths has two new stores in the offing. Fife Today is reporting that Alworths will be opening up in the former Woolworths store in Cupar, while jobs are already being advertised for a new store in Forfar, in Angus, that is due to open in June.

If confirmed, these will be Alworths’ eighth and ninth stores in total, and its first outside the south of England. [UPDATE, 1 June 2010: The Scotsman has reported today that the Cupar store will open on 16 June and the Forfar shop on 18 June, with plans for another eight Alworths stores in Scotland].

Screenshot of site advertising jobs at Alworths Forfar (31 May 2010)

As blogged about in July, Cupar’s old Woolies, in Crossgate, had been taken over by Glasgow-based value retailer Pound-Mart, alongside other former Woolworths sites in Rutherglen, Forfar and Bathgate. However, the Pound-Mart shops in both Cupar and Forfar closed down at the end of April, after just eight months of trading.

As far as I’m aware (it’s not entirely clear, given that the Pound-Mart website still lists them as open), the closures of the Forfar and Cupar stores leaves Pound-Mart with a three-strong store portfolio in Scotland – centred upon its flagship store in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street – but, according to the website, with continued plans to expand during 2010 and 2011. 

Pound-Mart's Cupar store, prior to closure. Photograph courtesy of Pound-Mart

Alworths, meanwhile, has been steadily pursuing its own growth plans, taking over former Woolies sites in Didcot, Amersham, Evesham, Warminster, Wokingham, Cosham and, most recently, New Milton in Hampshire. To date, however, only two shops have opened in 2010, suggesting that Alworths’ stated ambition to open 22 shops in the 12 months to November 2010 may have been over-optimistic. 

Still, adopting a sensible approach to growth is often no bad thing for a retailer – the collapse of businesses like Vergo Retail and Silverscreen shows what can happen when a retail chain expands too rapidly, taking on new stores before it’s properly got to grips with the existing ones. It will be interesting to see whether Alworths’ first appearance in Scotland signals a shift in pace in its goal to become a truly national, small-town variety store retailer. 

As one of the more interesting retail stories to emerge from the debris of Woolworths’ collapse, I’ve blogged previously about the opening of Alworths stores in Amersham and Cosham, and the launch of its website. I hadn’t, however, had the chance to visit an Alworths store myself, given that there are none yet here in the North East, and none close to anywhere else that I’d been travelling. When I was in London in a couple of weekends ago, I therefore took the opportunity to hop on the tube to Amersham in Buckinghamshire, to check out an Alworths store for myself. 

Sycamore Road in Amersham (14 May 2010)

I’d only once been to Buckinghamshire before, and never to Amersham. Upon arriving at the station, it struck me as an attractive and quite well-to-do market town, typical of those that encircle Greater London. The shops are a good mixture of independents and chains, including high street staples such as M&S Simply Food (in the former Budgens), Costa, Greggs, Waterstone’s, Iceland, and the very first branch of the now 50-strong toy shop chain, The Entertainer.

There are also branches of some chains that are well-known to southern shoppers but not seen up here in the north, such as the home shop Cargo and the ironmongers Robert Dyas. The latter, I noted, featured the retailer’s new logo and store design, certainly conveying a fresher and more modern image than the old look, spotted earlier that same day in Harrow.

Robert Dyas in Amersham (14 May 2010)

Old-style Robert Dyas in Harrow (14 May 2010)

Many of Amersham’s stores are clustered along the main thoroughfares of Hill Avenue and Sycamore Road, the latter proving quite a challenge to cross given the volume of traffic passing through the town. Alworths sits in a good location in the middle of Sycamore Road, sharing its building with a new WHSmith store that only opened in April, in a unit that previously housed Halfords.

WHSmith and Alworths in Amersham (14 May 2010)

I’ve no idea if WHSmith’s arrival was influenced by Alworths already taking over the Woolies unit next door, but it’s certainly a positive thing for the town to have two decent retailers occupying a building that was completely empty for the latter part of 2009.

So, what about Alworths then? The first thing to note is that Amersham does seem like a good choice of location, with no other department or variety store in the town. Depending upon the product being sought, WHSmith, Robert Dyas and The Entertainer seem likely to offer the main competition.

Alworths in Amersham (14 May 2010)

Externally, the distinctive purple and blue fascia was easy to spot, while the window display was pleasingly simple. Clutter outside the store was also kept to a minimum, restricted to a display of plants and pots and a freestanding National Lottery sign.

Though there was a steady flow of of schoolchildren and others popping into Alworths, my initial reaction was that the store didn’t seem very busy for a Friday lunchtime. On the other hand, when I visited Superdrug and Julian Graves a little later I was the only customer in both those stores, suggesting that the town in general was having a quiet spell. (Many thanks, incidentally, to Rory in Julian Graves, who was able to offer some useful suggestions of where I might find lunch in Amersham. The Boot & Slipper pub proved to be a good choice!)

Upon entering Alworths, my overwhelming sensation was one of familiarity. Indeed, you could be forgiven for thinking that you had stepped into a Woolworths, given the very similar look and feel. At the front of the shop, an impressive (and inevitable) pick and mix selection and a decent range of CDs and DVDs are among the first items that a customer sees.

On key criteria, I felt that the store performed well – it was well stocked, prices seemed reasonable, and the staff were friendly and smart in appearance (the latter something that didn’t always seem to be the case in old Woolworths stores, perhaps due in part to the unflattering red uniforms).

