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Colchester: Everything must go
3:57pm Friday 2nd January 2009
Comments (40)Tills are ringing for the last time as high street icon Woolworths closes down after almost a century of trading in Colchester.
Woolworths, which has been trading in Colchester for more than 94 years, is officially shutting for good, making 75 people redundant.
Boxes of left-over stock including toys and household goods were sold off for £5 in the store’s entrance today, while staff finished clearing up. Fixtures and fittings were also for sale.
Everything that is left is to be donated to charity.
Sharon Davis, a sales assistant, said: “It’s just sad.
“I was brought up with Woolworths, my mum was brought up with Woolworths and lots of other customers have said the same. It’s the end of an era.”
Dave Blackery, the store’s manager, said: “Woolworth’s has a long history.
“The brand will be sorely missed on the high street and my belief is it will come back.
“But this has been going on for six weeks and the staff all want it come to an end now."
He said ten staff had found new jobs while the remainder had been offered help and advice with job seeking.
- More reaction and pictures in Monday's Gazette
Your Say YourGazette
Boris, Colchester says...
6:53pm Fri 2 Jan 09
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
10:19pm Fri 2 Jan 09
Poacher, Clacton says...
11:24pm Fri 2 Jan 09
deleterious comments, clacton says...
11:33pm Fri 2 Jan 09
same old story,
if we knew then, what we know now ect.
after any sad loss, of any type, you adapt, accept, and move on.
we have read of black "day" on the stock exchange, and moved on, our challenge is not just any one day, but the next many months it seems.
so, with that thought for the day,
chin up, deep breath, and the next step, will be of many into the unknown.
Good Luck, fellow posters.
2009 has opened its doors.
Cliff, Colchester says...
11:51pm Fri 2 Jan 09
Boris, Colchester says...
1:21am Sat 3 Jan 09
Cliff, I never "loved" Woolworths, but I did like it. However in recent years it stopped selling most of the products that I used to go in there for. The last straw was when in November 2008 I found they had stopped selling fireworks, which I had been buying from them every year.
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
8:11am Sat 3 Jan 09
hughie-s, Here says...
9:07am Sat 3 Jan 09
http://www.flickr.co
m/photos/30013959@N0
5/3142245041/
horizontal, Colchester says...
9:48am Sat 3 Jan 09
Where are all the school age shoplifters going to go now on a Saturday afternoon?
obtuse, colchester says...
10:35am Sat 3 Jan 09
deleterious comments, clacton says...
11:25am Sat 3 Jan 09
obviously not, not enough for it to survive.
as spoke of above, it sold much merchandice, with long queues at the tills when ever i went there.
but it never seemed the to stock the right things for myself.
my mrs did shop there, but only for girly/ children type things.
with the ever expanding product lines at megastores like asda/tescos/morrison
s, the majority of my purchases are in them.
i think our waxing lyricaly of the loss of woolies typifies anything that was an "old friend" from when we were children, where as, if you are from the more modern era, you will be more used to other better retail outlets.
lakeside is one example i suppose.
from an abandoned sand quarry in the 1970`s, it first grew a large tescos, then the rest grew, the rest is history.
my point is i was already a married man with children in the 1970`s using this new type of shopping in that original tescos.
that one store seemed to stock everything you ever needed or wanted.
so from that point, the 1970`s, woolies were on a losing streak.
kingfisher plc were very shrewd in 2001 for its shareholders, for they saw the end was near far before the buyout spent their money..
business is business is business,
but, to compete with other stores, you must first compete, by coming less than second, you will never compete in this tight market.
Sdapeze, sdapeze@aol.com says...
12:22pm Sat 3 Jan 09
As to us using Woolies so much, clearly we did not, otherwise it wouldn't be closing - or should they have charged more for their products? Either way, it is too late now so there is no point in crying about it.
More to the point, we should be looking to the future. My family did much of their Christmas shopping on the internet this year. Why? Because its easier, cheaper, more convenient, delivery to your door, etc. Who, in their right mind, wants to drive into town (no convenient buses where we live, get delayed in traffic with like minded people, having to queue to park the car, having to pay to park the car, having to put up with the foul-mouthed shrieks of ill mannered children/parents/you
ths, having to dodge traffic, having to try several shops for the thing that you want because they don't have what you want or the size (I buy underwear for my wife), to carry my purchases back to the car, pay Colchestwer Borough Council for the pleasure of parking my car (whilst being informed that all risks are mine), getting back into the traffic jams - and then driving home?
