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, South Shields (8 Aug 2011)

The Indian-owned value fashion retailer, Store Twenty One, is to add a fourth North East ex-Woolies site to its estate, taking over the empty portion of the former Woolworths store in South Shields.

Poundland has occupied part of the ex-Woolies building in King Street since late 2009, but the other half has remained stubbornly ‘to let’ for the last couple of years.

Store Twenty One, Jarrow (24 Jul 2010)

The rumour of Store Twenty One’s impending arrival was reported in the Shields Gazette three weeks ago, but I understand that the retailer has since completed on the deal. The South Shields store will be Store Twenty One’s second ex-Woolies site in South Tyneside, following on from the opening of its Jarrow shop in July last year. There are also Store Twenty One branches in place of the former Woolworths stores in Stanley and Houghton-le-Spring, as well as another within a historic Woolworths building in Redcar.

Mothercare, South Shields (8 Aug 2011)

Though not the Primark that had been rumoured back in 2009 – which always seemed implausible, given the relatively compact size of the unit – Store Twenty One’s arrival will be a welcome boost to a street that has more than its fair share of voids, many the result of national retail collapses (such as Adams and MK One) or store rationalisations (a recently closed Currys.digital). And with South Shields home to one of the dwindling number of high-street Mothercare stores – many of which are being closed – it would be a surprise if further departures don’t follow.

Henry Boot's Waterloo Square retail scheme in South Shields (24 Jul 2010)

On the other hand, South Shields still has many positives as a retail centre. The modern Waterloo Square scheme remains strong, having attracted Next, Desire by Debenhams, BHS and River Island into South Shields for the first time five years ago. The development provides the large, spacious units that those major chains require, while maintaining a strong pedestrian link with the nearby King Street.

Wilkinson, South Shields (8 Aug 2011)

Meanwhile, King Street is bookended by two important anchors. The hardware and variety store retailer Wilkinson has recently refurbished its large and popular store in the Market Place, while Morrisons taking over the vacated Asda premises last year has given a much-needed boost to the town centre’s eastern end.

King Street, South Shields (30 Apr 2011)

Indeed, where South Shields most needs work is in the very heart of its town centre, along the main thoroughfare of King Street. Though the street itself is quite handsome, and has – crucially – hung on to its Marks & Spencer store, the prominence of empty units, coupled with a mish mash of poor quality shopfronts and signage, conveys an overall air of tattiness and underinvestment.

Redcar High Street (4 May 2011)

Down the coast on Teesside, Redcar’s town centre is not without its challenges either. However, everywhere you look in Redcar there are signs of things happening, whether it’s the local authority’s investment in marketing the town (under the ‘This is Redcar’ tagline), the opening of a tourist information centre on the high street, the presence of lively street entertainment, or the widespread use of ‘virtual shops’ to successfully mitigate the negative visual impact of empty units. In challenging economic times, positive measures such as these can play an important role in stemming the perception of a town being in decline.

Perhaps it’s time for South Shields to take a look at what other seaside towns are doing to lift their spirits, with a view to bringing some added colour, theatre and optimism to its own high street.

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.

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

In between touring the East Midlands, travelling up to Berwick, and stopping off in Horley on my way out the country, I also found time this summer to visit the attractive Lake District market town of Penrith – a viable day trip from here on Tyneside.

Regular followers of this blog will barely be surprised to hear that Penrith’s former Woolworths (#416), opened in Middlegate in 1930, not only bears all the architectural hallmarks of an old Woolies, but has also been taken over by the increasingly ubiquitous B&M Bargains. You can just about make out the Woolworths building in this 1950s postcard of Middlegate – on the left-hand side of the street, partly obscured by a Kodak banner.

Postcard of Middlegate, 1950s

The impressive property opposite Woolworths is Penrith’s fine Burton menswear building, which, happily, is not only still standing but also still houses – at least in part – a branch of Burton. However, the person who thought it was a good idea to remove the store’s original logo (which is still just about visible), and to insert a second, lower fascia below the original black marble, deserves to be severely ticked off. So many purpose-built Burton buildings have been disfigured by ill-considered alterations, and this is a great pity. Perhaps one day this elegant building’s proper proportions can be restored.

Burton store, Penrith (5 Nov 2010)

Back to Woolies though, and Cumbria has the somewhat unusual distinction, nearly two years on from the retailer’s collapse, of seeing all nine of its former Woolworths stores with new tenants. Running through them, the list reads like a roll call of those businesses that have been most active, across the UK, in snapping up former Woolies sites. It is notable too – and reflective of our times – that all but one of those nine stores now houses some form of discount retailer.