I did feel, however, that there were a couple of important areas for improvement. The first related to navigation around the store, which was more difficult than I expected. Though there was signage (for ‘Toys’, ‘Home’, etc.) around the edge of the store, I felt that the gondola units in the middle of the shopfloor would also benefit from some signage, either attached to the units or suspended from the ceiling above.

My second criticism concerned the slightly tired and dowdy quality of the store interior. This had clearly been retained from the old Woolworths store – hence the quick turnaround in getting the store opened last November. In doing that, however, Alworths didn’t really feel like a shop that had only been open six months. The ceiling, for instance, bore all the signs of having many years of hanging signs and Christmas decorations attached to it, while the floor was patched in several places with yellow and black gaffer tape.

Like many old Woolworths stores, the narrow and deep shape of the unit also reinforces the slightly gloomy feel. Inevitably, this is more difficult to do anything about, but it would make a real positive impact if Alworths was able to get more light into the back of the shop, either by bringing in extra daylight through the street frontage (currently largely obscured by screens), or by using artificial light creatively.

Assuming that Alworths is indeed a success – as I hope it will be – investing in these kinds of improvements will greatly enhance the customer experience, and will reassure shoppers that their local store is planning on being around for the long term. As the Alworths chain expands further – and particularly if it starts taking over shops that were not formerly Woolworths – it will be interesting to see how it develops its own, more confident store interior style.

Alworths fascia

…and it’s going to be in Cosham, a northern suburb of Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Due to open in February, this will be the first new Alworths store since the initially flurry of five stores that launched back in November. With a total of 22 stores slated to open during Alworths’ first year, one assumes that further announcements will be forthcoming over the coming months.

So far, Alworths stores have all opened in former Woolworths sites in the south of England, and have brought many former Woolies employees into the business. In these respects, the Cosham branch – seen here in its previous guise, and to be run by a former Woolworths manager - is no exception.

As the number of available Woolies sites dwindles, however, it will be interesting to see the other types of properties that Alworths goes for, and the speed with which it grows beyond its current southern England heartland. Certainly, the experience of one of the other new kids on the retail block – Haldanes, the recently launched supermarket chain that has so far snapped up 26 Co-op and Somerfield branches from Scotland to Essex – shows that in the right market conditions, it needn’t take very long for a new retailer to build a nationwide presence.

Former Woolworths (now M&Co), Alnwick (23 Jan 2010)

I’m ashamed to say that in more than a decade of living in the North East, I’d never – until yesterday – paid a proper visit to the attractive and historic Northumberland market town of Alnwick – named by Country Life magazine, in 2002, as the “best place to live in Britain”. 

Emerging from one of the town’s many quaint alleys into the principal shopping thoroughfare, Bondgate Within, you can see why it won that accolade. The town centre has some lovely public spaces and landmarks, with the consistency of the architecture and array of independent shops helping to create an environment with real character. Indeed, it’s no mean feat that even Alnwick’s Sports Direct store – housed in a historic building in Market Street – manages to look quite attractive.

Attractive sign at the entrance to the town

Alnwick also appears to boast plenty of good pubs and tea rooms – always an important factor in attracting people to visit and shop in a town. Certainly, I can commend the superb lunch that we enjoyed in Hardy’s Bistro at the White Swan Hotel, an 18th century coaching inn famous for housing fittings and the First-Class Lounge from RMS Olympic, the Titanic’s almost identical sister ship.

The junction of Bondgate Within and Market Street, Alnwick (23 Jan 2010)

Because there are so few visually incongruous buildings in the town centre, the ones that there are really jar – most notably the modern property housing Iceland, and the rather unappealing former Threshers premises. The latter, however, could be markedly improved by installing a more sympathetic shopfront in terms of colour and design. 

Former Threshers, Alnwick (23 Jan 2010)

On the topic of shopfronts, I was impressed with what M&Co has done to transform the former Woolworths store in Alnwick. Ballysundriven’s May 2009 photo on Flickr shows the sad appearance of the property following the demise of Woolies. Prior to its opening in October last year, M&Co looks to have installed a smart new shopfront that complements the historic building within which it sits, and makes it difficult to recognise the property as being a former Woolworths. 

Former Woolworths (now M&Co), Alnwick (23 Jan 2010)

In previous posts I’ve talked about the gap that Woolworths’ demise has left in many smaller market towns, where the absence of a general retailer – selling a bit of everything – is keenly felt. In Alnwick, the fabulous Proudlock House and Home store – selling furniture, gifts, homewares and hardware over three levels – certainly fills that hole to some extent.

However, the quite large number of empty units that pepper the town centre do suggest that Alnwick would still benefit from the arrival of a footfall-driving variety retailer, such as Boyes or Alworths, to limit the amount of retail spend that leaks down the A1 to larger centres such as Newcastle and Morpeth.

Shop Direct's Woolworths.co.uk

Just a quick post this evening, but I wanted to flag up a well-written and interesting article by Kiran Stacey in yesterday’s Financial Times, entitled “The fight to be Woolworths’ heir”.

The piece covers some of the same themes as my own blog posts about Wellworths, Alworths and Shop Direct’s Woolworths brand, but gives some new and interesting insights into the operation of each business through talking to Wellworths’ Claire Robertson, Alworths’ Andy Latham and Shop Direct’s Matthew Hardcastle.

Alworths fascia

Notably, the article tackles the issue of the three retailers’ similar names, and – contrary to what has been reported previously – suggests that Shop Direct is no more happy with Wellworths than it is with Alworths:

We’re not happy with what Alworths is doing. They are trading on the old Woolworths name and brand. Meanwhile, Wellworths is trying to be Woolworths in all but name, and we are not very happy with that situation either.