Look to the future. Woolies has gone the way that more will follow. Until CBC realises that our shopping experience (yuk PC phrase) is made easy by either Park and Ride or free parking, people will avoid the town unless they have to. We have lost Zavvi now too and things are looking bleak for a few others. Look at how many pubs have closed in the town when you can buy beer in Sainsbugs at a third the price and avoid a punchup by drinking at home. It is my prediction that, in 10 years time, CBC will have woken up to reality, the town will be a joyful place to visit, for leisure rather than for shopping, parking will be cheap and easy and traffic jams will be a thing of the past.
The big question is, has this council got the balls to get things moving in this direction or do we need a new thinking council in place?
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
1:16pm Sat 3 Jan 09
Juno, Elmstead says...
3:38pm Sat 3 Jan 09
It was a splendid place, albeit a "cheap" place to be seen. There were assistants on every counter, and if you couldn't see what you wanted chances were it was on one of the huge wooden trays under the counter.
Even during WW2 there was something for everyone, perhaps its greatest hey-day. Life was a bit grey on the shopping front, but a child could go into Woolworths on a Saturday morning and buy a treat such as a joke package or some sort of board game. There was a bit of warmth and colour when we needed it most. Sadly that led to one of the worst bombing tragedies of WW2, in Deptford High St one Saturday morning when a Flying Bomb struck.
Recently Woolworths has borne no resemblance to the stores of old, just a fairly useless place, although they did some good kitchen ware. No doubt it appealed to the younger buyers of CDs and DVDs, since the selection of those goods was enormous.
So, goodbye to something that had changed beyond the recognition of we oldies! It didn't compete with the Pound Stores and was not in anyway upmarket enough to outclass them.
Very sorry for the employees, a loyal lot, and hope they get good satisfying work elsewhere. Onwards and upwards, everyone. Don't let the Bankers get you down!!
Boris, Colchester says...
1:21am Sun 4 Jan 09
And Feisty is right, Jacks is still going strong. They have their own website now, they celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2006. A Paraguayan couple visited last year, and while they liked the Castle and sundry other monuments, their best memory of Colchester was Jacks. It is an excellent shop and whenever possible I buy there.
The shops I most miss in Colchester are not Woolworths but the various proper hardware stores like Evans, Farmers, Luckin Smith etc where you could buy the exact quantity of nails or screws that you needed, rather than a predetermined quantity in a blister pack. In other countries like Italy there is a hardware store in every other street, but we are stupid enough to give our custom to chains like Homebase etc.
Anyone remember Loyds shoe shop in Head Street, with the X-ray machine in which you could look down at your feet, wiggle your toes in the new shoes, and see your bones against a luminous green background? Those machines were of course then banned on health grounds.
But the best shop of all was Oliver Parker, the grocers at the top of North Hill, in what is now the Post Office. Your mother went to each counter in turn with the family's coupons to buy bacon, margarine, sugar, whatever. These were sold at different counters around the shop. As she finished at each counter, the assistant would send a docket in a metal container flying along an overhead wire to the cashier. At the end, your mother would go to the cashier, pay for the goods and take you home. You would be reluctant to leave because there would be the fascinating constant flow of dockets flying along the overhead wires. Sheer magic for any child.
The only goods I buy online are airline tickets, I prefer to get some exercise and see the goods for myself before buying. But I live within walking distance of the town centre. If I lived out in the boondocks I might feel differently.
Juno, Elmstead says...
9:09am Sun 4 Jan 09
Shippey's for books; Sands for handbags, luggage and luxury goods; Owen Ward for school outfits; Pipers with its double frontage and huge plate glass windows, every fabric one could imagine; Webb & Walker for the more expensive materials and Vogue patterns; A&E Baker also looking totally expensive (and it was) where one could purchase silk stockings, kid gloves (even in the 1950s), and a host of other delicious items; Forsdike & Bonner wafting the glorious scent of roasting coffee beans from its window-based machinery (and inside, elderly assistants raced up and down spindly ladders to reach packets of cornflakes from the top shelf).
If the appetite was sharpened by those coffee fumes, Neal and Robarts supplied their unique sticky buns or little fingers of orange and lemon iced sponge with their tea and coffee.
Travis the pork butchers forged on bravely through the war years, and into the 60s, the spicy odours from this shop scenting the High St by the Hippodrome.
Kent, Blaxills had their huge, 100 year old block of ironmongers at the East End of the High Street, and their art materials etc shop at the other end, near Boots - ah, Boots! It had a large lending library upstairs, as well as a book shop and many other facilities.
Sainsburys, Kendalls Umbrellas, Liptons - the list goes on for ever. The High Street in those days was for shopping, not another quick alcoholic drink!
What happened to Cullingfords' stationers, Manns Music shop, Mayfair dress shop (very upmarket), Joslins, Weddalls chemists? All victims no doubt to the old age of owners and the cheap and cheerful alternative goods.
