St Clare's Hospice shop, Jarrow (8 Aug 2011)

While Store Twenty One is about to take over the unoccupied part of South Shields’ former Woolies, the ex-Woolworths in Jarrow – already part-occupied by Store Twenty One – has gained a new tenant for its own vacant section.

As I reported back in November, Jarrow’s old Woolworths has been divided in two, with Store Twenty One taking the largest portion (4,112 sq ft) facing the Viking Centre’s bustling Bede Precinct. In turn, what used to be the back half of Woolies, facing the much quieter Grange Road, has been split into two further shops, totalling 3,175 sq ft. The right-hand unit, empty when I last visited (below), has now been taken over by a shop for the local St Clare’s Hospice, an independent charity that provides specialist palliative care to adults living south of the Tyne.

Grange Road frontage of former Woolworths, Jarrow (10 Nov 2010)

Monday was the first time I’d seen the unit without its shutters down, and I was pleased to see all the giveaway signs of it being an ex-Woolies, with the distinctive metal-framed shopfront and black granite stall riser. Store Twenty One, of course, has installed an entirely new shopfront on its part of the building (below), meaning that the unit’s past as a Woolworths is much less obvious from the Bede Precinct side.

Store Twenty One, Jarrow (24 Jul 2010)

Before - the former Woolworths, Jarrow (16 Dec 2009)

While the carved-up former Woolworths sites in South Shields and Jarrow inch towards full occupancy, the old Woolies in North Shields looks, sadly, to be back on the market. The well-stocked and useful MIS Wallcoverings & Textiles Superstore (formerly Cramlington Textiles) in Saville Street West, which I first visited at the end of 2009, continues to trade, but with a ‘for sale or to let’ sign above the ground-floor frontage.

MIS store (former Woolworths), North Shields (8 Aug 2011)

Marketed by local property consultants A T Retail, the particulars confirm that the 5,619 sq ft unit is being offered either for lease or for sale “with vacant possession”, though there’s currently no visible sign – other than the ‘for sale’ board – of the MIS store closing down.

Former Burton, North Shields (18 Jun 2010)

The building is both attractive and a good size, but I suspect its slightly off-centre location may be the biggest hurdle to finding a new occupant. The presence of a long-vacated and much-altered Burton’s building opposite suggests that Saville Street West was once much more of a retail thoroughfare than it is now – today, much of the street is occupied by charity shops, convenience stores and empty units, as well as a couple of disused pubs. With a bit of luck, Asda’s new store on the current Netto site in Saville Street, barely 100 metres away, might help to build footfall in the vicinity and stem the current decline.

Former Woolworths and Well Worth It, Wallsend (8 Aug 2011)

Along the river, another North Tyneside town that is looking forward to the conversion of its Netto into Asda is Wallsend. Unfortunately, the Hadrian Road supermarket is a little too far from the High Street to have much positive impact on the town’s main retail centre, but the prominent vacant Woolworths site – following a brief and unsuccessful incarnation as Well Worth It – is a potent symbol of Wallsend’s current travails, stemming at least in part from Morrisons’ failure to open its promised store on the acquired Co-op supermarket site.

Plaster Piece closing down, Wallsend (8 Aug 2011)

That has already left a big hole in the town’s Forum Shopping Centre for more than two years, which isn’t set to be filled until a planned redevelopment completes at the end of 2013. Visiting Wallsend on Monday, I spotted at least two more stores in ‘closing down’ mode, including the Plaster Piece fireplace showroom, next to the old Woolworths in Station Road, and a branch of the collapsed fashion and homewares retailer Ethel Austin (aka Life & Style).

Ethel Austin closing down, Wallsend (8 Aug 2011)

Wallsend has some decent and popular retailers, both independent and multiple, but it really could do with some new stores – such as the Store Twenty Ones and B&M Bargains of the world, as well as another reasonably priced food store – to give the town centre a much-needed boost of both morale and footfall.

The modern centre promised for 2013 looks good; the danger in the meantime, however, is that indie closures and further multiples collapsing will increasingly force Wallsend’s shoppers to look elsewhere.

