A brief history of Morpeth Woolworths
As you’d probably expect, I get my fair share of Woolworths-related enquiries, given that I’ve written (and talked) so much about the retailer’s long and...
Read more....Tagged: Iceland
Five years after closure, Newton Aycliffe Woolworths may soon be occupied
If you’ve managed to miss me hogging the airwaves this morning – on BBC Radio 5 Live (which you can listen to here), Wales, Scotland,...
Read more....
Hunting for long-gone Woolies stores in Harrow and Sudbury Hill
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...
Read more....
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%)...
Read more....
Reflections on Spennymoor High Street, 85 years to the day from Woolworths’ arrival
I suspect it will have passed the townsfolk by, but today – 13 August – is the 85th anniversary of Woolworths opening in the County Durham...
Read more....
Tesco’s express demolition: photographs of the Gateshead store biting the dust
Demolition of Gateshead’s old Tesco superstore is nearing completion, just three weeks after it closed its doors to customers. After trading from the site since...
Read more....
Oops! Tesco’s Gateshead mailout sends customers to Poundland
Ahead of the Gateshead superstore’s closure on 22 April, Tesco has mailed details of its temporary store to local customers – but they may have...
Read more....
From textured berber to veggie burgers: new uses for Devon’s old Woolworths
With another shop-spotting visit to Devon scheduled for later this month, now seems like an opportune time to share the ex-Woolies photos that I took...
Read more....
Monmouth’s ex-Woolies and its place in our retail heritage
On 9 April 1932, Woolworths opened its doors in Monmouth, in Wales. Today – the 80th anniversary – therefore seems like a good time to...
Read more....
Historic Alnwick’s original Woolworths – and a modern-day successor in Wilkinson
In the same way as Houghton-le-Spring’s Woolworths was originally in a different location to where it ended up, I recently discovered that Alnwick, too, has...
Read more....
Birtley’s ex-Netto Co-operative Food – shiny, but still a Co-op
Travelling back from Chester-le-Street yesterday, I was finally able to visit – and do a shop in – The Co-operative Food store in Birtley, which opened...
Read more....
Poundland to take over Heron Foods site in Hexham
One of the few empty shops in Hexham will soon be occupied again, with Poundland set to move into the former Heron Foods site in Priestpopple....
Read more....
Conversion of North Shields Netto to Asda set to begin
I paid my first visit to an ex-Netto Asda Supermarket last weekend – more of which in the coming days – but meanwhile the process...
Read more....
Work starts on converting Tyneside Netto stores to Asda Supermarkets
Less than six months after the carve-up of the Netto estate was confirmed, the Danish supermarket fascia is well on its way to disappearing from the...
Read more....
New Mountain Warehouse reaffirms Hexham’s status as a retail hotspot
Visiting Hexham on New Year’s Day, I was interested to see that a new branch of Mountain Warehouse had sprung up since I was previously...
Read more....
Haldanes not ruling out purchase of “great” Netto Birtley store
When Asda’s sale of 39 surplus Netto stores was announced a couple of weeks ago, I noted that Birtley – a small town close to...
Read more....
Asda’s sale of surplus Netto stores: who gets what in the North East
As I blogged earlier, Asda’s acquisition of Netto’s UK business moved a step closer yesterday, with the news that it has reached agreement to sell...
Read more....
Morrisons to acquire Tamworth’s Netto store
The Netto store in my old hometown of Tamworth is one of 16 sites that Morrisons is set to acquire following Asda’s purchase of the Netto UK...
Read more....
Belper’s fine mix of supermarkets and indie retailers
Following on from my 2009 visit to Alfreton, Heanor and Ripley in Derbyshire, I was able to pay a fleeting visit this festive season to...
Read more....
The Original Factory Shop in Morpeth – a shift towards more upmarket locations?
The rapidly expanding mini-department store retailer, The Original Factory Shop, opened its seventh North East store, in Morpeth, last week. It adds to the retailer’s...
Read more....