Certainly, it looks like the tension between Shop Direct and the other ‘new Woolies’ is not going to vanish anytime soon.

Alworths' website

Meanwhile, I’ve noticed that Alworths has launched its website at http://www.alworths.com/ in the past few days. The colour scheme is, arguably, a little on the psychedelic side, but the content and overall impression is very good, conveying a distinctive brand personality that is bright, friendly, fun, local, and family-oriented.

The ‘Rate your visit’ form and the opportunity to nominate an Alworths staff member for a ‘Star Service Award’ are also really nice touches. Similarly, though there are no clues as to where Alworths’ future stores will be, visitors to the site are invited to ‘nominate a location’, to help Alworths achieves its goal of opening “20+ stores” during 2010, and its ultimate expansion “towards a chain of 200 stores”.

I’ve been really impressed with Alworths’ marketing and PR efforts to date. The company seems to have been quite adept at celebrating the qualities that people most liked about Woolworths – such as the service, value and range – while avoiding the traps that ultimately contributed to Woolies’ demise, and creating a personality that is fresh and new.

I wish the business well, and look forward to seeing how it develops over the coming months. Up here in the North East, perhaps I could nominate Chester-le-Street as somewhere that “a variety chain with stores at the heart of the High Street” would be likely to do well?

Well worth it? Well, perhaps...

Back in September, you might recall me trumpeting the fact that I’d visited six old Woolworths in a day. Today, however, I must confess to visiting (and photographing) ten in one day – or eleven if you count the extra one that I passed on the bus but was too tired to stop at. Needless to say, you will surely be expecting me to run through them all, so here goes… 

Former Woolworths, Gateshead (16 Dec 2009)

First up is Gateshead, which – inevitably – still looks much the same as it did when I last blogged about it. There could be room for a B&M Bargains or 99p Stores in Gateshead town centre, but it’s difficult to see any retailers being attracted at the moment, given that the High Street remains a demolition site, and there’s still little indication of when work will start on the much-heralded Trinity Square scheme.

Former Woolworths, Jarrow (16 Dec 2009)

A few stops along the Metro, and the former Woolies in Jarrow is also still empty. I’d never been to Jarrow town centre before, but was quite impressed with the town’s Viking Centre – originally built as Britain’s first Arndale Centre in 1961, but evidently much revamped since then. It’s well anchored by several large big-name stores (Peacocks, New Look, Wilkinson, Morrisons), was busy with shoppers, and appeared to have hardly any voids apart from the former Woolies site. 

Former Woolworths, South Shields (16 Dec 2009)

A few more Metro stops along, and South Shields is one of those slightly curious cases of a former Woolworths that has been carved into two, with part of it occupied and the rest still empty. I do always wonder about the wisdom of splitting large shop units, given that many towns have plenty of smaller premises available to let, but can’t always offer the large units that some of the highest profile retailers require. Still, one must assume that the building’s landlords know what they’re doing.

As things stand, a chunk of the building is occupied by Poundland, while the rest is apparently ‘to let’. Back in September, the Shields Gazette claimed that the remaining half was to be occupied by Primark, which always struck me as rather strange - surely if Primark was coming, it would have wanted the whole building, given that its stores are becoming increasingly huge. Certainly, I’m yet to see or hear anything to corroborate the Gazette’s claim – which is a shame, as I’m sure a Primark would be positive for South Shields town centre.

Former Woolworths, North Shields (16 Dec 2009)

Hopping over the Tyne on the Shields Ferry to North Shields, and the former Woolworths there is something a little different – a Cramlington Textiles Superstore. I was quite impressed with this shop, which sells DIY ranges, such as paint and wallpaper, alongside a vast array of curtains, cushions and bedding. The interior of the store has not had a lot done to it – I noted the Woolworths ‘Thank you for shopping with us’ signs still in place above the exits – but it’s tidy and well laid out, with fixtures and fittings that show off the product range to good effect.

Former Woolworths, Wallsend (16 Dec 2009)

Down the road in Wallsend, the new occupant of the old Woolworths store – Well Worth It – has garnered some regional media attention for its Woolworths-style format (and name – perhaps another case for the Shop Direct lawyers?), complete with the obligatory pick and mix. Well Worth It is part of the Blyth-based North East Convenience Stores empire, and this is reflected in the store having a significant grocery offer that occupies perhaps half the floorspace. Other than that, there seemed to be some good offers in areas such as homewares and toys, and there were certainly a decent number of people looking around.

Overall, however, I’m slightly ambivalent about these types of discount variety stores, and I didn’t really see anything that makes Well Worth It stand out from B&M Bargains, 99p Stores and the like. On the other hand, you could argue that if Well Worth It enjoys even a fraction of those retailers’ recent success, being distinctive will barely matter.

Woolworths in Whitley Bay: how it looked before (26 Dec 2008)

...and how it looks now (16 Dec 2009)

Talking about B&M Bargains brings us nicely onto the next stop in my journey, at Whitley Bay. The B&M store there has only been open a few weeks, and it was nice to see the building full of stock as well as people – all a bit of a change from my last visit, on Boxing Day 2008, when the then Woolworths store had just four days to go and very little left to sell. As is customary with B&M, the shop has had only a minimal makeover, inside or out – note the familiar shopfront with its light blue Woolies door handles – but it’s hard to knock a formula that is clearly working well. 

Former Woolworths, Blyth (16 Dec 2009)

Up the coast a few miles and my next stop was Blyth, in Northumberland – another place I’d never visited before. The former Woolies there – now a PerfectHome shop – occupies a really prominent location in the surprisingly attractive market square, directly opposite the large Westgate Department Store. The new store looked very appealing, and had evidently had care lavished on both the frontage and the interior.