The county’s oldest Woolworths store, in Carlisle (#159), has also become B&M Bargains, while Kendal’s (#438) has been take over by Home Bargains, and Keswick’s (#938) by the growing Mountain Warehouse outdoor chain. In the south of the county, Barrow’s Woolies (#242) is now Poundland while Ulverston’s (#478) is a Tesco Express – the only ‘non-discount’ retailer among the collection.

Over in west Cumbria, Maryport’s former Woolworths (#618) has been replaced by The Original Factory Shop, and Workington’s (#382) by Sports Direct. In the last few months, Whitehaven’s old Woolies (#253) has become the last to be taken over, one half occupied by Poundland, and the other – somewhat controversially – by a British Heart Foundation furniture store.

Even in comparison to other Cumbrian towns, the inhabitants of Whitehaven can be forgiven for feeling underwhelmed by what now occupies one of their town’s (formerly) largest retail units. The other issue is how Corrie star Andy Whyment ever has time to tread the cobbles in between attending Poundland grand openings.

Former Woolworths (now - partly - Poundland) in South Shields (18 Jun 2010)

As you may recall, I’ve cautioned against dividing up old Woolworths units before. South Shields, for example, has gained a decent-sized Poundland – opened by Andy’s equally busy colleague, Jennie McAlpine – but still has a large chunk of the building that shows no sign of being let. Would the unit as a whole have been more attractive to potential tenants? I wouldn’t bet against it.

Indeed, news from Caernarfon yesterday gives hope that a long-empty Woolies can be reoccupied without having to resort to carving it up. Back in July, I blogged about how the store – #417, and opened as a Woolies at almost exactly the same time as Penrith’s – was one of the last in North Wales to still be empty. Meanwhile, plans to convert the building into two shops, with offices and an apartment above, had come to nothing.

Now, however, The Original Factory Shop is not only taking over the whole of the property’s ground floor, but is also going to trade from upstairs. It may have taken a while to happen, but I can’t help thinking that Caernarfon’s outcome, rather than Whitehaven’s, will ultimately be more beneficial for the viability of its high street.

Mall plan showing Peacocks (screenshot from 4 Aug 2010)

I was interested to find out a few days ago that the fashion retailer Peacocks will soon be opening a store in my old home town of Tamworth, taking a prime spot within the town centre’s Ankerside mall.

Given that jobs in the store have been being advertised since June, and with the store listed as ‘coming soon’ on Ankerside’s own website, it’s hardly entirely new news. However, it was the first my mother – who still lives in Tamworth – had heard about it when I quizzed her earlier this week.

Ankerside Shopping Centre, Tamworth (22 Dec 2008)

Peacocks opening up in Tamworth may not sound like a revelation, but new investment from a major retailer is really positive news for a town centre that has struggled to compete with the out-of-town Ventura Park complex down the road.

M&S at Ventura Park, Tamworth (24 Dec 2009)

Some retailers – including Currys, Comet, JJB Sports, Mothercare and WHSmith – long ago closed their town centre sites in favour of Ventura Park, while others, like M&S, Next, Blacks and TK Maxx, have chosen to open up on the retail park instead of in the town centre. Even those major names who are represented in the centre of Tamworth often have a Ventura Park store as well, such as Argos, Boots and (soon) New Look.

Home Bargains in Tamworth's former Woolworths (19 Mar 2010)

Part of the problem has been Tamworth town centre’s chronic shortage of large, modern retail units. I’ve always thought, for example, that Peacocks, Primark and Bhs would all do well in Tamworth if only they could find the space. However, the only large unit to have become available in recent years is the old Woolworths in George Street, eventually snapped up by Home Bargains.

Wilkinson store, Tamworth (24 Dec 2009)

Prior to that, the most significant new arrival was Wilkinson, in 1994. Moving back to the town after some years away, Wilko’s also had to be creative in finding space, carving out a new unit for itself in Market Street from a former Berni Inn (The Peel Arms) and the adjoining car park.

Even in the relatively modern Ankerside – opened in 1980 and extended in 1992 – only two of the 60 or so stores are really large units: Boots, which has occupied the same site since the centre opened; and the privately-owned Irish fashion retailer, Dunnes, which took over the site that originally housed Sainsbury’s. Most of the other units are very small by modern standards, keeping Tamworth well provided for with mobile phones and greetings cards, but little else.

