LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Sentimental shoppers flocked to Woolworths stores across London on Friday, hunting for bargains on the second day of the troubled retailer's closing down sale.
The discount DVDs-to-sweets chain went into administration last month after almost a century in business, during which it became a household name for generations of Britons.
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| Shoppers queue outside a Woolworths shop in Camberley, in Surrey. AFP |
“It's going to be a great loss,” said Leonard Kettle, a 77-year-old from the south London suburb of Camberwell. “People of my age were brought up with it. You could go in there and buy something for sixpence when I was a child. I'll miss it when it's gone.” The disappearance of the familiar red Woolworths sign from British town centres will mark the end of 99 years of trading, while also likely leading to the loss of 25,000 jobs in 815 stores across the country.
“It's a shame, really, because it's history, isn't it?” said an 83-year-old great-grandmother from south London. “We've known it all our lives. I've got two little porcelain animals at home that my daughter bought me from Woolworths when she was a baby, and she's 58 now.” Not everyone was as nostalgic, however.
While some bemoaned the demise of the high street shop, many just came in search of Christmas discounts. By mid-morning there were long queues at branches throughout the capital.
Britain's first Woolworths store opened in Liverpool in 1909 as an offshoot of American F.W. Woolworth's retail empire.
The credit crisis, which has hit businesses from banks to retailers over the past year, also made trading conditions for the company difficult, eventually forcing the board to call in the administrators and look for buyers.
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