I remain unconvinced, however, about the usefulness of pay-weekly stores – such as PerfectHome or BrightHouse – as footfall drivers within town centres, given the types of products that they sell and the quite specific demographic that they target. It was difficult to judge today, given that Blyth town centre as a whole seemed very quiet, probably at least in part due to the terrible weather.

Former Woolworths, Ashington (16 Dec 2009)

A few miles away in Ashington, the former Woolworths has again been divided into two, with Heron Foods occupying half, and the other part currently empty. I didn’t go in, as it’s a little difficult to pop into a freezer centre just to browse. Undoubtedly though, Heron Foods, just like B&M Bargains, has really capitalised on the demise of Woolworths to rapidly expand its presence in a way that wouldn’t ordinarily have been possible.

Former Woolworths, Morpeth (16 Dec 2009)

On to Morpeth, and though I’ve featured the town’s former Woolworths – now Iceland – before, I wasn’t going to let that stop me capturing an up-to-date photo while I was there. Honourable mention must also go to the old Woolies in Gosforth – previously featured here – which I passed on the bus on the way home, and noted was now open (and busy) as The Co-operative Food.

Former Woolworths, Newcastle (16 Dec 2009)

We end the day almost as we started: back on Tyneside, this time in Newcastle, with a former Woolies that is still empty and, as I blogged before, seems unlikely to see any action soon. Over the course of the day, however, it was heartening to see so many former Woolworths shops that have been brought back into use – in whole or in part – even if none of them quite manage to capture that elusive ‘Wonder of Woolies’.

Former Woolworths, Consett (10 Oct 2009)

After Parts 1 and 2 of my former Woolworths photo gallery, it’s time to finish up – at least for the moment – with some more shots of old Woolies sites up here in the North East.

First up is the former store in Newcastle’s Clayton Street. The 1930s building has always been something of an architectural oddity in its location, with most of the rest of the street consisting of Richard Grainger buildings from about 1837.

Former Woolworths, Clayton Street, Newcastle (27 Sep 2009). Photograph by Graham Soult

The property, which is currently being advertised as ‘to let’, is pretty large – over 16,000 sq ft on the ground floor, with the same again on the first floor. In recent years the Woolworths store occupied only the ground floor, but I’d be curious to know whether Woolies ever had the first floor open to the public too. Perhaps there’s a reader out there who knows the answer?

To be honest, it’s difficult to see a store of this size, in this location, being re-let any time soon. This end of Clayton Street is very much a secondary pitch in Newcastle city centre (with some rather unprepossessing neighbours), and is therefore unlikely to suit the limited number of large retailers, such as Peacocks, that are not currently represented in the centre of Newcastle.

Possibly a more likely scenario is to see the building redeveloped as part of the planned demolition and rebuilding of the Newgate Shopping Centre, slated for 2011-12, into which the old Woolies had a (latterly unused) side entrance.

Former Woolworths, Byker (27 Sep 2009)

The Clayton Street shop was one of three Woolworths stores that existed within the Newcastle city boundaries until the chain’s collapse last year. One of those other stores was the Newcastle Shopping Park branch, in Byker – a slightly unusual case in that it displays no visible sign of ever being a Woolies, in contrast to most still-empty Woolworths that retain their familiar red signage.

This lack of evidence for where Woolworths actually was has already caused some confusion on the web, with Ballysundriven on Flickr (who has built up an astonishing collection of 349 old Woolies pics that puts mine to shame), and, in turn, Retail Week, mistakenly identifying the new B&M Home Store as being in the old Woolies premises. In fact, as the (very old) mall map confirms, B&M is in the unit that used to be Au Naturale, prior to its 2008 administration; meanwhile, the vast 95,000 sq ft former Woolworths unit remains resolutely empty.

Just to prove it really was a Woolworths, take a look at this picture of it, at the time of closure, on the Newcastle upon Tyne Daily Photo blog, or some shots here after it had just opened. Amusingly, while Woolworths’ own signage may have been taken down, its presence hasn’t been erased from Newcastle Shopping Park entirely:

Woolworths listed on a Newcastle Shopping Park sign (27 Sep 2009)

Only opened in 2004, the Byker store undoubtedly has a much shorter history than most of those Woolies branches that closed down a year ago; to be honest, though, the store was a bit of a white elephant from the beginning.

When Woolworths originally signed up to anchor the Newcastle Shopping Park scheme, its store was expected to be a Big W – the large, out-of-town format that Woolworths adopted in the late 1990s. However, the Big W format had already been abandoned by the time the Byker store was ready to open, so it was merely branded as Woolworths – albeit a very large one. Evidently it proved too large, given that Woolworths later brought in Peacocks to share some of the space.

Newcastle’s third and final Woolworths was the one in Gosforth High Street, which has seemingly been let to The Co-operative Food. When I revisited Gosforth last weekend, there looked to be hoardings up around the front of the store, with refurbishment work presumably underway.

Former Woolworths, Gosforth (27 Sep 2009)

"Acquired for clients Co-op Group"

Finally, another North East Woolworths that has had more happen to it since my photograph is the branch in Consett, County Durham.

Former Woolworths, Consett (10 Oct 2009)

Empty at the time of my visit, I understand that the store is now going to become a branch of the weekly payment store, BrightHouse.

For now – until I go travelling again - that’s all the photos I’ve got of recently-closed Woolworths. However, I’ve a couple of photographic variations left over for forthcoming blog posts, including one old North East Woolworths that shut down in 2004, and another that I think is an old Woolworths that closed down many years ago… See if you can work out which locations I’m referring to!

