Middlesbrough among the first locations for new value fashion chain Pep&Co
Few consumers will have heard of it yet – for one thing, there’s no Twitter or Facebook presence that I can see – but new value...
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Eighty-five years on: tracking down the ex-Woolworths in Stafford and Stoke
An anniversary is always as good an excuse as any to write a Woolworths-related blog post, and if you were around 85 years ago today...
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Ex-Woolies spotting in Inverness, Dingwall and Blairgowrie
If you like looking at shops and high streets, going on holiday to north west Sutherland, in Scotland – as I did earlier this month – isn’t...
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I’ve now visited and tracked a quarter of the ex-Woolies estate – but what have they all become?
Headlines: 214 ex-Woolworths stores visited, out of the 807 that closed following its collapse Of those, only 12 currently empty (6%) 7 continually empty (3%)...
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North East stores at risk as high street furnisher Walmsley’s collapses again
Stores in Newcastle, Sunderland, Blyth and Stockton are among 24 shops that are at risk following the collapse of Walmsley’s, the high street furniture specialist,...
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Rescued for the fourth time, can Ethel Austin really have a future?
When value clothing retailer Ethel Austin fell into administration for the fourth time in as many years three weeks ago, it’s fair to say that its chances of...
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Edinburgh Woollen Mill saves Peacocks, but ten North East stores close
Today’s announcement that Edinburgh Woollen Mill has bought fashion retailer Peacocks out of administration is very good news as far as the 6,000 saved jobs and 395 retained...
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Hexham Poundland opens; Ashington to follow
Poundland opened the doors of its new Hexham store last Thursday (17 November) – and I understand that another Northumberland Poundland will be opening in Ashington...
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One of the oldest and one of the newest: ex-Woolies spotting in North Somerset
In recent weeks, new developments in Newcastle, the collapse of TJ Hughes and the ongoing conversion of ex-Netto stores have given me plenty of topics...
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A tale of three Tyneside ex-Woolies – Jarrow, North Shields and Wallsend
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...
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Habitat, HomeForm, TJ Hughes: why is it H-H-Hell on the high street?
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...
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Poundstretcher expands with purchase of failed Alworths stores
Amid the gloom of Alworths’ collapse into administration last month, it seems that there’s now some good news. Retail Week is reporting that Alworths’ variety...
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Houghton has a le-Spring in its step – the changing fortunes of the North East’s ex-Woolies sites
With a dwindling number of empty Woolworths stores remaining in the North East, it doesn’t take too long to check out whether anything’s happening on...
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Back to Billingham
Regular readers of this blog will be pleased to hear that I went back to Billingham yesterday, following my earlier underwhelming visit, back in June. The homogeneity...
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Eth-alworth Austin
As variety chain Alworths celebrates its first birthday today, the opening of stores in Newark and Maidenhead has now been confirmed for later this month –...
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Stockton’s original Woolies – and the current state of the town’s High Street
Having missed Stockton-on-Tees’ original Woolworths when I first visited the town nearly a year ago, I’ve been keen to go back and capture a photograph of...
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Ten minutes in Billingham town centre
Until a few weeks ago, Billingham on Teesside had been one of only three former North East Woolworths – out of the 33 that closed following its 2008...
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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...
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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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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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