Woolworths Group

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Woolworths Group PLC

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1909
Seat London , UK
Number of employees 400 (2009)
Branch trade

The Woolworths Group PLC was an independent, publicly listed retail group and employed approximately 27,000 people in the UK . It was originally a founding of the American Woolworth Group .

history

The first British store opened in Liverpool in 1909 .

At the beginning of World War I, there were 40 branches in Great Britain and Ireland, in most of the major cities. The number of employees - including managers - was 57. After the war, most managers did not return. The American parent company offered to help, but the British company wanted to prove its capabilities and a number of women were promoted to management positions, if only for a limited period. In 1923 there were already 130 shops. Many of the shops had distinctive Art Deco tile facades. The 400th branch opened on July 12, 1930, and 444 when it went public in 1931.

The highest number of stores was reached in the 1960s with 1141. Even then, hypermarkets were opened under the name Woolco . Most of these department stores were later sold, for example to the Dee Corporation , and some are still operated today, for example by Asda , Carrefour and Tesco .

By the time the British company separated from the American FW Woolworth Company in 1982, the number of branches fell to around 1,000. The British company temporarily stopped following the general trend of opening branches on the outskirts of the city, but instead stayed in the centers. At the beginning of the 21st century, Woolworths was facing increasing competition. The business with sound carriers (records, music cassettes and CDs), one of the main sources of income, collapsed, especially after the demise of Our Price company .

insolvency

Shortly before the company's 100th anniversary, Woolworths finally fell victim to the financial crisis . On November 26, 2008, the British media reported, citing company circles, that the company had filed for bankruptcy after a final rescue attempt had failed. In the first half of fiscal 2008/2009, which runs through the end of August, Woolworths Group PLC announced a loss of £ 99.7 million (before tax). The debt amounted to 385 million pounds (about 410 million euros, December 2008 exchange rate). After the search for an investor had failed, the closure of the department store chain with over 800 branches was announced on December 10, 2008 and the clearance sale was initiated. This process was completed at the beginning of January 2009 when the last employees were laid off.

The former manager of a Woolworths branch in Dorchester , Claire Robertson, continued to run her shop under the new name Wellworth after a few renovations. The reopening took place on March 11, 2009. This was followed with widespread media interest in Great Britain.

The German Woolworth GmbH & Co. KG is independent of the British Woolworths Group and was therefore not affected by its bankruptcy.

The also still existing Australian Woolworths Group has no historical connection with the British or American companies of this name.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Management Buy In - the most hostile form of takeover". Woolworths Virtual Museum ( no longer online )
  2. BBC News: Bargains in closing Woolworths shops (December 27, 2008)
  3. Spiegel Online: Woolworth Comeback Mrs. Robertson enraptures the British (March 14, 2009)