B&M fascia

Barely a day or two after writing about Whitley Bay Woolworths still being empty, I now read that it’s going to become a B&M Bargains store – and will open on Thursday.

Relatively little-known before 2009, Blackpool-based B&M Bargains is definitely one of the biggest beneficiaries of Woolworths’ demise, picking up more than 40 old Woolies shops to date, and seemingly having a knack for getting its new stores up and running in a matter of days.

As I’ve mentioned before, I do struggle a little to see B&M as a destination store. Perhaps I just find it difficult to see beyond the ghastly blue and orange fascia? Clearly, however, having a reopened shop is vastly preferable to a vacant unit, particularly when it brings 40 new retail jobs to Whitley Bay.

Perhaps even more importantly, it’s a vote of confidence in Whitley Bay town centre – and one that may hopefully encourage other retailers to follow.

Former Woolworths - now B&M Bargains - in Rhyl (25 Sep 2009)

Last month I posted photographs of eight former Woolies stores as far apart as Tamworth in Staffordshire and Perth in Scotland. Now, as promised, I’m pleased to present another collection, this time from my visit to North Wales back in September.

Former Woolworths, Holyhead (23 Sep 2009)

In Wales, I did pretty well to capture six old Woolies stores in the space of six days. First up is Holyhead, above, a town that, back in February, reportedly had a 39% retail vacancy rate.

Holyhead is just the kind of place where the closure of Woolies has left a really big hole. Though there is a Wilkinson on one of the out-of-town retail parks, I couldn’t spot any department store or good quality variety store in the town centre – just the type of gap that a store like Alworths could hopefully fill in the future.

Former Kwik Save, Holyhead (23 Sep 2009)

It’s particularly unfortunate that the shut-up Woolworths in Holyhead is directly opposite another large, empty and very forlorn-looking unit, formerly occupied by Kwik Save - a chain whose heartland was in North Wales. Though slightly off topic for a blog post about Woolworths, I also took a picture of the Kwik Save store for posterity, given that it’s quite unusual now to see an old Kwik Save store – particularly one in such a prominent location – that hasn’t been taken over by another retailer. 

Celtic Gateway Bridge, Holyhead (23 Sep 2009)

I did find Holyhead to be a town of two halves – though walking up the main street was quite a depressing experience, there are obvious signs of recent investment. Most notably, the Celtic Gateway bridge - opened in October 2006, and linking Market Street to the ferry terminal and railway station - is stunning (albeit, for a Tynesider, oddly reminiscent of something else), and incidentally provides an excellent vantage point for photographing the back of the old Woolworths store.

Back of former Woolworths, Holyhead (23 Sep 2009)

Elsewhere in my journeys around North Wales, the stories of the old Woolies stores that I came across were generally more positive. Colwyn Bay was (and as far as I know still is) empty; however, the property is supposedly being actively marketed, is a good-looking building compared to many other Woolies, and benefits from being in a surprisingly lively and attractive town centre. Given these positives, I would be surprised if the unit wasn’t snapped up before long.

Former Woolworths, Colwyn Bay (25 Sep 2009)

Colwyn Bay's attractive Station Road (25 Sep 2009)

Just along the coast, the old Woolworths stores in Rhyl and Prestatyn are both now occupied. Rhyl’s is a B&M Bargains, though I was pleased to see that the building’s history is unlikely to be forgotten for as long as the large letters spelling out ‘WOOLWORTHS’ remain in the second-floor windows.

Former Woolworths, Rhyl (25 Sep 2009)

The store in Prestatyn, meanwhile, is now Home Bargains, featuring a similar, grey and burgundy fascia to that of the new Tamworth store. Once again, Home Bargains has done a good job of enhancing the building’s appearance with a surprisingly attractive new shopfront.

Former Woolworths - now Home Bargains - in Prestatyn (25 Sep 2009)

In the delightful seaside town of Llandudno, the old Woolies looks to have undergone a minimal makeover to become a a Publishers Book Clearance store.

Former Woolworths - now Publishers Book Clearance - in Llandudno (25 Sep 2009)

I’m sure that there should be an apostrophe in there somewhere – either Publisher’s or Publishers’ could work, depending on how many publishers are doing the clearing – but the business appears not to use one. On that basis, let’s hope the store offers Lynne Truss’ Eats Shoots & Leaves among its available titles.

Finally, in Porthmadog, I was able to get a photo of The Original Factory Shop, which has taken over the town’s former Woolworths site.

Former Woolworths - now The Original Factory Shop - in Porthmadog (21 Sep 2009)

Spot the Woolies clue!

Getting closer up, notice the little square icon on the entrance doors, divided into red and white triangles. Hurray that a little bit of Woolies lives on in North Wales!

Believe it or not, I still have photos of five more old Woolworths, all up here in the North East, that I haven’t featured yet. Looks like I’d better get on with Part 3…

Alworths in Amersham

Following in the footsteps of Dorchester’s Wellworths, Stornoway’s Wee W and even Wallsend’s Well Worth It, the latest ‘son of Woolworths’ store – Alworths – opened the doors to its second store in Amersham, Buckinghamshire yesterday.

To date, the various Woolies ‘offspring’ have  tended to be one-off, locally-driven responses to the gap that Woolworths left on particular high streets. In the case of Wellies and Wee W, the impetus has even come from former Woolies staff.

