I Do Miss…..

My Mum had the Woolworth's gingham tableware for the kitchen. It's very collectable now, I think.
Goodness knows what happened to it, it probably went to the church jumble sale many years ago.

I loved their Ladybird brand clothes. Dressed my daughter & son in some very good value for money pieces, including school uniform which always washed well.

Interesting thread and posts.

so many of our old shops gone forever...
can`t help but wonder why? not for lack of use, or profits?

our little Morrisons, soon to be taken over by some Equity Company in America?????? and we wonder why!

loss of retail shops the media screams at us... rents too high!

rubbish, we want the old style shops back, then we`ll show them!

I used to like the ladybird clothes for children.
They were very well made.

I miss Woolies too, much more than any other store that’s gone
I guess BandM is it’s nearest equivalent as it sells a few kids clothes, Wilco doesn’t sell any clothes
Used to buy the broken biscuits when the kids were small and pick and mix and just wander around I m sure they sold literally everything I used it every time I went to town

When I was about eight or nine years old my older sister and her friends dared me to go into Woolworths and steal something, actually they goaded me until I was scared not to do it. They waited outside while I went into the shop in absolute terror. My face felt as if it was on fire as I walked down the centre aisle, around the sweet counter, back out of the door and didn’t stop walking until I got home.

Even though I hadn’t taken anything it took me years before I could feel comfortable in Woolworths.

C&A and Littlewoods. Used to love going into Littlewoods, waiting for the Happy Hour announcement, then rushing to get all we wanted before time ran out, in order to get the 10% off!

In the north, we had a chain called Ethel Austin for clothes. Such good value, especially for babies and children growing out of things as well as ladies underwear.
I miss the fabulous grottos the city centre large department stores put on every Christmas. They were so exciting to a child.

i was always in woolworths as a child and teenager, i got all my lp's and 45's from the store, my gran got most things she needed, we now have home bargains, b & m and wilko, i have poundland 2 mins away and use it most days, all my clothes i bought from virgo then weww and now it is primark, when shops close there is always something to replace it.

John Lewis none near us now and I cannot buy online. However apart from buying saved for item it was really just the opportunity to walk through the store looking at all the lovely things and then treating myself to coffee or lunch.

Auntieflo

Just come back. Hands off head now, due to drinking tea.
Thank goodness Callistemon, that I'm not the only mad one in the bunch.

Yes, I had to cook dinner so that was my penance

Foot-in-mouth indeed, but I actually quite like what I've read of him. I believe the Ratner empire he built up is still going strong, although they kicked him out.

The Daily Mirror (I think) did the usual in reporting the joke out of context but he admits it was all his fault and that he shouldn't have said it and he lost everything as a result. I read somewhere his wife eventually read him the riot act when he was feeling sorry for himself and told him to get back to work and he did. He's doing okay again I think, he started a health club and sold it and now has an online jewellery concern.

I used to love Woolworths, it was always a little but of everything and an interesting shop to wander around. I remember buying baby clothes from there for my first child

I miss Woolworths too , used to have Saturday and school holiday job there in Poplar London. Drapery counter Saturday and pick & mix school holidays.
Was just reminiscing with my granddaughter yesterday about it she is trying out for her first Saturday job next week, fingers crossed ?

Ratners DanniRae

The boss was Gerald Ratner.

Do you remember the jewellery store that closed because it's owner said that the stuff in his shops was rubbish? Foot in mouth syndrome for sure!

No worries Amberone we’ve done it. Well done with keeping that sweater for that long.

tanith

C & A Modes never sold lighting to my knowledge only clothes.

tanith - you're quite right - I meant BHS for lighting - BHS actually moved into where our C&A used to be but that's no excuse ?

I was actually wearing a jumper last Friday that I bought in C&A about 30 years ago. I did go some years not wearing it then found it in a cupboard with a bunch of other things I had stopped wearing it and still liked it and it still looks good. Think maybe it's time to consign it to the bin though ?

Woolworths seemed to sell everything and where I bought my Friday night is Amami night and Evening in Paris perfume , .I look back at what I spend now in comparison to those years

My nearest Woolies was what my mother called ‘rough’ so we never shopped there! But BHS were excellent for lighting. They also sold raspberry ruffle chocolates, which I now buy from Amazon. I used to love Laura Ashley before they were taken over after LA herself and then her husband died. The sales were brilliant. Boswell in Oxford recently closed - I think they are going to be transformed into a hotel. They had a very good kitchen department and I used to take my children to buy marbles from the toy section.

C & A Modes never sold lighting to my knowledge only clothes.

I think we're all going to miss Debenhams. It was such a BIG store, it was fun just wandering around all the floors, I wonder what's going to happen to all the premises.

Once the Woolies closed in our rural towns there wasn't anything similar replacing them so there's no where to just browse now.

Woolies used to be my go-to store for almost anything house related, especially all those little things it was hard to get elsewhere. C&A was the first place I looked for lighting. Now I buy most lighting online, sadly. Most of all I miss them all being in town on the high street. Wilco is okay but a lot of them (like our nearest one) are quite small.

Woolies was where I did most of my food shopping in Sydney - not like here, more like Sainsbury, with masses of food choices including fresh fruit and veg, and meat and deli counters.

Just come back. Hands off head now, due to drinking tea.
Thank goodness Callistemon, that I'm not the only mad one in the bunch.