To get over this problem, there have been several instances in the past where Ankerside has knocked units together to create larger, more attractive spaces. If I recall correctly, both New Look and Clinton Cards started off in single units, before expanding into the ones next door; similarly, the current Poundland site – previously MK One – was knocked together from two units in the 1990s to accommodate Mothercare.

The deserted Gungate Precinct awaits demolition (19 Mar 2010)

In due course, Henry Boot’s Tamworth Junction scheme, a planned £75m redevelopment of the town centre’s old Gungate Precinct site, should provide Tamworth with room for some large stores; indeed, the same developer’s success in signing up Next, Desire by Debenhams, Bhs and River Island for South Shields’ Waterloo Square scheme surely bodes well. However, it is still likely to be several years before Tamworth Junction reaches fruition.

Henry Boot's Waterloo Square retail scheme in South Shields (24 Jul 2010)

In the meantime, all Ankerside can really do is continue making the most of the space that it’s got, with the three units closest to Ankerside’s top George Street entrance (numbers 4 -7) being combined to form a more viable space for Peacocks.

All three of those shops have had a fairly heavy turnover of tenants over the years, especially recently:

• Unit 4-5 has had a few temporary uses since The Works closed down following the company’s administration in 2008; before that, I can remember it housing Rumbelows, Millets and, when the centre opened, a ladies’ fashion store. [UPDATE, 23 Aug 2010: I believe the fashion store was called Walter Hibbert.]
• Most recently, Unit 6 was briefly Baybeez^{[broken link removed]}, but before that had been Priceless Shoes, Gilesports, and a local bakers whose name escapes me – Graham something, perhaps? [UPDATE, 23 Aug 2010: At some point, the bakers was called Don Miller's Hot Bread Kitchen.]
• Unit 7 has recently housed a couple of short-lived fashion retailers (Gimme 5 and Bells Clothing), after previously being a branch of Select.

The resulting store will, I believe, have a ground-floor sales area of just under 5,000 sq ft, or around half that of the nearby Boots shop – a decent size, but still quite compact by Peacocks’ standards.

Prompted by my news, my mother duly went into town for a recce a couple of days ago, and reported that while there was some banging going on behind the scenes, there was no visible sign yet of the three units being combined, with no hoardings, and no signs proclaiming Peacocks’ impending arrival. This all suggests that it may be October or November before the store opens, assuming that the retailer is keen to be trading in the run-up to Christmas.

Given the revolving door of underwhelming tenants at that end of Ankerside, it’s clearly a very positive step to be welcoming a relatively big-name retailer that is likely to stick around for a while – unless, of course, Peacocks does so well it decides to upgrade to a larger site at Tamworth Junction.

Until then, the increase in footfall from Peacocks will hopefully boost Julian Graves in Unit 3 opposite – one of Tamworth’s most appealing shops (and a great use of what has always been an awkward-shaped unit), but whose premises of less than 1,000 sq ft are quietly being marketed as “to let”, “by way of an assignment of the existing lease.”

Absurdly, the advertisement contains the wording “Confidential Disposal – Staff Unaware”, despite the fact that it’s easy to find on Google (simply by searching for “3 ankerside”) and – just in case you were in any doubt – includes a prominent photo of the current occupant.

Screenshot of letting information for Julian Graves unit (6 Aug 2010)

It seems like a case of people who should know better really needing to understand how the Internet works…

Wool display in the North Shields Wooly Minded (18 Jun 2010)

My coverage of the upcoming Wooly Minded store in Newcastle’s Clayton Street seems to have prompted quite a bit of interest on Twitter, so – never one to shy away from a retail challenge – I thought I’d dig around a little further. 

Given that the best way to find things out is from the horse’s mouth, I paid a visit to the existing Wooly Minded shop in North Shields, where the delightful staff were more than happy to fill me in, and to let me take some shots of the colourful and well-stocked interior of the store. 

Interior of Wooly Minded in North Shields (18 Jun 2010)

As I suspected, the Newcastle Wooly Minded and those in North and South Shields are one and the same business, run by Susan Cain. The South Shields shop is apparently the bigger of the two, but the ladies were telling me that both shops draw in people from quite a wide area, with customers coming from as far away as Hexham. 

Wool display in the North Shields Wooly Minded (18 Jun 2010)

Perhaps surprisingly, the Newcastle branch will actually be smaller than either of the existing stores. However, though the unit faces Clayton Street alongside Tesco and Poundland, it’s easy to forget that the shop is wider than it is deep, given that it backs on to the lower-ground floor of Topshop and Topman. 