Former Woolworths, South Shields (10 Nov 2010)

While out and about on my recent travels, I’ve revisited – often just in passing – some of the former Tyneside Woolies sites that I’ve blogged about in the past. Though the number of empty sites is now dwindling, there are still a few interesting updates to report upon.

There’s no apparent movement on the empty half of South Shields’ former Woolworths (#104), while the Wallsend store (#351) – previously blogged about here – is now empty again. The premises reopened, to much fanfare, as Well Worth It back in October 2009, but the business has closed down after less than a year.

Former Woolworths and Well Worth It, Wallsend (10 Nov 2010)

Station Road frontage of former Wallsend Woolworths (10 Nov 2010)

I can’t help thinking that Wallsend’s supermarket travails may have impacted upon Well Worth It’s viability, given that the town centre is still without a major supermarket after the Co-op in the nearby Forum Shopping Centre closed and Morrisons failed (as yet) to open in its place.

Unfortunately, the Wallsend store is one that the Co-operative Group disposed of to Morrisons voluntarily, rather than being one of the 133 shops that it was required to divest following its takeover of Somerfield. Had the latter been the case, one imagines that the OFT would have had something to say about a two-year hiatus between one store closing and its approved replacement opening. Meanwhile, campaigners are rightly putting pressure on both Morrisons and North Tyneside Council to bring the supermarket back into use.

Vacated Co-op site, Wallsend (10 Nov 2010)

Wallsend’s Woolworths lives on, incidentally, in the vaguely amusing artwork at Wallsend Metro station, where panels – predating Woolies’ demise – feature photographs of apparently familiar local scenes. The twist is that all the wording in the photographs – including the Woolies fascia – has been translated into Latin, as a play on Wallsend’s Roman heritage.

Woolworths panel at Wallsend Metro station (10 Nov 2010)

One location with a bit more success Woolies-wise – and with an already thriving Morrisons – is Jarrow, where Store Twenty One moved into part of the town’s former Woolworths store (#434), facing Bede Precinct, back in July. Just as in Stanley, Store Twenty One has installed a modern and attractive shopfront that greatly improves the shop’s external appearance, as well as undertaking a comprehensive revamp of the interior.

Before - the former Woolworths, Jarrow (16 Dec 2009)

After - Store Twenty One, Jarrow (24 Jul 2010)

With Store Twenty One taking only 4,112 sq ft of the old Woolies site (the full Bede Precinct frontage and about half the store’s depth), the remaining 3,175 sq ft portion of the store, facing Grange Road, remains to let.

Grange Road frontage of former Woolworths, Jarrow (10 Nov 2010)

A 1962 shot in Paul Perry’s fascinating Jarrow Through Time book shows the Woolworths frontage to Grange Road, with the building that housed it looking only slightly different to how it does today. A couple of doors away, Perry’s photo shows that the premises which until recently housed the Discount Store 24 supermarket were formerly Fine Fare – like Woolworths, another once familiar but now defunct high street name.

Discount Store 24 (now closed), previously Fine Fare, Jarrow (24 Jul 2010)

Final stop for now is North Shields, where Cramlington Textiles Superstore was already open on the former Woolies site (#426) when I visited nearly a year ago.

Saville Street with MIS store, North Shields (10 Nov 2010)

It’s still there, but has had a minor change of name to MIS Wallcoverings & Textiles Superstore. Perhaps shoppers were perplexed by a shop in North Shields having Cramlington in its name? Still, the change makes some sense given the wide range of paint and wallpaper, as well as textiles, that I remarked upon after my last visit.

Old postcard showing the same view in about 1930

Perhaps more interesting, however, is this old c.1930 postcard that I discovered, showing an almost identical view to the one above. The tall building in the middle with the arched window is instantly recognisable in both shots, but look closely at the Woolworths building… between 1930 and now, what on earth has happened to the property’s second floor? It’s there in the earlier shot, but missing today.

Perhaps someone out there can tell us what us happened to it? Whatever the reason, it does begin to explain the building’s slightly curious flat roof, which has always seemed rather at odds with its quite elegant (if truncated) façade.

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 handsome former Woolworths building has again been divided into two, with Heron Foods occupying half, and the other part currently empty.

Old postcard showing Ashington Woolworths (posted 1959)

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’.