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.

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.

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 today somewhat overshadowed as a retail centre by the much larger Ealing Broadway, just a mile or so down the road. However, the imposing building that formerly housed West Ealing’s Woolworths store (store #239) is testament to that neighbourhood’s own history as a significant shopping centre.

Purpose built as a Woolworths store and opened in 1926, the West Ealing property is just as handsome as those in Oxford Street or Kensington High Street, with a glorious 11-bay, four-storey tiled façade that would make an impression on any high street.

Former Woolworths (now Poundworld), West Ealing (24 Nov 2010)

The incongruous sight of a tree growing out of the building’s pediment is a poignant symbol of the property’s decline over the years. While Woolworths would have originally occupied the full frontage, the store was just a fraction of its original size by the time it closed on 30 December 2008.

Superdrug – part of the same Kingfisher conglomerate as Woolworths between 1987 and 2001 – still trades from the right-hand portion of the store that was carved off for it in the 1990s. The left-hand part of the property was, until recently, a small branch of New Look; when I visited, the unit was temporarily in use as ‘The Bargain Store’. Meanwhile, the section latterly occupied by Woolworths was taken over in late 2009 by the Leeds-based single-price retailer Poundworld.

Former Woolworths (now Poundworld), West Ealing (24 Nov 2010)

Though it is arguably less well-known than either Poundland or 99p Stores, Poundworld has grown rapidly in recent years to become the UK’s third largest single-price retailer, with just over 100 stores now compared to the 33 that it had five years ago. Apart from West Ealing, the retailer has also taken over former Woolies sites in Castleford, High Wycombe and Nottingham’s Victoria Centre, with the latter reported to be – at 12,500 sq ft – the chain’s largest store to date.

Even before the loss of Woolworths, West Ealing’s high street had seen significant change in recent decades, with the departure of Marks & Spencer in the late 1990s widely seen as an important loss. That site, next to the old Woolworths building, has subsequently been redeveloped and is now occupied by Wilkinson.

Nevertheless, it would be wrong to see West Ealing as a retail centre in terminal decline. It’s true that on my walk along Uxbridge Road and Broadway I noted a lot of vacant shops – including the ubiquitous closed-down Ethel Austin – and cheap-looking discount stores. However, there are plenty of bright spots.

Waitrose – a retailer whose presence in a retail centre is just as iconic as that of M&S – operates from a very large, recently rebuilt store in Alexandra Road, though its location, slightly away from the main shopping thoroughfare, presumably restricts the flow of Waitrose shoppers’ trips to West Ealing’s other, smaller retailers – which is a shame.

Arguably, it’s West Ealing’s independent shops that give it the brightest hope for the future. Walking through, despite the visible problems, the area has a cosmopolitan and colourful feel, with ethnic food shops displaying their wares in the street. The West Ealing weekly farmers’ market in Leeland Road – which seemed to be well advertised when I visited – also adds to the area’s reputation as a mecca for foodies, and is apparently its trump card in attracting shoppers from other parts of London.

Primark in Ealing Broadway shopping centre (24 Nov 2010)

Where Ealing proper has big names and the shiny Ealing Broadway mall (anchored by Primark in premises that used to be Beales), it’s easy to envisage a future where West Ealing provides a complementary, food-driven offer that celebrates the area’s independence, cultural diversity and soul.

Incidentally, just as I had to pay a return visit to Kensington to locate the area’s original Woolies, it looks like I’ll have to pop back to Ealing sometime to photograph another old Woolworths that I missed. Walking from Ealing Broadway to West Ealing, I managed to go straight past the former’s old Woolies branch in New Broadway without even realising it.

Now occupied by Iceland, the property has no architectural clues of ever being a Woolworths, but was a comparatively early store (#74), opened in about 1916, before closing down (as I understand it) a couple of decades ago. In between, one of its claims to fame was being converted, in the mid-1980s, to Kingfisher’s experimental Kidstore format – a specialist store for children, based around enlarged ranges of clothes, toys, books and confectionery.

Though the Kidstore concept was never rolled out, its relative success underpinned Woolworths’ later investment in its Ladybird and Chad Valley children’s brands – two parts of the business that were successfully resurrected after Woolies’ collapse under the new ownership of Shop Direct and Argos respectively.

Yet another example of how every old branch of Woolworths has an interesting and unique story to tell – not just about the changing fortunes of its location, but also about the ups, downs and experiments of the Woolworths business as a whole.

New and old logos

Last week’s news that the celebrated Wellworths store, in Dorchester, is being forced to change its name by Shop Direct reignites one of the most interesting threads to emerge from Woolworths’ collapse – the battle for the good bits of Woolies’ legacy.

