Former Woolworths, Princes Street, Edinburgh (29 Jan 2012)

Earlier on I wrote about Edinburgh’s first Woolworths – in Leith – which opened in January 1925, but it was over a year later before Edinburgh city centre gained its own flagship store (#213) at 10-14 Princes Street.

As immortalised in the c1930s postcard below, the store occupied a prime spot on the corner of Princes Street and Waterloo Place, directly opposite the notoriously bracing Waverley Steps. It seems fitting that I should visit Edinburgh the day before the revamped Waverley Steps opened to the public: a project that should make the ‘getting the wind up’ postcard scene a thing of the past.

'Getting the wind up Waverley Steps' postcard, c1930s

The Woolies history site at 100thbirthday.co.uk portrays the Princes Street Woolworths as not just a flagship for Edinburgh but for the whole of Scotland. Happily, the store’s prominent location and status means that it shows up in plenty of old photographs, such as the examples below (click to enlarge).

Undated (early 1900s) postcard view of Woolworths, Princes Street, Edinburgh

1930s postcard view of Woolworths, Princes Street, Edinburgh

In typical Woolies fashion, the store enjoyed a succession of extensions and modernisations over the years, including taking over the site of the Palace Cinema, further along Princes Street (and pictured here), in 1956. The cinema was demolished and a four-bay extension built in identical style to the existing nine-bay Woolworths frontage to Princes Street. You can see the difference very clearly by comparing this shot, on the ScotlandsPlaces website (styled with no apostrophe – sorry!), with my present-day shot from the identical spot.

Former Woolworths, Princes Street, Edinburgh (29 Jan 2012)

As was the typical fate of Woolworths’ biggest shops, however, the Princes Street store was promptly disposed of following Kingfisher’s 1982 takeover of F W Woolworth’s UK operations, closing its doors on 24 March 1984.

Unusually, though, the store’s closure left Edinburgh without a centrally located Woolworths store at all, unlike other large cities in the 1980s – such as Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle – where a smaller store remained open even after the flagship Woolies’ disposal. Until the chain’s eventual collapse in 2008, shoppers in Edinburgh city centre had to make do with the Woolworths stores in either Lothian Road or Raeburn Place – both a good ten-minute walk from Princes Street, and the focus of my upcoming third and final post on Edinburgh’s Woolworths.

The Princes Street property, meanwhile, was divided up into a series of smaller shop units, which, until recently, housed retailers such as Waterstones (no apostrophe there now either), Evans, Boots and Burger King.

The nearby St James Shopping Centre, Edinburgh (29 Jan 2012)

Now, however, the block is once again subject to refurbishment, involving a £12m mixed hotel, leisure and retail scheme that will complement the planned (and much-needed) redevelopment of the nearby St James Shopping centre – as the new St James Quarter – as well as the arrival of the tram. Princes Street’s former Woolworths, unlike the Leith store that I wrote about previously, is at least on the part of the route that is still going to be built.

In the meantime, it’s quite nice how the departure of the previous retail tenants and the removal of their visual clutter briefly allows the building at 10-14 Princes Street to be appreciated as originally intended – as a single entity once more, and a reminder of when it played host to Scotland’s mnost prestigious Woolies.

Lamppost banner showing Leith's Woolworths and tram line - both now defunct (29 Jan 2012)

Last week I blogged about the former Woolworths sites in Hawick and Galashiels, making reference to the relative dearth of Woolies stores in the Scottish Borders.

Head up the road to Edinburgh, however – as I did last weekend – and there’s no such issue. By my reckoning, the city has played host to eight Woolworths stores over the years, and I managed to sneak six of those into my itinerary – the first of which we’ll talk about in a moment.

The remaining two – a traditional Woolworths store at Corstorphine (store #1100, now Benson for Beds), and the former Big W at Milton Link (#1208, and still empty as far as I know) – at least give me an excuse to revisit the beautiful and vibrant Scottish capital before too long.

Former Woolworths (now British Heart Foundation), Leith (29 Jan 2012)

From Woolworths opening its first British shop on 5 November 1909, Edinburgh had to wait a surprisingly long time – until 31 January 1925 – before gaining a Woolies store (#180) of its own. Even then, the shop was at 170-174 Constitution Street in the port of Leith, at the Foot Of The Walk, rather than in Edinburgh proper.

The building, however, clearly predates Woolworths’ arrival (as shown in the early 1900s postcard below), the opening coming a few years before the chain began investing in purpose-built stores in significant numbers.

Early 1900s postcard of the Foot of the Walk, pre-Woolworths

The Leith store lasted until Woolworths’ collapse – closing its doors on 27 December 2008 – and is now, like quite a few other ex-Woolies elsewhere, partially occupied by one of the British Heart Foundation’s furniture and electrical shops. However, my other half’s beady eyes spotted a nearby lamppost banner, promoting Edinburgh’s much-talked-about tram system, on which Leith’s Woolworths still lives on.

Lamppost banner showing former Woolworths, Leith (29 Jan 2012)

Whoever’s behind the poster might well ‘Love Leith’, but showcasing a defunct shop and a tram line that’s no longer going as far as Leith seems a slightly unfortunate way of declaring it!

Former Woolworths (now Farmfoods), Hawick (29 May 2011)

With a visit to Edinburgh imminent – which will no doubt involve at least one or two Woolies-spotting detours – I figured it was time to do something with some previous Scottish photographs that I’ve had lurking in my archive.

The focus, then, of this post is the Scottish Borders – an area more than twice the size of County Durham, but one that offers fairly slim pickings as far as former Woolworths sites are concerned.

As far as I’m aware, only the county’s two largest towns ever had a Woolies store. Hawick (store #413), opened at 46 High Street in about 1930, followed by Galashiels (store #486) on 22 October 1932; both lasted until the chain’s eventual collapse in 2008. In contrast, settlements such as Selkirk, Kelso and Peebles seem to have missed out, even though Woolworths did, at various times, have stores in similar-sized small towns elsewhere (such as Launceston and Barnard Castle).

As you might expect, given its age, the Hawick store’s appearance is typical of the purpose-built 1930s small-town Woolworths, with all the usual features – symmetrical frontage, five bays, central pediment – present and correct. Indeed, as you can see from comparing the two shots below, the frontage is almost identical in scale and style to that of the contemporaneous Penrith store (#416).

Former Woolworths (now Farmfoods), Hawick (29 May 2011)

Former Woolworths (now B&M Bargains), Penrith (19 Jun 2010)

As is normally the case, however, the Hawick store’s elegant original shopfront – shown in the 1931 photograph, below – was replaced with the latterday Woolies one in the 1960s, recognisable across the country by its black granite stall riser and metal-framed doors and glazing. At some point, the original brick and stonework was also covered with a not especially appealing coat of cream-coloured paint.

Woolworths, Hawick, in 1931. Photograph courtesy of Ettrick Graphics

Like many of the value retailers that have taken over former Woolworths locations, the new occupant, Farmfoods, has chosen to keep the existing shopfront as it is, ensuring that it will still look like an old Woolies for some time to come!

Former Woolworths (now Farmfoods), Hawick (29 May 2011)

Galashiels’ store at 25 Channel Street, from a couple of years later, is similarly typical of the ‘stretched’ frontage that was used for larger stores in the 1930s.

Former Woolworths (now Home Bargains), Galashiels (27 Dec 2011)

Here, however, the incoming tenant – value retailer Home Bargains – has adopted its usual approach of installing a brand-new dark-grey shopfront, echoing the investment that it’s made in other former Woolies sites such as Tamworth, Berwick-upon-Tweed (below) and Prestatyn.

Former Woolworths (now Home Bargains), Berwick-upon-Tweed (24 Aug 2010)

However, whereas those stores all feature Home Bargains’ toned-down ‘heritage’ signage in burgundy and grey, Galashiels gets the standard red and pale blue version – and the fascia lights up, too. A contact at Home Bargains once told me that the more discreet signage is used when local planners are unhappy with the more garish alternative; one can only imagine that the planners in Galashiels didn’t make as much fuss as the others, as Channel Street certainly has as much historic character – and probably more – than Tamworth’s George Street.

