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What now for Woolworths?
- Thread starter se5
- Start date
Meltingpot
Living in our pools we soon forget about the sea
Woolworths used to be associated in the public mind with low quality goods - I remember Billy Idol on Juke Box Jury in 1979 joking that Jimmy Savile had "bought his crystal ball from Woolworths" when Jimmy had claimed that his crystal ball predicted success for a certain disc. Nevertheless, I've bought quite a few things from them over the years and it's hard to imagine high streets without a "Woollies."
5t3IIa
Registered User
I was in Hackney Woolies this Saturday. I was looking for a plunger but they didn't have what I wanted (I got choosy about a plunger 
) so I bought The Thing Collectors Edition for £3 and a silicon rubbery loaf tin for £4 and was extremely happy with my purchases. I also cruised Xmas decs but didn't buy.
It was clean, busy as hell and didn't seem on the decline at all, thank god
) so I bought The Thing Collectors Edition for £3 and a silicon rubbery loaf tin for £4 and was extremely happy with my purchases. I also cruised Xmas decs but didn't buy.It was clean, busy as hell and didn't seem on the decline at all, thank god
I was in Hackney Woolies this Saturday. I was looking for a plunger but they didn't have what I wanted (I got choosy about a plunger
It was clean, busy as hell and didn't seem on the decline at all, thank god
No - the Hackney one (my local one) is always busy and popular (it's still shit though)
5t3IIa
Registered User
What is it shit for specifically?
I spent a lot of time in their when I was poor-ish at the beg. of the year and needed stuff like a mixing bowl and an oven glove and j-cloths and scrubbing sponge things and I thought it was excellent quality and value. Plus for every mixing bowl I bought I'd buy a cheapy DVD
What is it shit for specifically?
I spent a lot of time in their when I was poor-ish at the beg. of the year and needed stuff like a mixing bowl and an oven glove and j-cloths and scrubbing sponge things and I thought it was excellent quality and value. Plus for every mixing bowl I bought I'd buy a cheapy DVD
To be fair if you haven't got a great deal of money it's ok but now-a-days it just seems such a mish mash of cheap shite - some of them seemed to have a lot of useful stuff, I'm thinking Islington (now closed) and Bethnal Green but others like Hackney is now just sweets and overpriced games the rest of the stuff such as kitchen bits and bobs you can get elsewhere cheaper and it's also pot luck as to whether stuff you want is available whereas it used to be much more reliable.
ETA I mentioned earlier that the Hackney branch was one of those converted a few years ago - although the conversion didn't last and they went back to 'normal' quickly - stock wise they never went back to the 'everything you need' that other woolies seem to manage - it's a glorified more expensive pound shop with dcs / dvds and games etc.
Yes it is looking nice and I think is a nice store with a good atmosphere. I like the fact that Woolies have a range of goods and you never know what you might end up buying
Probably been overtaken by the likes of poundstretcher.
Oooh that wouldn't fit in at all in Muswell Hill
and I doubt the locals would allow one to be installed at the Crouch End site 
Someone at work was muttering about maybe Wilkinsons moving into Woolies sites.
5t3IIa
Registered User
Yeah, I think they've always been a bit of a mish-mash. I even recall being a bit confused by Wollies as a kid. If I didn't want Pick n Mix or some plimsolls what else would I buy there?
But now I find them very useful: I don't have a car and when I wanted a plunger and some floor-paint and brushes I knew I could get them in Woolies whereas the nearest B&Q is quite far away.
I can see why they are losing their market share and I suppose I shouldn't be sentimental or knocky about not having two close-by as I can get cheap mixing bowls anywhere. I think I trust a Woolies branded chrome dish dryer more than an anonymous £1 shop one though
But now I find them very useful: I don't have a car and when I wanted a plunger and some floor-paint and brushes I knew I could get them in Woolies whereas the nearest B&Q is quite far away.
I think I trust a Woolies branded chrome dish dryer more than an anonymous £1 shop one though
Yeah the first point is what I used to love about woolies - the Hackney branch used to have everything but not now - it's no longer the first place I think of going - although some branches have managed to maintain that 'stock it all' thing.
Your second point is absolutley true - I remember taking a garden hose back to woolies that I'd bought the previous summer and it'd burst - now a hose should last longer then one summer - they replaced it no argument - other stuff I've taken back - same thing - I will miss what woolworths used to be - not what they are now
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Maggot
The Cake of Liberty
I'm sure you used to be able to buy booze in the Brixton one.
Oddly enough - during the conversion of the Hackney one I thought I remembered seeing cans of beer and bottles of wine - I had forgotton till I read your post.
Yes they did sell booze a year or two ago. I think they ran a trial in Brixton in advance of an agreement with Somerfield which has now been implemented whereby Woolies sell a range of food and drink including some alcohol and Somerfield sell some of the Woolies range of household items. Dont know how this is progressing with Somerfield now being taken over by Co-Op
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Probably been overtaken by the likes of poundstretcher.
Yes, that probably explains why they are failing. They sell the same kind of stuff as pound shops but often at twice the price. Argos also sells most of the stuff they do - and at similar prices - but with a much, much greater range.
I can see why people might feel sad for sentimental reasons but they're not actually a good shop - maybe because they've failed to change. I can't really see who they are indispensable to these days.
blossie33
trailer trash
I am sure you're right about Argos though the nice thing about places like Woolies is that you can actually look at the items to see if it's what you want - Argos you have to go through the ordering/ paying for etc. process before you get a look-see and their stores are not always convenient to where people live.
Also, while they DO have similar stuff to the pound shops the quality is generally much better imo.
Really good post/review of this three nearest Woolies and their merits to the local community here at Diamondgeezer's blog
http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/
FWIW - until about 2003 the Hackney Woolies was really good - like a sort of garden centre cum Superdrug cum hardware store. Then they had a rejig and it turned into a mahoosive glorified poundstretcher with tonnes of confectionary and DVDs.
http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/
FWIW - until about 2003 the Hackney Woolies was really good - like a sort of garden centre cum Superdrug cum hardware store. Then they had a rejig and it turned into a mahoosive glorified poundstretcher with tonnes of confectionary and DVDs.
Thanks for that review HackneyE9 - interesting reading - I had forgotton about the Stratford one - like Bethnal Green (also in the review) and Islington (before it closed) and formerly Hackney - another traditional Woolies. I would hazard a guess if they had kept all of them like this they may still be going strong - particularly in the areas mentioned but we'll never know.
Yeah also the Hackney store - I said the same as you about it a few posts back - glorified poundshop - shame
Yeah also the Hackney store - I said the same as you about it a few posts back - glorified poundshop - shame
Yes they do vary from place to place. I found the one in Islington poor, Hackney full of cheap crap as others have mentioned, and the one at Bethnal Green also not great. IMO they were more full of crap and cheap rubbish than others I had visited. Archway is a bit the same unfortunately. They also looked dirty and like noone, customers or staff, really gave a damn. I wouldn't be surprised if some bright spark at Woolies had invested in some demographic research and tried to tailor the stores to 'the people they thought would shop there'. That would have been money well spent in hindsight hey. Either that or realised people would still shop there regardless of how dilapidated the surrounds
That's horrible. It would be tough working there atm.
The Islington one was always rammed, but it was an indoor extension of the market: a confused pile of plasticky cack. Woolworth's didn't have a clear identity (at least in my mind): I'd certainly pop in if I was in the area, but I wouldn't make a concerted effort to go there.
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