Stornoway's Wee W

Alworths also has a strong Woolies connection, in that its founder and MD, Andy Latham – hence the ‘AL-’ in Alworths – used to be Woolworths’ head of store and concessions development. Where Alworths differs from the others, however, is in embarking upon an ambitious opening programme from the very start. This makes it the first genuine retail chain to emerge from the ashes of Woolworths, though speculation remains that Clare Robertson’s much-celebrated Wellworths might expand beyond Dorchester before long.

Alworths’ inaugural store, in Didcot in Oxfordshire, opened a week ago, poignantly (and intentionally) on the 100th anniversary to the day of Woolworths first appearing on a UK high street.

Three more stores – in Evesham, Warminster and Wokingham – are due to open in the next fortnight, with Alworths reportedly planning to open an ambitious total of 22 stores over the next 12 months.

However, as Alworths makes its presence felt across the south of England, the obvious question is whether it can succeed where Woolworths ultimately failed. In short, is there a place in modern retailing for Alworths? And, if so, what does Shop Direct – owner of the now online-only Woolworths brand – have to say about the matter?

The industry paper Retail Week has been surprisingly sniffy about Alworths’ prospects, with editor Tim Danaher asking “what’s the point of reinventing something which failed, particularly as all the best ex-Woolies stores will now have been taken by other retailers?”, and endorsing the view of an RW reader who had argued that “The son of Woolworths already exists – it’s called Wilkinson”.

When news of the Alworths venture was first announced, RW also suggested that the new business had missed the boat – if it wanted to capitalise on the goodwill towards the old Woolies, then it was no good making its appearance ten months after Woolworths’ demise.

Admittedly, Alworths was quite a long time coming – Latham and his then business partners were talking about the idea for the business as far back as February – but I do, in this instance, think RW’s scepticism is unjustified. Here, in summary, are a few reasons why I think Alworths stands a good chance of success.

1) People want it

Though some people have questioned the point of a new Woolworths-like chain, reaction in the places where Alworths is opening seems to be largely enthusiastic. Indeed, some towns, such as Chippenham, have been clamouring to get an Alworths of their own – even to the extent of making rather patronising comments about “the people who would use” the Poundland store that is slated for the town’s former Woolworths site.

That enthusiasm is because, ten months on, many towns still do have an empty shop where their Woolies used to be, and still miss not being able to buy locally the types of products that Woolworths used to sell. Which brings us on to the fact that…

2) Alworths stores seem to be opening in sensible locations

Alworths in Didcot

Look at the list of Alworths stores announced to date – Didcot, Amersham, Evesham, Warminster and Wokingham – and it’s clear that all are relatively small market towns with a population of less than 30,000.

This seems a canny move, given that it’s in exactly these types of (usually Wilkinson-free) locations that a variety store – selling a wide range of goods that cannot be easily obtained elsewhere in the town – is likely to thrive, and where the absence of Woolworths has been most keenly felt. Which brings us on to the fact that…

3) Alworths is not Woolworths

At its time of closure, Woolworths had more than 800 shops. In a year’s time, Alworths might have 22.

Where the good bits of the Woolworths business were dragged down by its unprofitable and frankly grotty stores in other locations, Alworths has the advantage of being able to choose sites that fit the business as it is today. Furthermore, all will be clean, fresh and modern, and able to offer a much better customer environment than many Woolworths stores were able to.

For me, the size and quality of the store estate was Woolies’ biggest problem towards the end, not the product mix. Which brings us on to the fact that…

4) Alworths is not 99p Stores / Home Bargains / Poundand / B&M Bargains / The Original Factory Shop (delete as applicable)

99p Stores

One of the strengths of Woolworths was that you could pop in for a box of staples, a Lego model, a pair of pillowcases, and some wine glasses and be pretty confident that the store would have what you wanted.

While the discounters that have been snapping up old Woolies sites across the country are undoubtedly successful, and clearly have a place on the high street, there’s a difference between Woolworths’ – and now Alworths’ – range-driven offer, and those newer stores that seem to be driven instead by price.

Yes, I can drop into Poundland or Home Bargains and get some great offers – but with those stores I find it much harder than with Woolworths to know exactly what will be available from one week to the next. Which brings us on to the fact that…

5) Alworths is essentially Woolworths with a different name (but don’t tell Shop Direct that)

One of Alworths’ strengths is clearly its sense of familiarity. All its stores to date are in former Woolies locations, look rather like Woolies inside, sell similar products to Woolies, and in most cases seem to be managed and staffed by former Woolies workers. The main difference seems to be the blue and purple Alworths logo, which is a far cry from the old Woolworths red.

Beyond the Andy Latham link, there are many similarities at an operational level too – for example, Alworths’ head office staff are former Woolworths alumni, and even the signage supplier, stock management system and PR company are the ones that Woolworths used to use. The name, of course, also has a ring of recognition. Which brings us on to the fact that…

6) Alworths seems like an effective brand

One of my quibbles about the aforementioned discount chains – 99p Stores, Home Bargains, Poundand, B&M Bargains, The Original Factory Shop – is the sheer lack of imagination behind their names. They are not so much brands as a description of what they do.

One of the strengths of Woolworths was that its name had some history and meaning. In evoking the name of the chain’s founder, Frank Winfield Woolworth, it gave it a face; an identity. I think that’s why we can feel an affinity with brands like John Lewis, Boots, WHSmith, even Jessops, but don’t have the same affection for faceless (and now defunct) ones like Kwik Save, What Everyone Wants or Your More Store.

In this case, of course, there’s nobody actually called Alworth, though the ‘AL-’ for Andy Latham is a neat touch. There are real people called Alworth though, so there’s always scope (perish the thought) for Alworths to create a fictional, Hollister-style backstory to match its brand values.