Channel Street, Galashiels (27 Dec 2011)

The fading light when I visited last month meant that I only spent a short time in Galashiels, but my impression of Channel Street was of quite a handsome thoroughfare. It was only let down, I felt, by the steady stream of buses (a slightly curious experience, given that the road surface was more akin to that of a pedestrianised street), and by the proliferation of rather second-rate retail names.

Galashiels does have some big-name stores – among them Next, M&S Simply Food, Boots and New Look – but these are located slightly away from the centre at the fairly new Gala Water Retail Park. There’s also a large Asda behind the retail park, opened at the same time, and a longer-established Tesco that includes a pedestrian link between the new developments and the original town centre.

Taken together, there’s no doubt that Galashiels has a reasonably strong retail offer for a town of its size, but I couldn’t help thinking that Channel Street felt like a hotchpotch of shops that were left over – a high street without an anchor, and that no longer felt like an obvious destination.

When even Boots has left Channel Street to move over to the retail park, there’s clearly a job to do in reassessing and reinventing what Galashiels’ traditional town centre is for. Perhaps the reopening of the Waverley Line as the new Borders Railway – scheduled for December 2014 – will, as Transport Scotland hopes, “inject a new lease of life into an area that has not been served by a mainline railway for over 40 years”.

High Street and Town Hall, Hawick (29 May 2011)

Hawick, in contrast, will only get its train service back if the reopened Borders Railway is ever extended beyond the present intended terminus at Tweedbank. Compared to Galashiels, however, it has less of an issue with out-of-town retail, and a high street that is packed with character and lovely buildings – most notably the fabulous Town Hall in the Scots baronial style.

Former Almstrongs department store, Hawick (29 May 2011)

Visiting last May, however, I was struck by the number of empty shops – including Almstrongs, a closed-down independent department store – and by the high street’s overall quietness on a Bank Holiday Sunday. Even finding a place to eat was quite a challenge, with the local cafés (not open on Sunday) losing out on our cash to the ubiquitous Wetherspoon’s.

High Street, Hawick (29 May 2011)

Yet, of all the country’s high streets, Hawick is fortunate in having a fantastic sense of place, with fine buildings, a rich history, and a great heritage (continuing today) as a centre for knitwear production. Overall, it felt like a town that could be doing a lot more, Hexham-or Barnard-Castle-style, to capitalise on its assets: promoting independent retailers, and developing and marketing itself to both locals and potential tourists as an attractive destination to shop, eat and linger.

On my retail-related travels over the last three years, I’ve visited more than 150 town centres across the country – and some of those start from a position of having few historic assets, or are saddled with a dreary and soulless 1960s shopping precinct that only demolition will remedy.

It’s time that the powers-that-be in our more characterful centres – like Galashiels and Hawick – realised what fantastic potential those places have, and showed creativity, innovation and foresight in creating a modern and distinctive high street that can still thrive in an age of online and Internet retailing.

Many thanks to Ettrick Graphics for giving me permission to reproduce the 1931 photograph of Hawick Woolworths.

91-93 Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough (4 May 2011)

After making my first visit to Middlesbrough’s most recent former Woolworths – the site of today’s Discount UK – back in September 2009, Soult’s Retail View readers Ali Brown and Gareth Hill helped to reveal that the town had, in fact, hosted four previous Woolies stores at different times.

Having managed to locate and photograph the last of those just last week, now seems like an opportune time to piece all the fragments together, and to finally tell the story of Middlesbrough’s Woolworths – starting more than a century ago – in chronological order.

1) Store #8 – 91-93 Linthorpe Road

91-93 Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough (4 May 2011)

If they were asked to name the location of the first ever Woolworths in the North East, many people would assume that it was in Newcastle.

In fact, Newcastle had to wait until 1913 to gain its first Woolworths (store #27, on the site of today’s Peacocks in Northumberland Street) – two years after the region’s first Woolies (store #8) had already set up shop at 91-93 Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough, on 10 June 1911.

Back then, it must have been quite some accolade for Middlesbrough to secure only the eighth Woolworths store in the country, following on from those that had already opened in Liverpool (two stores), Preston, Manchester, Leeds, Hull and Brixton.

Interestingly, the fact that Woolworths ever had a store at nos. 91-93 is in danger of being forgotten, with more than one source wrongly stating that the store was always along the street at nos. 51-67: the site of Middlesbrough’s largest and most-remembered Woolworths store, but not the original location. 100thBirthday.co.uk makes that mistake, while even Woolies’ own staff magazine, The New Bond, erroneously refers in its December 1958 edition to the site of the “original store” being “rebuilt and enlarged”.

1913 postcard showing Middlesbrough's Woolworths at 91-93 Linthorpe Road on the left. Image courtesy of Ali Brown

A similar view of Linthorpe Road today (5 Jan 2012)

Happily, evidence for the original location exists in both photographic and written form. Ali Brown alerted me to a 1913 postcard that she’d acquired (above), in which the Woolworths fascia is clearly visible on the far left, within the handsome property that is still today nos. 91-93. The comparable present-day shot shows just how much of the surrounding streetscape has changed.

Referring to the store as a “fancy bazaar”, the 1913 Kelly’s Directory of North and East Ridings of Yorkshire (below) also confirms Woolworths’ address as 91-93 Linthorpe Road, and correctly places it – together with the landmark (but now-demolished) Wright’s Tower House – between the still-extant Davison Street and Grange Road West.

Extract from 1913 Kelly's Directory for the North Riding (p.216)

One thing I haven’t quite pinned down yet is when exactly Woolworths vacated nos. 91-93 in order to move into the bigger premises at 51-67.

The 1913 Kelly’s Directory lists the Central Buildings block between Newport Crescent and Gilkes Street – what would later become the new Woolworths – as still housing the Middlesbrough Co-operative Society Limited, Huggins Bros’ warehouse, Francis Wilson (bootmaker) and Miss Annie Holt (milliner). However, 100thBirthday.co.uk shows what it claims is a 1920s view of Woolworths already moved into this new location, while the image on the Valentine’s postcard below – in which Woolworths is clearly visible in its new premises on the left - must date, according to the publisher’s own numbering system, from the 1940s.

1940s Valentine postcard of Woolworths at 51-67 Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough

Whenever exactly Woolworths left, 91-93 Linthorpe Road is most well known these days as the former home of BBC Radio Teesside – renamed BBC Radio Cleveland in 1974, and known today as BBC Tees – between 1970 and 1984. Today, however, both the ground and upper floors remain empty as a succession of temporary occupants have been and gone, most recently the outlet clothing store Alias.

Hopefully, before long, a new and permanent occupant will be found that befits this striking and historically interesting building.

Coming in part 2: Store #8 – 51-67 Linthorpe Road

Notice by travelator, former Big W, Loughborough (15 Dec 2011). Photograph by Steve Hack

Loughborough’s former Big W at The Rushes Shopping Centre may have reopened as a Tesco in February last year, but Soult’s Retail View reader Steve Hack recently spotted a fragment of the building’s Woolies past that lives on.

In the car park, a notice by the travelator still informs shoppers that payment can be made at the Pay Station located on the “Upper Level in front of Big W”. The sign conjures up a vaguely amusing image of customers wandering around in vain looking for the aforementioned Big W – after all, even before Woolies went bust in 2008, the Loughborough store (#1254), just like Stockton and others, had long since been rebranded as a plain ‘Woolworths’.

As in other locations, such as Newark, the opening of Loughborough’s edge-of-town Big W in 2002 prompted the closure of the town’s established Woolworths store (#226) at 39-40 Market Place, in premises now occupied by Primark.

