Sadness as Woolworths' Birmingham city centre store prepares to close

Jan 1 2009 by Kat Keogh, Birmingham Mail

“We are professionals and want to deliver results but there’s nothing on the shelves and nothing really to do. Customers have been saying how sorry they will be to see us go and Saturday will certainly be a difficult day.”

The last remaining shops, including branches at Small Heath, Kings Heath, Lichfield, and Redditch. are set to close on Monday, with the firm’s collapse leaving 27,000 workers facing redundancy. Administrator Deloitte has held talks with other retailers to take on the leases of around 300 stores. It also hopes to sell off the Ladybird children’s clothes and Chad Valley toy brands. A spokeswoman said: “We are considering every offer.”

Woolworths has been a fixture on British high street for almost a century, but the company has been the highest profile casualty of the carnage among retailers as the UK slides into recession.

Other victims have included furniture retailer MFI and music chain Zavvi, which collapsed into administration on Christmas Eve.