On the downside, the lack of an obvious shortened version of the Alworths name, vis-a-vis Woolies and Wellies, is clearly an oversight. None of Alies, Allies or Alwies are entirely successful. Which brings us (slightly tenuously) onto the fact that…

7) Shop Direct is reportedly grumbling about what it says are the similarities between Alworths and Woolworths… but the British will always support the underdog

Alworths taking at least a sprinkling of inspiration from the former Woolworths reportedly hasn’t gone unnoticed by Shop Direct, the current owners of the online-only Woolworths brand.

It has been widely reported that Shop Direct has “fired a warning shot” over the launch of Alworths, partly driven by the fact that – interestingly – it has not ruled out bringing Woolworths back to the high street itself through a licensing arrangement.

According to Mark Newton-Jones, chief executive of Shop Direct:

We think there is an opportunity [for] a chain of stores in towns across the UK… That is even more of a reason we would defend our position… We are not going to stand by and allow that to happen, using a name and a product mix and trading off the back of the goodwill of the Woolworths business.

Presumably, Shop Direct has been irritated by headlines such as “Woolworths set to relaunch as Alworths”, “The return of ‘Woolworths’ – as Alworths” and “‘Woolworths’ set to return to the high street next month”, which have very much framed Alworths as Woolworths’ rightful successor. To be fair though, this association does, as far as I can tell, seem to have been driven by the media, rather than Alworths itself.

It is an understandable association though. Shop Direct may have bought the Woolworths name, but it seems to me that the actual Woolies heritage – and much of the affection for it – is retained in those vacated stores on our high streets and for the people who used to work there, more so than in a website that, beyonds its name, struggles to evoke the same sense of connection. If a store reopens in the same place as an old Woolworths, featuring the same staff selling very similar products, then of course people are going to feel that their old Woolies has come back in all but name.

Whether Shop Direct’s reported ‘legal letter’ leads to anything more remains to be seen, though its interesting that the company is at the same time reported as having “no issue” with Wellworths. I wonder if this is because the Wellworths brand is not a new creation, but has a previous history – entirely unrelated to Woolworths – as the name of a Northern Irish supermarket chain. That aside, there is always a danger, from a PR point of view, of a large company that is battling with an underdog stoking resentment for the very brand that it is fighting to protect.

Wellworths store in Dorchester. Photograph by Nigel Mykura

Needless to say, in summary, I wish Alworths all the best. I genuinely believe that there is a place for it, and look forward to seeing its store estate creeping northwards in due course.

As long as Alworths keeps doing what it’s doing right – and avoids the pitfalls that Woolworths fell into – there’s every reason, in my view, to think it will be a success.

Many thanks to Hamilton PR for allowing me to use the photographs of Alworths in Amersham and Didcot.

Woolworths Worthit logo

Wandering around the variety store Poundstretcher in Hexham yesterday, I was understandably surprised to spot lots of Woolworths-branded products on the shelves, including – among many other things – Worthit DVD players and laundry baskets.

Presumably, Poundstretcher has snapped up surplus warehouse stock that would have been destined for Woolies, had it survived. It struck me as quite ironic, given that Poundstretcher put its weak performance over Christmas down to competition from Woolworths’ clearance sale – selling off those same products that can now be found in Poundstretcher.

Even before this interesting twist, I’ve always thought that Poundstretcher – aka Instore – has a great deal in common with Woolworths. Beyond the obvious fact that both have similar product ranges (homewares, confectionary, gardening, Christmas decorations and the like) Poundstretcher has recently had a frustrating Woolworths-style habit of underperforming, even when the economic climate has suggested that a price-focused retailer should be doing well.

Another common feature is that Poundstretcher, like Woolies before it, seems to struggle to offer a consistent customer experience. While some Poundstretcher stores, such as Gateshead’s Team Valley superstore, are spacious and well organised, the smaller branches, like that in Hexham, often seem tired and cluttered.

A third shared attribute – and one where Poundstretcher may even trump Woolies – is in failing to build an understandable and meaningful brand. Since 2005, the business has had an identity crisis. First it began to rebrand its Poundstretcher estate under the new Instore fascia; then, in 2006, decided instead to trade under both names; and now plans to scrap Instore all together, rebranding all those stores back to Poundstretcher. Combine this with Poundstretcher having at least three different logos in active use, and there’s no wonder that shoppers should be confused about what, if anything, the retailer and its brand stand for.

Recent announcements suggest that trading at Poundstretcher has picked up, but that – ominously – “the board does not regard this as indicative of a turnaround in the company’s overall situation”. Woolworths may be gone from the high street – if not from the shelves of Poundstretcher – but as value competitors such as Home Bargains, B&M Bargains and Poundland expand aggressively to fill the gap left by Woolies, Poundstretcher will need to work hard to build a truly distinctive offer and brand.

Wellworths store in Dorchester. Photograph by Nigel Mykura

I was interested to read on This is Money a few days ago that Claire Robertson of Wellworths fame is apparently in talks with “unnamed venture capitalists” (are they ever not unnamed?) over funding for expansion. The article claims that the Dorchester-based enterprise is hoping to open up three more former Woolies stores before the end of 2009.

This is good news if it’s true – towns across the south of England seem to have been clamouring for their very own Wellies – but like any new business, Wellworths will need to be careful not to grow too quickly and beyond its means. After all, the rapid expansion and equally rapid demise of DVD retailer Silverscreen is a reminder of what can go wrong.