While a dwindling number of stores left vacant by the chain’s collapse retain their Woolworths signage, it’s surprising quite how many other – and less obvious - Woolies clues survive, even when the stores have been taken over by other retailers. Needless to say, if you spot any similarly interesting bits of Woolworths history feel free to post a comment below, drop me an email, or send me a tweet!

Former Woolworths, North Shields (15 Nov 2011)

Frank’s the Flooring Store has confirmed to Soult’s Retail View that it is in possession of North Shields’ former Woolworths site, and expects to open there in mid-January.

One of this blog’s readers had tipped me off about the news last month, but this is the first time that Frank’s has verified the story. It will be the carpet and flooring chain’s 34th store – all but one of which are in the North East – and comes at a time when the retailer is expanding rapidly, reportedly buoyed by rising sales as householders invest in improving their homes rather than moving house. Significantly, many of the new stores – such as last year’s opening in Consett, below – are in high-street rather than out-of-town locations.

Frank's Flooring Store, Consett (2 Dec 2011)

Known in the past as Frank’s Factory Flooring, the business is famous for its memorable – some would say annoying – local radio ads featuring the slogan “I love carpets, me!” However, its product range has grown beyond carpets over the years, to encompass vinyl flooring, wooden floors and rugs. Frank’s also sells beds in a selected number of stores, echoing rival flooring retailer Carpetright’s recent move into that category.

Frank’s arrival in North Shields ensures that the town’s former Woolworths building – most recently occupied by the MIS Wallcoverings & Textiles Superstore – will not remain unoccupied for long. Back in August, when MIS was still trading from the site, I reported that the property was ‘for sale or to let with vacant possession’; returning three weeks ago, I noted that MIS had moved out and the unit was empty.

Former Woolworths, Newton Aycliffe (1 Mar 2011)

With Wallsend also crossed off the list in recent weeks, North Shields’ ex-Woolies being filled means that 32 of the 33 North East Woolworths that closed three years ago will have secured new tenants. Only the Newton Aycliffe ex-Woolies remains to be filled, though current development works nearby – including the upcoming arrival of a new Aldi store – are likely to boost the potential for new lettings elsewhere in the town centre.

In the meantime, having all but one of the region’s ex-Woolies reoccupied isn’t a bad hit rate at all given that the high street is supposed to be ‘dying’. Instead of constantly predicting doom, we should be celebrating those successful, expanding retailers – like Frank’s – who are investing in our high streets and bringing empty properties back into use.

New Look and Next (formerly Woolworths), Perth (24 Nov 2011). Photograph by Steve Hack

The fashion retailers Next and New Look opened the doors to their new stores in Perth yesterday (24 November), on the site of the town’s former Woolworths store (#197). My friend Steve Hack was there, and took these photographs for Soult’s Retail View an hour or two before the stores’ official openings.

I understand that both Next and New Look have relocated from existing premises in Perth, with the new stores providing a significant increase in space and range. While neither Next nor New Look have been significant takers of ex-Woolies sites across the country, both have used the opportunity to improve their offer in selected locations – previously, for example, I wrote about Next’s move into the former Woolworths in Darlington, replacing two older, smaller stores.

Next (formerly Woolworths), Perth (24 Nov 2011). Photograph by Steve Hack

Though Scotland only makes occasional appearances in this blog – partly due to my fairly sporadic visits – Perth’s Woolworths has some significance as one of the first that I photographed, back in February 2009, just a few weeks after Woolworths’ demise.

Former Woolworths, Perth (23 Feb 2009)

When I stopped off in Perth, Soult’s Retail View was still five months off being launched, and – though it seems remarkable now – I didn’t bother to track down or photograph Aberdeen’s former Woolworths when I’d visited there earlier the same weekend. That would certainly never happen today!

Though Woolworths had occupied its spot at at 111-119 High Street since 26 September 1925, the building’s current appearance dates from its 1966 reskinning. It’s fair to say that when I visited, the building wasn’t looking its best – it had a generally careworn look, made worse by the blank frontage of the old Woolworths shop, and a strangely unsymmetrical appearance due to a Thorntons shoehorned into the side. While the 1966 image at 100thBirthday.co.uk shows that the modern-day frontage was always divided in this way (with a branch of Salisburys, the erstwhile bag retailer, in place of Thorntons), it was clear that successive shopfront and fascia interventions over time had made the join more apparent and incongruous.

It’s therefore a pleasure to see that the property’s latest revamp has markedly improved its appearance. On the ground floor, Thorntons’ move to new premises along the street has allowed the insertion of sleek, modern shopfronts across its whole width that better match the proportions of the floors above. Indeed, the appearance of the first floor has been improved too, with some of the infill panels removed and new glazing inserted.

Part of the reason for the Perth Woolworths site being empty for so long is that there were, until quite recently, plans to demolish it and create a new street that would connect the High Street with the Concert Hall.

For a building that nearly got the chop, you do have to say it’s scrubbed up pretty well.

Poundland, Hexham (19 Nov 2011)

Poundland opened the doors of its new Hexham store last Thursday (17 November) – and I understand that another Northumberland Poundland will be opening in Ashington soon.

The new Hexham store was having a ‘family fun day’ when I visited on Saturday, with the result that every child in Hexham town centre seemed to be carrying a Poundland balloon.

Looking beyond the initial razzmattazz, I suspect that the store will still do very well. It’s very visible, carries a good range in a decent-sized space, and lacks much in the way of competition. Though Hexham has a well-stocked but careworn Poundstretcher, the town is relatively unusual for the North East in having neither Wilkinson nor Home Bargains.

Poundland, Hexham (19 Nov 2011)

Meanwhile, having only had one Northumberland store (in Cramlington) prior to Hexham’s opening last week, Poundland is set to quickly add a third. I understand that the retailer has taken over the old Ethel Austin premises in Ashington, with contractors already on site and jobs being advertised. Given the quick turnaround in Hexham, we can surely expect the Ashington store to be opening well before Christmas.

Coming hot on the heels of recent new stores in Peterlee (in the former Woolworths – which I obviously need to visit!), Bishop Auckland (another ex-Ethel Austin) and Durham’s Arnison Retail Centre (previously Bensons for Beds and Ponden Home), Poundland’s expansion in the North East certainly shows no sign of letting up just yet.

With a UK store count now at more than 360 and rising, Poundland’s estate has increased by an astonishing 200 shops in the last three years. However, there must surely become a point – in just a few years’ time at the current rate of expansion – where Poundland has stores in almost all the places where it wants them.

Little wonder then that Poundland has recently launched a new fascia, Dealz, that it can potentially roll out across the eurozone, starting in Ireland. It’s a canny move that should ensure Poundland’s continued expansion, even once its domestic market is saturated.

c1920s postcard of unidentified Woolworths

[We have an answer already! See below]

Old postcards can be a great source of Woolworths images, and I’ve regularly used them to illustrate my Woolies-related blogs – such as my post last month about the former Ledbury store. More often than not, the subject of the postcard is clearly stated on either the picture or the reverse side, avoiding the need to work out where on earth the image is of.

I was therefore curious to spot the above postcard on eBay. The unposted card features a fine photograph of an original Woolworths frontage, but has nothing to identify either the store’s location or the date of the photograph.

Looking at the building and the feel of the photograph, my suspicion is that the image dates from the 1910s or 20s. The property is clearly not a purpose-built Woolworths – unlike many of the stores from the late 1920s onwards – and the fascia features the ‘Nothing over 6d’ message, which was a familiar sight on the chain’s earliest stores. However, the building isn’t one that I recognise from any of the Woolies photographs that I’ve previously seen on postcards, online, or in books.

So, can any readers out there help to identify the location of this shop? Those curved windows on the first floor are pretty distinctive, but there’s a strong chance that Woolworths would have redeveloped the property at a later date, meaning that it won’t exist today.

Whether you have a definite answer or just a hunch, do feel free to post a comment below!