Existing Wooly Minded in North Shields (18 Jun 2010)

Reinforcing my impressions from Google Street View, it’s true that neither the North Shields Wooly Minded nor the South Shields branch (which I visited a little later) have hugely eyecatching frontages. In both cases, this is due in part to the predominance of brown – rarely an inspiring colour – and some challenging fascia proportions that result in less than half the shopfront actually being window. However, given the shops’ specialist market and ability to draw in shoppers from outside the area, this is less problematic than it would be for a business reliant on attracting passing trade.

I do still think though that the window displays could have more zing – I love the vibrant colours of all the wool inside the shop, and it would be great if more of this could be showcased to the outside world, instead of the pastel shades that currently predominate in both the signage and merchandising.

Existing Wooly Minded in South Shields (18 Jun 2010)

In Clayton Street, however, having a brand new unit with a much higher proportion of glazing should immediately give Wooly Minded an easier canvas with which to work, and I was reliably informed that the new shop *will* get a bolder and more eyecatching treatment – apparently based around a lime green and black colour scheme, and featuring “flying sheep”.  

Wooly Minded's Newcastle shop (17 Jun 2010)

The Newcastle store will also apparently stock more higher-end wool ranges than the two existing shops, perhaps mindful of the main competition coming from John Lewis and Fenwick, and no doubt also reflecting the significantly higher rental that a city centre spot is bound to incur. 

Interior of Wooly Minded in North Shields (18 Jun 2010)

Though a firm launch date for the Newcastle shop is yet to be set, shopfitters are apparently on site already, with an opening likely in mid to late July.

You might quibble over aspects of the existing stores’ shopfront design and window displays, but my overall impression of Wooly Minded is that this is a business that serves its loyal customers really well, thanks to staff that know their stuff and are passionate about what they do – the hallmark, indeed, of many a successful independent retailer.

If the Newcastle Wooly Minded can replicate this friendly and knowledgable service, while creating a store look and feel that reflects its higher-profile location, there’s every reason to expect that it will be a success.

Wooly Minded - opening soon! (17 Jun 2010)

One of the quirks of the recently opened Eldon Square South extension in Newcastle is the contrast in tenant mix between the main St Andrew’s Way mall and those units that only face out on to the surrounding streets.

While the former includes flagship fashion stores such as Debenhams, Topshop and Hollister, the new units along Clayton Street – with no link to the actual mall – echo the more secondary-pitch feel of the surrounding area, hosting Tesco Metro, Poundland and Park Lane Cards.

While this isn’t automatically a bad thing, it does perhaps limit the Eldon Square extension’s ability to have a much-needed rejuvenating effect on the rather dowdy surrounding shopping streets.

The flipside is that it makes it viable for some interesting independents to make an appearance among the big chains – including the imminent, and intriguing, arrival of Wooly Minded, a shop that describes itself as “the knitter’s paradise”.

Eldon Square sign

What do we know about Wooly Minded? Information is pretty scarce – and it’s presumably not the same Wooly Minded as is based in New York State – but there do appear to be at least two existing stores of the same name, in West Percy Street in North Shields, and Fowler Street in South Shields.

Wooly Minded will certainly bring something new and useful to the centre of Newcastle, tapping into the same make-do-and-mend spirit that has made HobbyCraft such a success in the current recession. With many high streets looking increasingly identical to one another, this is to be welcomed.

I hope, however, that Wooly Minded’s Clayton Street shopfront gets a more inspiring treatment than that given to the existing North Shields store, where the signage and window displays seem rather lacking in pizzazz [UPDATE, 18 June 2010: I'm now reliably informed that the Clayton Street store will indeed get a bolder treatment].

The Grocery, Heaton (7 Mar 2010)

After all, Neil Wilson Design’s brilliant transformation of The Grocery in Heaton’s Chillingham Road shows what an independent retailer can achieve with the help of a little bit of design thought and flair, creating a frontage that celebrates the colour and appeal of the produce.

Surely there’s no reason why what’s good for fruit cannot be applied in a creative way to balls of wool as well?

Former Linthorpe Road Woolworths, Middlesbrough

Last week’s blog post about the long-closed former Woolworths in Benwell seems to have opened the floodgates to lots of comments and insights about other nearly-forgotten Woolies in the North East – many thanks indeed for all your contributions!

While Seamaster reminisced about the old Woolies in Seaham – closed in the 1980s – TAS was able to confirm that the long-departed store in Crook was, indeed, in the building that now houses Boots. Meanwhile, Peter shared his memories of buying film brochures from the former Byker Woolies in Shields Road (another ’80s casualty), while John from Gateshead alerted me, via Twitter, to a former Woolworths in Felling that I never knew existed – another one to add to the visiting list!

