Soult's Retail View

Plaque at former Woolworths (now Wetherspoon’s), Prestwick (21 Nov 2012)

As well as covering the long-gone Woolworths stores in Harrow Station Road and Sudbury Hill, another intriguing post on Stuart … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths (now Iceland), Sudbury Hill (10 Feb 2012)

It’s been great to see a new Woolworths-related history blog appear this week, courtesy of longstanding former Woolies staff member Stuart Kew.

His blog, Forgotten London Woolworths, does exactly what it implies, visiting “some … Continue Reading

Nabru homepage (13 Dec 2012)

With Walmsley’s currently teetering on the high street, and chains like Habitat, Land of Leather and MFI having collapsed in the last few years, the present economic climate is not exactly an easy time to be a furniture retailer. Constrained consumer spending, a sluggish housing market, and a fiercely competitive sector mean that weaker players are … Continue Reading

New Clintons signage at Stowmarket (2 Aug 2012)

Just two months after rescuing nearly 400 Clintons stores, the chain’s new owners have started rolling out a new look – inside and out – that they hope will lift the business’s fortunes.

Just days after the takeover, Retail Week … Continue Reading

Uniqlo signage, Coventry (7 Feb 2012)

Among all the posts about closed-down Woolworths and ex-Nettos, my occasional ‘I haven’t seen one of those in a while’ features always seem to go down well.

Indeed, whether it’s highlighting … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths site, Tottenham Court Road (10 Feb 2012)

Regular readers may recall my London-related post from last April, when I finally confirmed the location of the long-closed former Woolworths at 8-13 High Holborn (store #173). Today, the building – which closed as Woolworths on 28 June 1986, and was … Continue Reading

Habitat, Bristol (22 Feb 2011)

It’s hard to dispute that the last couple of weeks has been a torrid time for the UK high street, with a succession of well-known names either announcing bad news or collapsing into administration.

While HMV has a stay of execution for now, other retailers in that section of the alphabet – Habitat, … Continue Reading

Netto, Birtley (24 Jan 2011)

The Co-operative Group has announced today that it is to acquire the Netto store in Birtley, Gateshead – one of the six remaining sites that Asda is required to divest following … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths (now WHSmith), Pinner, 1 May 2011. Photograph by Bryan Roberts

Many thanks to Bryan Roberts from Kantar Retail iQ, who let me know via Twitter that the old Woolworths in Pinner, north west London, has recently reopened … Continue Reading

Woolworths, South Harrow (31 Dec 2008). Photograph by Barry Marshall

Though I’ve paid several visits to London over the last year, I’ve still only scratched the surface as far as photographing the capital’s ex-Woolies stores is concerned.

One that I haven’t yet made it to is the still-vacant store in Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage (store #1214) – apparently the … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths (now Boots), the Strand (6 Apr 2011)

With most of Woolworths’ stores in central London closed down by the 1980s, it’s easy to forget that the value-focused chain once rubbed shoulders with some of the Strand’s most upmarket and iconic names.

Opened in May 1925, Woolworths in the … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths (now HMV), 150 Oxford Street (6 Apr 2011)

While in London last week, High Holborn (store #173) and Tottenham Court Road (#175) weren’t the only two ex-Woolworths I managed to work into my travels.

Back in November, you might recall that I … Continue Reading

Grays Inn Road entrance to former High Holborn Woolworths (5 Apr 2011)

Sometimes I wish I was able to clone my blogging self, in order to have more time to write about all the topics that I’d love to cover.

For example, following on from my … Continue Reading

John Lewis Oxford Street, London

Given how long it’s been since the weekly trading figures for John Lewis department stores last recorded a year-on-year fall in sales, it’s little wonder that the 2.2% sales drop announced today seems to be … Continue Reading

Woolworths building, West Ealing (24 Nov 2010)

While visiting London last month, I also found time to pay a visit to the interesting shopping area of West Ealing – home, as you would expect, to a former branch of Woolworths.

Part of the London Borough of Ealing, West Ealing is … Continue Reading

Façade of Woolworths' former Oxford Street flagship (24 Nov 2010)

Visiting London again this week, I was able to capture another clutch of locations that used to house Woolies stores more than a quarter of a century ago.

Last time I was in London, at the end of September, I photographed – and blogged about – the … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths in Wilton Road, Victoria (29 Sep 2010)

Visiting London last week, I took the opportunity to grab photos, in the rain, of a couple more long-closed Woolworths stores, adding to the six old Woolies shops – in Harrow, Pinner, Edgware Road, Brentford, Kingston-upon-Thames and Amersham – that I captured back in May.

One of the fascinating … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths (now Alworths) in Amersham (14 May 2010)

While staying in London a couple of weekends ago, Alworths in Amersham (above) wasn’t the only former Woolworths I managed to visit…

Having arrived at King’s Cross, first stop was the St George’s Centre in Harrow, where the large, two-storey former … Continue Reading

Millets store

Today’s retail news has arguably been dominated by Marks and Spencer revealing better than expected results, and Blacks Leisure (owner of Millets, as well as its eponymous chain) announcing plans to shut 89 stores that “have not traded profitably for many years” (in which case, you may wonder why the company has persevered with those branches as long as it has – Woolworths’ demise surely … Continue Reading

You can pick up a pink or purple one of these from Selfridges

I was thrilled to read that Selfridges in London has now opened its Christmas shop, and that – should I be inclined – I can stock up on “baubles adorned with Union flags as well … Continue Reading