Update

Well, that didn’t take long! In the space of less than two hours, S W Shopfittings (@SWSF1) on Twitter was able to identify the mysterious Woolworths as the Aberdeen store (#228), as proven by this 1970s shot at 100thBirthday.co.uk.

The store opened in July 1926 – so towards the end of the period that I suggested – and occupied its site at 111-119 Union Street until its closure on 1 June 1990. Remarkably, the building HAS survived to this day, and – if Google Streetview is to be believed – currently houses a branch of McDonalds.

Interestingly, the store wasn’t Aberdeen’s original Woolworths – that was store #79, at 48-52 St Nicholas Street, which appears to have opened on 18 October 1919 and closed sometime before the early 1980s. That address seems not to exist today, though the current Gap store in St Nicholas Street bears a remarkable resemblance (perhaps coincidentally) to the flagship Woolworths in London’s Oxford Street (#161).

Aberdeen city centre’s final Woolworths – #1159 – apparently opened on 9 June 1990, replacing the just-closed Union Street shop with a smaller store in the then-new Bon Accord shopping centre. That store lasted until Woolworths’ demise in 2008-09, and is now, I understand, occupied by Top Shop.

Soon-to-be Heron Foods, Wallsend (15 Nov 2011)

After much speculation, family-owned frozen food specialist Heron Foods has revealed itself as the new occupant of Wallsend’s former Woolworths store.

Following my visit two months ago, I reported that the property at 2-4 High Street East – vacant since the shortlived Well Worth It moved out – had gained a ‘let agreed’ sign. Then, by a fortnight ago, the shutters had been painted blue and the Well Worth It signage removed, revealing traces of old Woolworths lettering underneath.

Former Woolworths, Wallsend (22 Sep 2011)

Former Woolworths, Wallsend (4 Nov 2011)

Now, following a helpful Twitter tip-off from @waiteIT, I was able to pay a return visit to see the store’s new Heron Foods signage in place. It’s just a coincidence, of course, but the building’s blue and yellow cladding is a much better match for Heron Foods’ corporate colours than it ever was for Woolworths’.

When I visited, there was no indication on site of when the store would open, and the publicity-shy retailer’s web presence – just an ‘under construction’ page – means that information on Heron Foods and its 160+ (and growing) stores can be hard to come by. However, one quick call to the head office number and I was able to find out that the Wallsend store is set to open this coming Monday, 21 November.

Heron Foods website (17 Nov 2011)

The reuse of any former Woolworths is good news, but the arrival of a new supermarket on Wallsend High Street makes the story doubly significant. As I’ve noted before, Wallsend town centre was dealt a blow when the Co-op supermarket closed in 2009, and Morrisons – who had bought the site – aborted plans to open in its place. The recent conversion of the town’s Netto to Asda has partly helped to plug the gap, but its location, in Hadrian Road, means that there are limited footfall benefits for the High Street proper.

With the planned redevelopment of the Forum shopping centre – including a new, large supermarket – not expected to complete until at least 2013, Heron Foods’ move onto Wallsend High Street is a canny one. Its value offer – increasingly featuring dry as well as frozen goods – is likely to appeal to cost-conscious local shoppers, while the decent-sized ex-Woolies store is big enough to feature a wide product range.

The retailer will surely be hoping that by the time any new competitor opens, Wallsend’s shoppers have already got themselves into the Heron habit.

Sainsbury's Local (formerly Woolworths), Hessle Road, Hull (11 Oct 2011)

While tearing around Barnsley and Hull visiting UGO supermarkets last month, I was pleased to be able to work in an unexpected ex-Woolworths. Not knowing Hull very well at all beforehand, I hadn’t realised that the UGO supermarket in Hull’s Eton Street was close to Hessle Road, where numbers 306-310 – today’s Sainsbury’s Local – once housed a Woolies store. The property’s blank upper-floor windows and ground-floor vinyls do present a rather disappointing face to the street, but the Sainsbury’s store itself seems popular enough.

I believe Hull had as many as five Woolworths stores in the past, but only one of these survived until the retailer’s demise in 2008-09. The large city centre Woolies at 4-5 Whitefriargate was one of the first in the country (store #6), opened in 1911 but closed down on 7 April 1984. Today, the building houses the fashion retailer Peacocks.

Sainsbury's Local (formerly Woolworths), Hessle Road, Hull (11 Oct 2011)

Hessle Road (#169), above, opened next, in about 1924, followed by Holderness Road (#710) around 1938, and another city centre store, at 59 King Edward Street (#919), in 1956. Hull’s final Woolworths, in Anlaby Road (#957), opened in 1957.

However, while the King Edward Street shop survived until the end, the three other stores all seem to have closed by the late 1980s. The store at 455-457 Anlaby Road is also now a Sainsbury’s Local, while the landmark premises at 272-284 Holderness Road are divided between Heron Foods and a branch of Lloyds TSB.

Staff of Hessle Road Woolworths in 'The New Bond', October 1937

As elsewhere, the relatively early closure of the Hessle Road Woolworths seems to reflect the street’s changing status as a shopping destination. Rather like Byker’s Shields Road, which also lost its Woolies in the 1980s, my understanding is that Hessle Road was once one of Hull’s prime out-of-town retail thoroughfares. Today, like Shields Road, it’s no longer the major draw that it was, but it continues to play an important role in meeting the retail needs of its local community. Most notably, the northern variety store institution Boyes continues to trade from the site at 226-234 Hessle Road where it first opened a drapery shop in 1920.

Sometime after Woolworths closed, 306-310 Hessle Road hosted a branch of the Hull-based convenience chain Jacksons Stores, part of the same long-established company that had boasted at least six grocery or bakery shops in Hessle Road by 1936. Following the sale of the business to Sainsbury’s in 2004, Jacksons’ 114 stores, including Hessle Road, initially became Sainsbury’s at Jacksons, before later being rebranded to Sainsbury’s Local.

Woolies at 306-310 Hessle Road may be long gone, but today’s occupant is, in its own way, just as much a part of the area’s long retail history.

Discount UK (former Woolworths), Newcastle (4 Nov 2011)

Poundworld-owned variety retailer Discount UK has opened its Newcastle store today, with stilt walkers and free sweets on hand to welcome shoppers to the former Woolworths site.

I dropped by shortly after the store opened at 10am, and it seemed to have got off to a good start – it was packed with shoppers, and there were plenty of people queueing at the tills to make their purchases. Inside, the store has retained the old Woolies wooden flooring, but otherwise looks to have had a comprehensive refurbishment. It also seems to have used the bulk of the space that Woolworths previously occupied, making it rather larger than the existing Discount UK store in Middlesbrough. Externally, the store has gained some smart and bright signage that is an undoubted improvement on what it replaced.

Discount UK (former Woolworths), Newcastle (4 Nov 2011)

While Discount UK was making a concerted effort to drive shoppers into its store – with leafletters handing out offers flyers across the city centre – I couldn’t help but notice the staff and security guards in Poundstretcher opposite, looking out the window at all the activity across the street.

Poundstretcher, Newcastle (4 Nov 2011)

Newcastle’s Poundstretcher has the advantage of being housed in a handsome Grade II-Listed Richard Grainger building dating from 1837, with two decent-sized trading floors. While the ground floor features all the traditional Poundstretcher ranges, such as snacks, greetings cards, stationery, hardware and gardening, the upper level includes an usually extensive range of furniture and homewares. Like most Poundstretcher stores, however, the quality of the goods sold is far superior to the cluttered and neglected environment in which they’re presented.

Advertising board at Poundstretcher, Newcastle (4 Nov 2011)

The dreary advertising board that Poundstretcher had outside its store today is illustrative of the retailer’s presentational problems. With faded black Times New Roman lettering on a white background, it’s the type of point-of-sale advertising that would look unprofessional even for a corner shop – yet Poundstretcher is an expanding chain, with over 350 stores nationwide. Surely it could have done something more creative and eyecatching to capitalise on all the buzz and extra footfall being generated over the road?