Former Woolworths (now Decorflair), Shields Road, Byker

Given this present flurry of archive delving, I figured it might be a good moment to recap the known locations of old Woolworths stores in the North East. First, here are the 33 Woolworths that kept going until the bitter end, and only closed down in December 2008 and January 2009 following Woolworths’ administration:

• Alnwick (#822)
• Ashington (#229)
• Barnard Castle (#534)
• Berwick-upon-Tweed (#232)
• Billingham (#820)
• Bishop Auckland (#116)
• Blyth (#544)
• Byker (Newcastle Shopping Park) (#1256)
• Chester-le-Street (#267)
• Consett (#388)
• Darlington (#28)
• Durham (#321)
• Gateshead (#154)
• Gosforth (#716)
• Hartlepool (#322)
• Hexham (#931)
• Houghton-le-Spring (#488)
• Jarrow (#434)
• MetroCentre (#1238)
• Middlesbrough (#1200)
• Morpeth (#439)
• Newcastle upon Tyne (Clayton Street) (#340)
• Newton Aycliffe (#1007)
• North Shields (#426)
• Peterlee (#987)
• Redcar (#275)
• South Shields (#104)
• Spennymoor (#278)
• Stanley (#873)
• Stockton-on-Tees (Castlegate) (#336)
• Stockton-on-Tees (Portrack Lane) (#1232)
• Wallsend (#351)
• Whitley Bay (#277)

Photographs and links to previous blog posts about those stores are given on the ‘Old Woolies’ page.

Next, these are the 16 19 North East stores, that I know of, that had closed down prior to Woolworths’ administration. As far as I’m aware, these are all stores that closed down years ago (i.e. the 1980s or earlier), with the exception of the Middlesbrough Music & Video shop (which reportedly shut in the early 1990s), and of course the large Sunderland store that only bit the dust in 2004:

• Benwell (#905)
• Blaydon
• Byker (63 Shields Road) [EDIT: Store # (276) sourced, 29 Oct 2010] 
• Crook
• Felling
• Killingworth (Woolco)
• Linthorpe Village
• Longbenton [EDIT: Added to list, 21 Jun 2010]
• Middlesbrough (Linthorpe Road) (#8)
• Middlesbrough (Music & Video, Hillstreet)
• New Washington (#1014) [EDIT: Added to list, 3 Jun 2010]
• Newcastle upon Tyne (Northumberland Street) (#27)
• North Kenton [EDIT: Added to list, 28 Jul 2010]
• Pennywell, Sunderland (#817)
• Seaham
• Stockton-on-Tees (High Street)
• Sunderland (Fawcett Street) (#144)
• Thornaby (Woolco)
• Washington Galleries (Woolco) (#2007)

Former Woolworths (now Primark), Sunderland

Former Woolworths, Benwell

In both the lists above, I’ve included the store numbers in brackets where I have them. Within the Woolworths business, these numbers provided each store with a unique identifier, and are repeatedly used in old editions of The New Bond, when referring to particular branches. They were still in use right until the end, however, as highlighted in this useful 2007 PDF.

Stores seem to have kept the same number throughout their lifetimes – South Shields, for example, is referred to as store number 104 in the 2007 list, just as it was in an issue of The New Bond from fifty years earlier.

As far as I am aware, the store numbers also correspond to the order in which those shops were opened – hence the original UK Woolworths in Liverpool being #1; new stores mentioned in the February 1956 edition of The New Bond ranging from #913 (Kingsbridge) to #921 (Warminster); and the most recent Big W sites (such as Byker) having store numbers in the 1200s.

Where a store was rebuilt or relocated – Stockton-on-Tees’ #336, for example – it seems to have kept its original number; however, a new store opening up in a town that had had a Woolworths in the past (such as Middlesbrough), seems to have been allocated a new number (hence the modern Hillstreet branch being #1200, rather than taking over the former #8).

I’d be interested to know if there’s a complete list of store numbers these out there; I certainly haven’t come across one as yet, though it is possible to find the number for many stores by searching or browsing at Woolworths Reunited and 100thBirthday.co.uk.

Equally, if you know of any old Woolies in the North East that are missing from the list above, please add a comment below. I very much doubt that the list is comprehensive, and suspect that there may well be further examples, similar to Stockton, where an earlier store was replaced by a new one elsewhere in the same town.

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’.