A postcard from Caernarfon’s closed down Woolies
I’m not quite sure if it should be a cause for celebration or urgent self-reflection when my friends start emailing over photographs of old Woolworths...
Read more....Author: Graham Soult
Christmas comes early again at Selfridges
Today’s BBC News story about Selfridges’ imminent opening of its Christmas shop made me wonder whether I should just dust off and recycle my blog post...
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Alworths confirms Alloa opening, and heads to Hertford and Tiverton
Following on from my blog post about Alworths opening in the Clackmannanshire town of Alloa, it has now been confirmed that the new store will open this week,...
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Retail Doctor’s guide is a tonic for indie retailers, albeit with a US flavour
This post is something of a first for Soult’s Retail View – a proper book review! Before I talk about the book – which is the...
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Unpacking Clas Ohlson’s 203% UK sales increase
The much-blogged-about Swedish hardware retailer Clas Ohlson published its sales figures for June yesterday. What’s interesting is that sales for the UK are now being stripped out from those of Finland,...
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Wallis to open concession in Robbs of Hexham
Delivering on its promise to bring quality concessions to its recently acquired Robbs of Hexham store, it seems that Beales has already signed up the Arcadia-owned...
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Rothbury’s retail charms
It can hardly have escaped anyone’s notice that Rothbury, in Northumberland, has been the news centre of the UK this week, for reasons entirely outside the control...
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New book examines the architectural history of Scotland’s shops
One of the nice things about running my own architecture subject gateway, Sapling.info, is that I get the opportunity to read about plenty of interesting buildings and places. Earlier...
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Out of the ruins of Faith comes Hope
It’s always good to hear of a retailer that is rising from the ashes, Wellworths-style, so I was pleased to read in The Appointment magazine...
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Alworths lined up for non-Woolies site in Alloa?
Just a week after its first two Scottish stores opened in Forfar and Cupar, the variety store chain Alworths is now “recruiting for enthusiastic, customer focussed...
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Currys and B&Q think compact as the retail park heads to the high street
I was curious to read Retail Week’s recent article about the electricals retailer DSGi trialling a small-size dual fascia Currys and PC World store at...
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The ghosts of Washington’s former Woolworths
Back in February, I blogged about the former Woolworths store in Sunderland’s Fawcett Street, which closed in 2004 following its acquisition by Primark. At the...
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And while in North Shields… another Shopjacket
While checking out North Shield’s Wooly Minded, I also paid a visit to the North East’s third Shopjacket, in nearby Howard Street, following on from...
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Newcastle’s Wooly Minded store opening – more details about “the knitter’s paradise”
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 –...
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Card Factory lined up for Newcastle’s Northumberland Street
Newcastle City Council has recently received a planning application for the “display of internally illuminated fascia sign and non illuminated projecting sign to front elevation”...
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Newcastle’s Clayton Street gets Wooly Minded
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...
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Clas Ohlson continues UK expansion with Merry Hill store
Swedish hardware retailer Clas Ohlson has announced today that it will be opening its eighth UK store at Westfield’s Merry Hill shopping centre, at Brierley...
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Coverage of Cupar Alworths opening raises a retail laugh
Alworths in Cupar opened today, taking over the premises that were latterly Pound-Mart and, before that, Woolworths. The fledgling chain’s first foray into Fife –...
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Robbs is saved – so what happens now?
With just over a week now passed since Beales’ takeover of Robbs of Hexham was confirmed, details of what the welcome change of ownership might mean for the historic 192-year-old store...
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One degree of separation, as Soult meets Shopjacket in the Teesdale Mercury
One of the things I love about retail is the way that you can always find obscure links between apparently unrelated places, people and shops – such as...
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