As I’ve argued before, Discount UK’s arrival will be positive for Clayton Street in bringing some life back to the location, and helping to cement its appeal as a value retail destination. Indeed, rather than Discount UK being a threat to Poundstretcher, the shot in the arm that it will give to Clayton Street should be seen as a great opportunity.

For all that Discount UK is a multi-price fascia, the fact still remains that 80% of its product range comprises items costing £1 or less. In this regard, it is competing much more with the two Poundland stores in Eldon Square, and with Poundworld’s eponymous shop in Grainger Street, rather than with Poundstretcher, where the average item price is undoubtedly much higher.

Poundworld, Grainger Street, Newcastle

If I ran Poundstretcher, I’d be seizing the opportunity to revamp the Newcastle store as a flagship for the chain – investing in (and – crucially – maintaining) a cleaner brighter interior that matches the quality of the product; creating a clear visual identity for the store, inside and out - including the latest logo on the fascia; and sorting out the clutter by trimming the range and selling fewer products better.

Despite its name, and the tagline of ”the original value store”, Poundstretcher isn’t and never has been a pound store – it’s a brand that should be able to compete with chains like Wilkinson, Cargo, Argos and the big supermarkets, based on the quality, range and value of its home and garden products. If Poundstretcher is to build on the momentum of recently making its first (albeit modest) profit in six years, this is surely the direction in which it needs to head – rather than competing with the discounters to see who can sell the most cans of Pepsi for £1.

Discount UK, Newcastle (29 Oct 2011)

Discount UK, the Poundworld-owned variety store retailer, is to open the doors of its new Newcastle store at 10am on Friday (4 November).

As I reported a month ago, contractors on site first revealed that the Clayton Street premises had been taken over by Poundworld, nearly three years after the long-established Woolworths store closed down. The chain’s buying director, Chris Edwards, subsequently confirmed my speculation that the site would host a branch of Discount UK – Poundworld’s recently launched multi-price format, which already occupies the former Woolies site in Middlesbrough – rather than one of its eponymous pound stores.

Discount UK, Newcastle, three days ago (26 Oct 2011)

When I passed the store on Wednesday, the hoardings that had surrounded the site for the past couple of months were still up, but I could see through the gap that all the new shelving was in place. Visiting again today, the hoardings have been taken down, the existing shopfront has been painted black (and had new automatic doors inserted), and the store is in the process of being stocked. Looking inside, the shop appears to be larger than the Middlesbrough store, using much but not all of the former Woolworths shopfloor. The right-hand half of the store seems to go back further than the left.

Discount UK, Newcastle (29 Oct 2011)

One thing that the store is still missing, however, is any signage – other than the remnants of the old Woolworths lettering, of course. With no evidence of any planning application having been submitted yet, I’m curious whether the store will still have any signage in place by the time it opens on Friday.

If it doesn’t, the member of staff who was outside the store leafletting today may have to work extra hard to alert shoppers to the store’s arrival. Today, she was handing out leaflets featuring the store’s opening deals and generally explaining to passing shoppers what Discount UK will be offering.

Discount UK flyer for new Newcastle store

For all that Discount UK is a multi-price format, the four-page leaflet focuses very much on products costing £1 or under. It reveals that of the 5,000-plus products that the store will stock, over 4,000 are £1 or less, including the various grocery, snack and confectionery items featured on the front page.

Inside, the leaflet highlights some of the household and toiletry products found instore – including, eyecatchingly, a two-pack of pregnancy tests for just 99p – alongside a decent-looking range of Christmas cards, wrap and decorations. The back page features items from the Winter Guard range of car protection products, including the leaflet’s most expensive item – a £5.99 snow shovel. The flyer also flags up the ‘Celebrity’ (my quotes) Guest Day that will take place on Saturday (5 November), featuring the Emmerdale and Dancing on Ice ‘star’ (also my quotes) Roxanne Pallett.

To be fair, Discount UK’s product offering isn’t that much different from what we can already find in Newcastle’s Wilkinson, Poundland or, indeed, Poundworld. However, if its opening helps to bring some life back to a neglected part of Clayton Street, and reinforces that part of town’s attraction as a value retail destination, then it can surely only be a good thing for Newcastle city centre.

Wellworth It! in Ledbury (8 Oct 2011)

Dorchester’s famous Wellworths may have had to change its name to Wellchester at Shop Direct’s behest, but a store in the Herefordshire town of Ledbury is still evoking the memory of Woolworths in both name and visual identity.

Ledbury’s Woolworths (store #696) opened at 6-8 The Homend on 9 July 1937, and went on to serve the historic market town – famous for its timber-framed buildings – for more than 70 years until the chain’s 2008 collapse. Its replacement, Wellworth It!, opened in March last year, and – like any good ‘son of Woolies’ store – stocks a familiar and well-priced mix of homewares, garden tools, cleaning products, stationery, greetings cards, toys and the like.

Wellworth It! in Ledbury (8 Oct 2011)

What’s most interesting about the store, however, is its branding. Where previous attempts to reinvent the Woolies formula have played on the name but not the imagery – be it the blue and orange of Claire Robertson’s Wellworths, the purple of the now-defunct Alworths chain, or the black and yellow of the short-lived Well Worth It (no relation) in Wallsend – Wellworth It!’s red frontage is unashamedly ‘inspired’ by that of Woolworths. Indeed, the fascia even uses the old Woolies font (below).

Pre-collapse Woolworths logo (top) and Shop Direct's version since 2009 (bottom)

Fortunately, Shop Direct has adopted a slightly different logo (above) since reinventing Woolworths online, as Woolworths.co.uk, in 2009; otherwise, you suspect that the home shopping giant would have had something to say about happenings in Ledbury.

With the Woolworths connection so apparent in the store’s current frontage, it’s fitting that the building itself is hard to mistake for anything else. Though the property features the five-bayed symmetrical frontage that typifies Woolworths’ stores of the period, the architectural detail – including the addition of quoins (decorative cornerstones) and window pediments – is a little more ornate than usual. Indeed, the design is almost identical to that of Sidmouth, below (#729): opened about a year after Ledbury, and a store that I visited last month but have yet to blog about.

Former Woolworths (now M&Co), Sidmouth (7 Sep 2011)

At Sidmouth, the pediment of the central window extends above the parapet, giving the frontage a sense of being properly finished off. A similar feature is visible at Ledbury, too, in the c1970s postcards below, but must at some point subsequently have been levelled off when the parapet was replaced. A minor niggle, perhaps, but something that studying architecture at university for six years makes hard not to notice!

Postcard of Ledbury Woolworths in the 1970s (?)

Postcard of Ledbury Woolworths, sent in 1975

Once inside Wellworth It!, however, the store feels surprisingly unlike a former Woolworths, and has much more of the character of an independent hardware store, rather like Proper Job on Clevedon’s old Woolies site (#992). The carpet throughout gives a different feel to the traditional Woolworths wooden floor – which is still in place at Wellchester and many of the other taken-over stores – while the storeroom and warehouse at the rear of the shop has been transformed into additional selling space. When I visited, garden furniture seemed to be giving way to Christmas ranges.

On the downside, I’d like Wellworth It! to do something about the ‘unwelcoming signs’ that are, as I noted last year, so rightly frowned upon by The Retail Doctor, Bob Phibbs.

Everywhere I went in the store, I felt like I was being told off – ‘do not open the packaging’, ‘all breakages must be paid for’, or occasionally both messages at the same time. Perhaps most bizarrely, the ramp leading down to the former stockroom area had a large notice along the lines of ‘this ramp is strictly for use by wheelchairs only’; woe betide any mother with a pushchair that tried to use it instead.

In a small town like Ledbury, there’s no doubt that Wellworth It! performs a valuable role in selling a bit of everything, and ensuring that the local community doesn’t have to travel out of town for everyday items. However, if Wellworth It! is to evoke the warmth and personality of the old Woolies brand – and not just the visual imagery – then it could do worse than toning down the negative messaging.