The gist of this latest development is that Shop Direct – who, you’ll remember, bought the Woolworths brand from the administrators following the retailer’s collapse – was apparently content for Wellworths to keep its current name, provided that the business curtailed any expansion plans.

According to Wellworths’ statement, Shop Direct “initially supported the opening of the former Woolworths store in Dorchester as Wellworths, but then sought an agreement which would place limits on the growth of the business under the Wellworths name.”

It continues: “Regretfully, rather than accept those limits, Wellworths have decided to replace the Wellworths name with Wellchester over the course of the next two years.”

Wellworths store in Dorchester. Photograph by Nigel Mykura

Inevitably, the ‘well worth the money’ tagline will have to go too, with trade mark details on the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) website suggesting that it will be replaced with (the admittedly rather bland) ‘something for everyone.’ If one is being critical, it’s also fair to ask whether Wellchester – a name so obviously associated with the retailer’s place of origin – is the best brand for rolling out to other parts of the country. Still, the fact that the new name can still be abbreviated to ‘Wellies’ was surely part of the thinking behind it.

Screenshot of Shop Direct's Woolworths.co.uk site (2 Nov 2010)

No-one disputes that Shop Direct, like any other business, is entitled to protect its brand – but at what price? Time will tell whether the benefits of its actions outweigh what seems to be the overwhelmingly negative reaction from both the media and the public.

Writing on Twitter, for example, the editor of industry bible Retail Week remarked that “Shop Direct are idiots for making Wellworths change its name”, describing the move as “astonishingly petty.” His colleague, George MacDonald, agreed, branding the move “heavy-handed.”

Other Twitterers, such as dorset_flickr, voiced similar views, remarking how it was “interesting that such [a] big company feels so threatened by [a] name that isn’t [the] same – obviously Wellworths could go places.” Comments about Shop Direct’s actions on the Dorset Echo website have been similarly uncharitable, with the words “petty” and “heavy-handed” consistently used.

All this reaction matters, because these are the same people who will determine the success – or not – of Shop Direct’s own Woolworths.co.uk operation. Merely owning the Woolies name isn’t enough – Shop Direct needs to understand the heritage of the brand that it’s acquired, and to harness the goodwill that used to be associated with that name. Without that magic, the business is just Littlewoods with a different label.

Alworths fascia

Perhaps the nub of the issue is that Wellworths and the other fledgling ‘son of Woolies’ enterprises, such as Alworths and Smallworths, seem to have understand what people most liked about Woolies, and have embraced those cherished values of friendliness, warmth and convenience on the high street – values, indeed, that are challenging to replicate in an entirely online operation, however much pic ‘n’ mix you’re able to send out by City Link.

Instead of Shop Direct fighting battles for Woolies’ legacy – and Alworths MD, Andy Latham, is understandably coy about what the Wellworths decision might mean for his own chain – it could do worse than learn from the successes of its not-quite-namesakes.

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

Shop Direct's Woolworths.co.uk

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

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

Alworths fascia

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

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

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

Alworths' website

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

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

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

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

Vacant former Woolworths store

An interesting story in today’s Times about what it claims is Shop Direct’s plan to “bring Woolworths back to the high street”, with “room for up to 200 stores under the famous red fascia”.

Of course, some might well claim that Woolworths has already been brought back to the high street in the form of Alworths, Wellworths or the like. The difference here is that Shop Direct actually owns the Woolworths brand – having paid £7m for it back in February – so could bring the stores back in name as well as spirit.

Adding some flesh to Shop Direct’s hints last month about there being “an opportunity [for] a chain of [Woolworths] stores in towns across the UK”, the Times article reveals that Shop Direct has no intention of running bricks-and-mortar shops itself, but is looking instead for franchisees. Given that there are barely 200 old Woolies sites left vacant – including some, frankly, in awful locations – Shop Direct’s plans would presumably see a good number of stores opening up in premises that were never a Woolworths before.

Could it be 'Store Opening' soon?

Undoubtedly, any move to resurrect Woolworths as a high-street chain will be welcomed by those shoppers who still miss, and have affection for, the Woolworths name in their town centres. However, given the current enthusiasm for bringing Woolworths (or Any-other-worths) back to the high street, you have to wonder – as the Telegraph has – whether more could have been done to prevent the business from closing in the first place.

Wellworths store in Dorchester. Photograph by Nigel Mykura

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

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

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

Wellworths.co.uk holding page

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

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

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

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

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