The demise of Wilko's in 2023 vs the demise of Woolworth's in 2008

[Lencoboy]

I used to love Woolworths for buying music, especially cassettes. So much less intimidating than record shops for a shy teen.

I never go into Smiths these days, they moved the main city post office there and the crowds make me nervous.

I suppose the inclusion of the post office in some of their stores is one of the main factors helping WHS to survive for now, though our local WHS store is at the out-of-town retail park as it moved out of the town centre around 2004 IIRC, so don't think it has a post office section.

The WHS in neighbouring Lichfield however does have the post office section as it's still in the main shopping precinct, as Lichfield haven't (as yet) got a major out-of-town retail park like we have.

Back to Woolies, the former unit here in Tamworth is a Home Bargains and Lichfield's former Woolies unit is a
B & M, and both of course have been since 2009.

Not quite sure about Burton though, as I don't really visit that part of their town centre where Woolies used to be.

[ErinKC]

I'm in the US and I used to shop at Woolworths all the time as a kid! It went out of business here in 1997 and I remember I had purchased a goldfish there that outlived the store!

[Lencoboy]

I'm in the US and I used to shop at Woolworths all the time as a kid! It went out of business here in 1997 and I remember I had purchased a goldfish there that outlived the store!

Survived for another decade and one year here in Blighty then, but perhaps it wasn't exactly the same operation Stateside, in spite of the name.

I think someone on another forum said that about the Australian division of Woolies, who also had differing fortunes compared to the UK division of said brand.

I think they also said that the Woolworths brand survived longer there than in both the UK and the USA.

[ErinKC]

Ah yes, I'm reading the wiki page now. It's originally an American company, founded in NY in 1879 as the F.W. Woolworth Company. I also forgot that Woolworths was the sight of the 1960 lunch counter sit in, in North Carolina during the civil rights movement!

By 1979, it was the largest department store chain in the world.

The British version, originally a division of the F.W. Woolworth Company, opened in Liverpool in 1909. It split off from the American brand in 1982 when it was purchased by Paternoster Stores Ltd, which later from the Woolworth's Group. It looks like its demise, at least in part, was due to the 2008 financial crisis.

The Australian version, which appears to still be in business, is an entirely separate entity, founded in 1924, that just snatched the name! I just read this on that wiki page: The name on the draft prospectus drawn up by Cecil Scott Waine was "Walworth's Bazaar" – a play on the name of F.W. Woolworth, the owner of the Woolworth's chain in the United States and United Kingdom. According to Ernest Robert Williams, Percy Christmas dared him to register the name Woolworths instead, which he succeeded in doing after finding out the name was available for use in New South Wales.

[Lencoboy]

Ah yes, I'm reading the wiki page now. It's originally an American company, founded in NY in 1879 as the F.W. Woolworth Company. I also forgot that Woolworths was the sight of the 1960 lunch counter sit in, in North Carolina during the civil rights movement!

By 1979, it was the largest department store chain in the world.

The British version, originally a division of the F.W. Woolworth Company, opened in Liverpool in 1909. It split off from the American brand in 1982 when it was purchased by Paternoster Stores Ltd, which later from the Woolworth's Group. It looks like its demise, at least in part, was due to the 2008 financial crisis.

The Australian version, which appears to still be in business, is an entirely separate entity, founded in 1924, that just snatched the name! I just read this on that wiki page: The name on the draft prospectus drawn up by Cecil Scott Waine was "Walworth's Bazaar" – a play on the name of F.W. Woolworth, the owner of the Woolworth's chain in the United States and United Kingdom. According to Ernest Robert Williams, Percy Christmas dared him to register the name Woolworths instead, which he succeeded in doing after finding out the name was available for use in New South Wales.

Some very interesting info there from you Erin.

On a slightly different note, I'm sure I read somewhere that The Hoover Company also was originally an American company; a name many of us have affectionately associated with vacuum cleaners for donkeys years.

[ErinKC]

Some very interesting info there from you Erin.

On a slightly different note, I'm sure I read somewhere that The Hoover Company also was originally an American company; a name many of us have affectionately associated with vacuum cleaners for donkeys years.

Yes, looks like Hoover was founded in Ohio in 1908. It doesn't say when, but that it also established a major base in the UK. I did know that you call vacuums Hoovers over there the way we call tissues Kleenex. Hoover isn't so ingratiated in the US anymore, but it is still a common vacuum brand here.

Today is my last day of work before heading off to study for the bar exam so researching American/British companies on Wikipedia is exactly the amount of brain power I have right now!

[Lencoboy]

Yes, looks like Hoover was founded in Ohio in 1908. It doesn't say when, but that it also established a major base in the UK. I did know that you call vacuums Hoovers over there the way we call tissues Kleenex. Hoover isn't so ingratiated in the US anymore, but it is still a common vacuum brand here.

Today is my last day of work before heading off to study for the bar exam so researching American/British companies on Wikipedia is exactly the amount of brain power I have right now!

I guess it's something more light-hearted and a bit of escapism from the more mundane and humdrum stuff that's otherwise being beamed into our faces constantly.

[Peter A]

I remember when HMV had to close so many stores. That only really left Fopp for a while. Fortunately, one store returned on Princes Street in Edinburgh.

[Lencoboy]

I remember when HMV had to close so many stores. That only really left Fopp for a while. Fortunately, one store returned on Princes Street in Edinburgh.

I thought I heard recently that HMV are making a bit of a comeback, even though they never fully went away.

I think I also heard somewhere that physical media (audio) is now at its most popular for several years. And not only vinyl but pre-recorded cassettes and even CDs, though the latter format in turn (CDs) never really went away.

[Peter A]

HMV was gone for years, except online, before resurfacing on Princes Street opposite Waverley Bridge. There had been a branch at Ocean Terminal too, but it's probably not there anymore. It's all being rebuilt.