Former Woolworths, Newcastle (30 Sep 2011)

Newcastle’s ex-Woolworths in Clayton Street (store #340) has been one of a dwindling number to retain its Woolies signage three years on, as more and more of the chain’s abandoned stores have been taken over by other retailers.

Now, as news of the site’s acquisition by Poundworld has emerged this week, the lettering at Newcastle’s Woolies has finally been taken down – though years of weathering have left a very visible imprint (above).

Former Woolworths, Newcastle (30 Sep 2011)

Former Woolworths, Newcastle (17 Sep 2011)

There was plenty of activity on site when I passed by this afternoon, and several extra openings have been punched into the hoardings facing Clayton Street since I last captured the scene a fortnight ago.

I also braved taking a photo of the Newgate Centre frontage for the first time, overlooked by a watchful security camera. However, given the absence of shops ahead of the centre’s demolition, there isn’t a great deal for any potential criminals to get up to – besides photographing empty Woolworths, of course.

Newgate Centre entrance to former Woolworths (30 Sep 2011)

Though McAleer & Rushe was granted permission for the centre’s redevelopment in June last year, there’s no indication of an imminent start to demolition work. While the inside of the centre is increasingly deserted, tenants including Halfords, Subway and Jessops are still trading in many of the street-facing units.

However, it seems unlikely that Poundworld will bother to do anything with the Newgate Centre side entrance of the ex-Woolies site, given that it will, before long, need to be blocked up anyway.

Nevertheless, the Woolworths lettering has been removed from this frontage too, though the rather bizarre remnants of the shop’s 2008 Christmas decorations – as well as the customary black granite stall riser – ensure that evidence of the property’s Woolies heritage won’t be disappearing just yet.

Former Woolworths, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

It seems we might finally have an answer to all the work that’s been going on recently at the old Newcastle Woolworths at 73-79 Clayton Street (store #340) – though not really thanks to any clever detective work on my part.

Last month, work was taking place on site that seemed to involve air being noisily pumped out from large tubes on the ground floor (above); then, this month, similar tubes appeared out of the upper windows, while the ground-floor frontage was boarded off (below). When I walked past yesterday afternoon the door in the hoarding was open, and sticking my head through there was a very strong smell of paint or, possibly, new flooring. Unfortunately, however, the seemingly deserted interior was in darkness, so I couldn’t see very much at all.

Former Woolworths, Newcastle (17 Sep 2011)

Fortunately, my fellow SkyscraperCity contributor, Al Reetson, had the wherewithal today to ask the on-site contractors whether the property had been let. As Al revealed this evening, they said yes, it had – to Poundworld, the single-price retailer that already has a small store in nearby Grainger Street.

Existing Poundworld, Grainger Street, Newcastle

Though Poundworld has snapped up a few ex-Woolies locations – such as the store I visited in West Ealing last year – I’m wondering whether the large Newcastle site might, in fact, become a branch of Poundworld’s recently launched multi-price fascia, Discount UK?

Discount UK (former Woolworths), Middlesbrough (4 May 2011)

Regular readers may well recall that Discount UK opened up in the old Woolworths in Middlesbrough’s Hillstreet shopping centre (#1200) back in April, which I blogged about at the time. As I noted then, I was quite impressed – Discount UK is a much more upmarket looking store than Poundworld itself, and the Middlesbrough shop is really nicely done out inside using a palette of black, white and pink.

The formula certainly seems to be working. Another ten or so stores have opened since Middlesbrough, bringing the total to 13, and a Guardian report a month ago suggested that a further 15 sites would be added to the chain – described by buying director Chris Edwards as a “modern multi-price format” that is intended to “step into [Woolworths'] shoes”.

Discount UK flyer (from Hillstreet website)

Crucially, Poundworld typically requires a ground-floor sales area of between 4,000 and 12,000 sq ft for its eponymous stores, and when its 12,500 sq ft Nottingham store opened in August 2009 this was reported to be the chain’s largest store to date. In comparison, the old Clayton Street Woolies, at 16,293 sq ft, is a fair bit larger than Poundland would normally require – but similar, I suspect, to the size of the existing Discount UK in Middlesbrough.

Interestingly, my last paragraph in that May blog about the Middlesbrough store may yet prove to be unusually prescient:

“I hope the store does well, and encourages the chain to consider further North East sites. In Discount UK, it could be that we’ve finally found the perfect candidate for the still-vacant ex-Woolies in Newcastle city centre: a business whose presence would greatly improve the appearance of that part of Clayton Street, while still being a great fit with – and footfall driver for – the street’s value credentials.”

Four months on, I definitely stand by that earlier sentiment. Though Newcastle’s Woolies was undoubtedly tired and in desperate need of TLC, there’s no doubt that footfall in Clayton Street has suffered since the loss of its main anchor store nearly three years ago, on 27 December 2008.

The arrival of Discount UK – or even, if it turns out that way, the country’s hugest Poundworld – could be just what Clayton Street needs to get its retail mojo back.

Former Woolworths (now Store Twenty One), South Shields (22 Sep 2011)

Store Twenty One has opened its doors in South Shields today, meaning that the whole of the former Woolworths unit at 100-108 King Street (store number #104) is now back in retail use. While Poundland has occupied its part of the building since 2009, Store Twenty One’s portion had previously remained empty since Woolworths’ 2008 collapse.

I happened to be passing by yesterday, when the finishing touches were being applied to the store’s interior. As with the North East’s other ex-Woolies Store Twenty One shops – in Stanley, Houghton-le-Spring, Jarrow and the original (pre-1955) Woolworths site in Redcar – the store’s shopfront and fitout, inside and out, is of a very high quality. All it needs now, as I’ve observed before, is for the business to start making a profit.

Former Woolworths (now Store Twenty One and Poundland), South Shields (22 Sep 2011)

Elsewhere on Tyneside yesterday, I spotted positive developments at two other local ex-Woolworths sites. Regular readers will recall that the former Woolworths at 63 Shields Road in Byker (#276) closed on 1 June 1985, and then housed painting and decorating retailer Decorflair until the start of this year.

Former Woolworths (now YMCA), Byker (22 Sep 2011)

Until yesterday I’d never seen the building without its shutters down, so I was pleased to see it now open again and housing a YMCA charity shop. As always, the black granite stall riser of the typical 1960s Woolworths shopfront is present and correct, despite the property not having housed a Woolies branch for over a quarter of a century.

Former Woolworths (now YMCA), Byker (22 Sep 2011)

Inside, the shopfloor features some surprisingly ornate wrought iron columns, which suggests that the property is older than its rather featureless exterior would imply.

The store is also very spacious, and it’s easy to see how it would have made an impressive Woolworths when it moved there, from its old premises at nos. 47-49, sometime around 1960 – a time when Shields Road was still one of the city’s prime retail destinations. Today, a combination of independents and multiples (such as Morrisons, Wilkinson, Ethel Austin, Boots and Iceland) ensure that Shields Road still performs an important function locally, but the days of it attracting shoppers from across the city are surely gone.

Against this backdrop of the street’s illustrious past, the arrival of yet another charity shop is perhaps nothing to get too excited about, but at least it brings the building back into use while the lease continues to be marketed.

Former Woolworths and Well Worth It, Wallsend (22 Sep 2011)

Meanwhile, down the road in Wallsend, the former Woolworths (#351) and shortlived Well Worth It store at 2-4 High Street East has gained a ‘let agreed’ sign since I last passed by six weeks ago, suggesting that a new occupant is imminent.

I can’t find any reference to who might be taking the site over, and there’s no planning application as yet – always a good source of early information, given the need for retailers to obtain advertisement consent whenever they wish to erect new signage.