In the meantime, one useful thing that Wellworths could and should do is to give itself a proper online presence. The company cannily made sure that it registered the domain names wellworths.com and wellworths.co.uk before anybody else could, but these currently point only to a holding page. Given the public and media interest in the business, this seems like a wasted opportunity.

Wellworths.co.uk holding page

Of course it would be unrealistic for Wellies to actually trade online, but it would be great to have a simple but decent quality website that provides details of what the store sells and what it’s opening hours are. It would also be a good move to have a blog or news section, giving Claire and her staff an opportunity to update on new developments and promotions instore.

Wellworths’ launch was a masterclass in effective use of PR, but it’s important not to let things slip as the business develops – the interest and goodwill is still there, so why not capitalise on it?

Incidentally, the main topic of the article mentioning Wellworths’ reported expansion is the departure of Shop Direct’s group trading director, David Inglis. Shop Direct, of course, has recently relaunched Littlewoods Direct as Very, and is also behind the recent high profile relaunch of Woolworths as an Internet-only retailer. The article, perhaps unfairly, tries to make some link between Inglis leaving and “speculation that the [Woolworths.co.uk] business was in difficulty” – as far as I’m aware there’s no evidence that the new Woolworths operation is struggling, but it will of course be fascinating to see how it fares over the coming months.

With Wellies on the high street and the new Woolies online, it’s easy to forget about another proposed reincarnation – former Woolworths commercial director Tony Page’s plan to “relaunch the company in all but name” with a potentially 200-strong chain of as-yet-unnamed variety stores. Page’s plans seem to have gone a little quiet of late, but his latest Twitter post, from 13 July, suggests that they are still ongoing – “lots of empty property to fill, and jobs to create”, he writes, with the promise that “We’re working hard on it”. Let’s wait and see if Page is as good as his word.

Thank you to Nigel Mykura for the use of the photograph of Wellworths, which is © Copyright Nigel Mykura and licensed for re-use under the Creative Commons Licence.

Former Woolworths store

Since my previous post three days ago, there have been several more announcements regarding former Woolworths sites that have found new occupants:

• Sandbach: WHSmith - full story
• Sheringham: Sainsbury’s - full story
• Taunton: TK Maxx - full story

TK Maxx has some experience in picking up city centre Woolworths sites, having taken over the lease of the Southampton Woolies as far back as 2007. More recently, it has already acquired closed-down Woolworths premises in Worcester, Milton Keynes and Lancaster.

As before, any updates or comments relating to other former Woolworths sites are very welcome!

Closing down sale at Woolworths

There have been a few more announcements of new occupants for old Woolworths stores over the last couple of weeks:

• Alnwick: M&Co - full story
• Crouch End: Waitrose – full story
• Cupar: Pound-Mart (Glasgow-based discount retailer – you can see a photograph of their flagship store here) – full story
• Derby: TJ Hughes – full story
• Kenilworth: WHSmith – full story
• Spalding: The 90p Store (not to be confused with 99p Stores or Poundland…) – full story
• Walsall: TJ Hughes – full story
• Wood Green: New Look – full story.

Meanwhile, the Waltham Forest Guardian wins the prize for biggest Woolworths-related non-story of the week – “Loughton High Road branch of Woolworths not bought by Argos”. That’s good to know…

What’s opened (or opening) up in your local Woolies? Or is the store still empty? Post a comment below and let us know.

New (top) and old (bottom) Wilkinson logos

Over the last few months, you may have spotted the new Wilkinson logo – above – that has been quietly appearing on the retailer’s bags and own-brand product packaging.

I’m yet to read anything suggesting that the new logo is any more than a trial, linked to the testing of a new store format; certainly, the full rebrand seems to have been rolled out to only a handful of stores so far (but with seemingly positive reviews), and the WilkinsonPlus website is yet to receive any makeover at all. However, the new logo’s increasing ubiquity on Wilkinson bags and products suggests that it may well be here to stay.

I’ve never been a great fan of the old logo, which has been around for as long as I can remember (i.e. the 1980s!), and has been looking rather tired and clunky for, well, as long as I can remember. The new logo, in contrast, seems to be informed by similar principles to those that have made the 2007 rebranding of Morrisons a success.

First, it is much cleaner and crisper as a visual identity – particularly when viewed online. Second, just like Morrisons, the new logo respects the heritage of the old by retaining the same dominant colour (in this case red), but opting for a less garish shade. Again echoing Morrisons, this is presumably designed to assist Wilkinson in making further inroads beyond its north of England heartland, gently shifting perceptions from that of a value retailer to one that also emphasises quality.

Given that Wilkinson now has 325 stores across the UK, it will certainly be quite an undertaking to roll out the new look to all of them – particularly if, as with the trial stores, it involves a full revamp of the store interiors rather than just a new logo on the outside.

Old Wilkinson logo at the Newcastle upon Tyne store

Old logo at Gateshead store

I’m also not clear whether Wilkinson’s new stores – such as the one due to open in Barnstaple in September – are already adopting the new store format and visual identity. Barnstaple’s new store, incidentally, is noteworthy in that it’s one of the very few former Woolworths sites that Wilkinson has acquired; the only others that I’m aware of are in Ilford and Bognor Regis.

I’m surprised really that Wilkinson has not snapped up more of the larger Woolworths stores, given that it sells many of the same products (only more successfully), and in many ways can be seen as Woolworths’ natural successor. Perhaps it’s because Wilkinson is already represented in many of those town and city centre locations – such as Newcastle – where the old Woolworths stores are large enough to meet its needs?

Anyway, now it’s over to you with a couple of questions. First, what do you think of the new logo? And second, where else would you like to see Wilkinson take over an old Woolworths store?