I note, however, that an advertisement has gone live this evening for a Store Manager for an unspecified ”Tyne & Wear” branch of Store Twenty One. Could the expanding fashion retailer be about to take over yet another North East ex-Woolies site, as I mooted last month? If it is, you heard it here first…

Former Woolworths, Hitchin (22 Sep 2011). Photograph by Steve Hack

Earlier in the week I mentioned how the former Woolworths in Newquay had been divided up between Poundland and Peacocks. Now the same process is underway in Hitchin (store #452).

Steve Hack sent me this photograph that he took in the historic Hertfordshire town yesterday, showing the development of both stores well underway. While Peacocks has a poster on the hoardings announcing its arrival, Poundland’s impending opening – set for Thursday next week (29 September) – is given away by the distinctive turquoise paintwork that now adorns the other half of the property.

Poster at Peacocks, Hitchin (22 Sep 2011). Photograph by Steve Hack

Though I’ve never visited Hitchin, my understanding is that it’s rather an upmarket town, with lots of independent shops and cafés and a low number of empty stores.

As Poundland continues to widen its target demographic and approaches a store count of 350 – double the number that existed just three years ago – it’s clear that the chain’s juggernaut of growth shows no sign of slowing down yet.

Former Woolworths (now Poundland), Truro (21 Feb 2011)

Having visited and photographed nearly 150 ex-Woolworths sites in the last three years (including 17 in the last week alone) – 50 of which are yet to feature in the blog – it’s about time I did some catching up.

Earlier in the year I wrote about two of the Woolworths stores in Cornwall that had disappeared long before the retailer’s 2008 collapse: Redruth (store #813), which seemingly closed in the 1980s and is now Superdrug; and Launceston (#812), which became one of the chain’s earliest closures when it shut its doors on 9 June 1973, and has had at least three occupants since. I also mentioned the ex-Big W, just outside Redruth, which lasted only from 2000 to 2005 and was subsequently taken over by Tesco.

Former Woolworths, Launceston (21 Feb 2011)

What has become, however, of the ten Cornish stores that were still trading at the end – six of which I managed to visit back in February?

From the launch of the inaugural UK Woolworths shop on 5 November 1909, Cornwall had to wait more than eighteen years for its first Woolies to arrive: the store in St Austell (#291), which opened its doors in November 1927 and is now Poundland. However, more followed quickly after that, with both Camborne (#304; 24-26 Trelowarren St) and Falmouth (#306; 19-20 Market Street) opening the following year.

Former Woolworths (now Poundstretcher), Camborne (20 Feb 2011)

Regular readers will recognise the distinctive architectural style of the Camborne shop immediately, as it features all the hallmarks of the Woolies 1920s house style that I’ve highlighted many times before. However, rather like the Woolworths store in Llandudno (#269) or the original Redcar Woolies (#275), Camborne’s gained a side extension at some point in time – adding useful space, clearly, but detracting from the frontage’s appealing symmetry.

Less than a year after Woolworths’ collapse, the site was taken over by Poundstretcher. However, like in North Berwick (#804), the retention of the distinctive shopfront and black granite stall riser ensures that a bit of Woolies heritage lives on.

Former Woolworths, Falmouth (19 Feb 2011)

In Falmouth, meanwhile, more of Woolies lives on than the local council and shoppers might have wished: the property is yet to find a new occupant, and its Woolworths signage remains in place.

My friend Stu Wrigley sent me an updated shot from earlier this month (below), but apart from the addition of some hanging baskets little seems to have changed since February. Window displays installed by the town’s Business Improvement District (BID) team last year ensure that the building’s negative visual impact is reduced, but the obvious presence of a prominent, still-empty Woolies – now one of a dwindling number, three years on – is not really a first impression any town would wish to make.

Former Woolworths, Falmouth (3 Sep 2011). Photograph by Stu Wrigley

It’s surprising too, as the property is in a good location, and both Falmouth and the ex-Woolies building have significant charm. Since the 1950s view below, the insertion of a later shopfront and clumsily proportioned fascia have done the Falmouth store few architectural favours, but it remains at its heart a handsome and imposing property, not too dissimilar to the slightly earlier store in Chester-le-Street (#267) that now houses B&M Bargains.

1950s postcard of Falmouth Woolworths

Perhaps Falmouth’s ex-Woolies will have to wait until B&M makes its way to Cornwall – probably some way off given that the retailer has not yet expanded into the West Country.

Former Woolworths (now Poundland), Penzance (20 Feb 2011)

During the 1930s, Cornwall gained another trio of Woolworths stores: in Bodmin (#569; now Iceland), Liskeard (#623; now Superdrug) and Penzance (#651), the last of which I was able to visit. The store, at 106-108 Market Jew Street, is a curious pedimented twist on the usual Woolies look, though its transformation into Poundland – one of the most prolific occupants of ex-Woolworths premises – is less of a surprise. One half of a fourth Cornish Woolies from the late 1930s – in Newquay (#730) – also now hosts a Poundland store, with the remaining portion occupied by the fashion retailer Peacocks.

Former Woolworths (now Poundland), Truro (21 Feb 2011)

The onset of the Second World War – and the resulting ten-year hiatus in Woolworths store openings – meant that no more Cornish stores opened until the 1950s, with the aforementioned Launceston and Redruth quickly followed by Truro (#836).

Here, again, Poundland has taken advantage of the opportunity presented by Woolworths’ demise. It initially took over the whole of the large ex-Woolworths site on a short-term lease, with the intention of taking a smaller unit on a more permanent basis once the property was divided up. Its store now occupies the building’s prime frontage at 13-15 Princes Street (which clearly predates Woolworths’ arrival), while the Lemon Quay side has been taken over by Cotswold Outdoor.

Former Woolworths (now Cotswold Outdoor), Truro (21 Feb 2011)

In St Ives (#863), another expanding outdoor retailer – Mountain Warehouse – has taken over part of the space vacated by Woolworths at 35-37 Fore Street.

Former Woolworths (now Mountain Warehouse), St Ives (20 Feb 2011)

The five-storey property is quite unusual for an ex-Woolworths in that it’s built into a steep hillside with access on two sides; this has allowed it to be divided in half horizontally following Woolies’ closure, but with both the upper and lower units retaining street-level access. While Mountain Warehouse on the second and third floors fronts the busy shopping thoroughfare of Fore Street, the two-storey harbourside unit below houses Pizza Express (still under construction when I visited, but now completed).

Former Woolworths (now Pizza Express), St Ives (20 Feb 2011)

Reduth’s Big W aside, the final Woolworths to open in Cornwall was the store in the attractive town of Helston (#920), in 1956. Located at 31-33 Coinagehall Street, the property was only empty for a few months before being taken over by The Original Factory Shop in July 2009.

Former Woolworths (now The Original Factory Shop), Helston (20 Feb 2011)

So, of the ten Cornish Woolworths stores that closed following Woolworths’ collapse, only the one in Falmouth remains vacant – but with a ground-floor sales area of 6,864 sq ft, the store isn’t so huge that it should be putting off potential occupants.

With many of the takers of Woolies stores elsewhere in the county not yet represented in Falmouth, local traders and shoppers will surely be hoping that Poundland, Poundstretcher or The Original Factory Shop steps in to the breach before long.

Wellchester's Claire Robertson (8 Sep 2011)

For someone who makes a habit of visiting old Woolworths – and I’ve racked up about 140 so far – there can be few ex-Woolies sites more celebrated than the one in Dorchester (store #403).

The story is well known: former Woolworths store manager Claire Robertson was hailed as a heroine of the downturn when she reopened her old shop as Wellworths, gave most of the staff their jobs back, and became a TV documentary star and chum of radio DJ Chris Evans. In turn, Claire’s actions paved the way for other ‘sons of Woolies’ to be born – including Smallworths in Selsdon, Wee W in Stornaway, and the shortlived Alworths chain – while Chelmsford’s Faith girls were inspired to (briefly) reincarnate their collapsed store as Hope.

Wellchester (with old signage) in Dorchester (8 Sep 2011)

Two-and-a-half years later, Wellworths remains a fixture on Dorchester’s South Street, though today (16 September) marks the start of a new chapter as it rebrands itself to Wellchester.

As I reported back in November, the move was necessitated by Shop Direct – owner of the Woolworths trademark since the chain’s collapse – who argued that the Wellworths brand was too similar to its own, and insisted that Claire curtail any expansion plans if she wished to retain the use of the name. Rather than face this limitation, the new Wellchester brand was born – celebrating the place where the business started, while still ensuring that it can be known as Wellies for short.

New and old logos

A week before the relaunch, I finally visited (the then) Wellworths to meet Claire and to take a guided tour around her store. Well used to dealing with the media by now, Claire is as delightful and professional as you’d expect, and her passion – for her staff, for her store, for Dorchester, and for retail in general – comes across strongly. I also detected a steely determination and a sense of not taking any nonsense – surely a valuable combination of assets for anyone seeking to build a fledgling retail business into a long-term success.

Almost since Wellworths was first launched, the media has speculated about possible expansion for the business. Claire confirmed to me that she is on the lookout for additional sites in the Dorset area, and has one or two locations in mind, though nothing suitable has become available as yet. It’s clear, however, that making the Dorchester store as successful as possible – and avoiding an Alworths-style overexpansion – remains Claire’s focus.

Pick 'n' mix at Wellchester (8 Sep 2011)

The store itself is an interesting mix of the old and new. On the shopfloor, the wooden flooring, ex-Woolies shelving and core product categories – such as toys, stationery, homewares and the iconic pick ‘n’ mix – ensure that Wellies retains a distinct whiff of Woolies.

Kitchenware aisle at Wellchester (8 Sep 2011)

The generally professional feel of the instore signage, visual merchandising and shelf labelling also gives the impression of a business that is much larger than just a single store.

A bit of Woolies heritage at Wellies (8 Sep 2011)

Upstairs, in the staff and stockroom areas, the Woolworths heritage is more explicit. Claire pointed out the old noticeboard outside the staff room, which retains its Woolies logo and the slightly odd strapline ‘People serving people’ – presumably a fairly fundamental principle for any retailer.

Wellchester's stockroom, Dorchester (8 Sep 2011)

Meanwhile, in the stockroom, Claire revealed that most product categories are stored in the same locations as they were in the Woolworths days, and that staff often still refer to them by their Woolies department numbers. Old habits, it would seem, die hard!

Yet for all the reminders of the past, Claire’s tailoring of ranges for the local market ensures that Wellies has grown into a store that feels very much a part of its community and has developed a personality of its own. Some of this is no doubt down to Claire’s own prominence and visibility; while I was touring the shopfloor with her, for example, she was approached by a customer who clearly knew who she was and wanted her to direct them to the shoe polish aisle.

Inside Wellchester (8 Sep 2011)

As Claire took me around her store, many of the most interesting stories related to how the shop’s ranges have been tweaked over time in response to customer demand, with new categories introduced, and some established ones expanded or reduced. Claire highlighted this as one of the big differences between Woolies and Wellies – moving from a format where store managers had limited power over the products that customers were offered, to one where Claire and her team can respond decisively if categories are underperforming or show further potential.

Groceries at Wellchester (8 Sep 2011)

Near the tills, for example, Claire has recently introduced a small range of groceries from Booker’s Euro Shopper value range. This features everyday products such as tinned foods, biscuits and jams, and is apparently proving popular.

Entertainment and confectionery at Wellchester (8 Sep 2011)

Though always a staple of Woolworths’ offer, entertainment is another category that Claire chose not to bring in at Wellies in the beginning, but has subsequently introduced in response to customer demand. The primary reason for not stocking CDs and DVDs to start with – the wafer-thin margins on chart product – remains an issue, and Claire highlighted how a new DVD can be cheaper to buy at Tesco than it is from her supplier. However, she noted that the popularity of the store’s back-catalogue ranges takes off some of the pressure to stock every new release.

Computer accessories at Wellchester (8 Sep 2011)

Another recent arrival is the computer accessories department, introduced on a concession basis but fully integrated into the overall look and feel of the store. This has apparently been more successful than expected, and is going to be expanded further in the coming weeks.

Picture frames at Wellchester (not stationery...) (8 Sep 2011)

One department that I was bound to ask about was picture frames, which everyone remembers from the 2009 How Woolies Became Wellies documentary on BBC One. The programme charted the run-up to the store’s opening and Claire’s recruitment of a young buyer – since departed from the company – who memorably filled an entire aisle with picture frames of every size and type. Happily, his legacy lives on in what Claire admitted is one of the store’s most popular product categories, recently supplemented with a small range of canvas prints.

Childrens' clothing at Wellchester (8 Sep 2011)

Children’s clothing, in contrast, is an area that Claire highlighted as performing less well than hoped. Like entertainment, it was another ex-Woolies staple that Wellworths hadn’t initially stocked, but later introduced in response to customers’ requests. I noticed that items were being cleared at 40% off marked prices, and Claire told me that she plans to focus more attention on childrens’ accessories – such as gloves and socks – which have performed more strongly for the store to date.

Wellworths-branded hardware products (8 Sep 2011)

When I visited the store, preparations were already underway for today’s relaunch, and, contrary to what you might expect, Claire explained that the cost of switching names will be relatively low. For example, the store’s business card and letterhead supplies were already running out, while its Wellworths-branded hardware products will be replaced with Wellchester ones as stock is sold through. 

The retention of the logo’s existing typeface and orange and blue colour scheme means that the window vinyls and instore signage – which features the corporate colours, but not the store name – do not have to be changed, and even at the front of the store, the ‘Well-’ half of the fascia can be kept with only the ‘-worths’ part replaced. At the same time, Claire is using the relaunch as an opportunity to tidy up the store’s rear service entrance on Trinity Street, adding signage where previously there was none.

Rear of Wellchester, Dorchester (8 Sep 2011)

Overall then, I was pretty impressed with what Claire and her team have achieved at Wellies. It’s a good-looking, well-stocked store, with many attractive and keenly priced products. Indeed, most things about it – from the product to the presentation – are much better than the slightly disappointing Alworths (now long gone) that I visited in Amersham last year.

Importantly, Claire and the other staff also seem to have a great team dynamic, and exude a real sense of enjoying their work – perhaps not too surprising, given their history of working together back in the Woolworths days.

Inside Wellchester (8 Sep 2011)

Most crucially of all, perhaps, Wellies was busy with shoppers for the full hour and a half that I was there. When Claire first launched Wellworths in 2009, she made the point that Woolworths in Dorchester had always been profitable, and it’s easy to see why. There’s no doubt that the store benefits both from its great location at the heart of Dorchester’s main thoroughfare – next to Marks & Spencer and opposite the independent department store Goulds – as well as from limited local competition in quite a few of its product categories.

Dorchester's busy South Street (8 Sep 2011)

However, in evolving Wellworths into Wellchester over the last two-and-a-half years, Claire seems to have avoided the trap of taking any success for granted, or of coasting along on the back of the store’s celebrity. Through decisive management and the hard work of all its staff, Wellchester has grown – and is still growing – into a store of which both Claire and Dorchester can be proud, and that performs a valuable function on the town’s high street.

Existing Waitrose in Tudor Arcade, Dorchester (8 Sep 2011)

Challenges lie ahead, for sure. Nationally, the economic situation is still flaky, while in Dorchester itself, Simons Developments’ Charles Street Project – set to feature 20 new shops and a replacement Waitrose – will bring both opportunities and competition for the town’s established retailers. Equally, any new Wellchester stores will need to respond to their local communities’ needs in just the way that Wellies in Dorchester has.

However, having met Claire, I certainly wouldn’t bet against her achieving her retail ambitions. Today is a new start for Wellchester, and it will be fascinating to see where it goes next.