And yes, the loss of places like Evans is one of the greatest. No more original floors, scent of creosote, drawers full of nails to be purchased according to need, not packaging, Mr Evans senior flying about finding a chair for the lady customers - one of the kindest of men (they broke the mould when he was created!).
Oh, and a final memory - Oscar Way the photographers with generations of babies and children portrayed in the photographer's window. Head St was the "doorway to the West End of Colchester" in those days!
Simon Taylor, Colchester says...
11:32am Sun 4 Jan 09
You will be pleased to know that Manns Music is still going strong, as is Sands (now in Bank Passage).
hughie-s, Here says...
1:41pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Now if the Gazette read these comments and have a journalist capable of doing some real research how about a series of articles covering each of the main shopping streets in town and the shops that used to be there.
Juno, Elmstead says...
3:38pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Just think of all the old fashioned shops in the two Wyre Streets, and then Hancock's in St Botolphs, the stationers also down there whose name I forget, Moy's the Butchers, the many fish shops in Town, "Shrimpy" at the top of Scheregate Steps meeting the Tollesbury bus outside the Playhouse for fresh supplies twice a day...
There was a huge haberdashery shop in Crouch Street, the sort of place with "everything within".
Merry's coal merchants were situated in Church Walk.
Purser's Dairy in Wimpole Road delivered with pony and cart over a wide area.
Despite there not being much money around, and people having a more "careful" disposition in those days, hundreds of small businesses made a good living, as did the hotels and cafes.
What killed the High Street? Was it Landlord Greed? Walking from Queen Street to Head Street/North Hill through the heart of the town, everything was there from groceries to wine merchants, bookshops to outfitters, and at the top of the street sat the Albert Hall, housing the top repertory company. No need to hunt around, variety and excitement was spread out in easy reach.
To cap it all, we had the wonderful huge market all down one side of the street, twice a week. I can still remember the delicious scents from Underwood's Rock Stall.... There was little in the way of "cheapjack" stuff, just good and fairly local quality.
Maybe one good result of the current economic downturn will be that we regain a few smaller businesses and more human contact.
Juno, Elmstead says...
3:41pm Sun 4 Jan 09
deleterious comments, clacton says...
4:09pm Sun 4 Jan 09
once i asked somewhere else about a simular piece for another area.
the short quick answer was "we dont look back, but contunue to look foreward"
good luck though for you project.
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
4:58pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Boris, regarding the metal containers for payment I recall that the co-op were still using this system as late as 1980 in their clothing dept.
hughie-s, Here says...
5:20pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
5:28pm Sun 4 Jan 09
hughie-s, Here says...
5:52pm Sun 4 Jan 09
From the 1964 Street Directory, can't finf my 1956 one at the mo.
Crouch St: Percy King - wool, ladies wear. West End Cycle Store (plus toys)
High St - As well as Sainsburys for your groceries also International and Home & Colonial. Matthews (seeds etc)
Culver Street, wait outside late on a Thursday to watch the the County Standard roll off the press.
Long Wyre St - Maypole, Elmo, International grocers and Baughans the Butcher -
Last but not least, all over town - Last's the bakers with bakery in Maldon Road
Juno, Elmstead says...
6:16pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Markhams, pawn shop and Scout equipment suppliers were discreetly placed just yards into Priory St!
Anyone remember Mence Smith?
What was the name of the little, choc a bloc newsagents in Short Wyre Street?
Geernhaerts had a tailors business on the corner of Queen Street for a very long time.
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
6:22pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Lamberts in Head Street was popular (also the other one in Queen St. Keddies was always busy in Queen St. too. There was also a sports shop further down at the bottom of Queen St.
Wass's in Long Wyre St. is where we got our cycles from
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
6:24pm Sun 4 Jan 09
hughie-s, Here says...
7:56pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
8:12pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Juno, Elmstead says...
10:01pm Sun 4 Jan 09
The Cooperative Society owned a lot of the Long Wyre Street properties, and had a huge shoe shop, outfitters etc on the corner with Culver St. At the other end of Wyre St was their fishmongers.
Partners Antiques shop was in Eld Lane.
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
10:49pm Sun 4 Jan 09
Boris, Colchester says...
11:40pm Sun 4 Jan 09
There is an excellent magazine called "Colchester Recalled" published by the local History Society. Typically it has about 20 A4 pages and it comes out 2 or 3 times a year, £1 per issue. It is on sale in Guntons and a few other places (see below). It is full of articles based on anecdotes by older people, not only about Colchester but about nearby villages, like Birch, Ardleigh, etc. There is enough material in this thread to make up almost a complete issue.
I quote from http://www.colcheste
rmuseums.org.uk/info
desk/info_recalled.h
tm: the magazine can be purchased for £1.00 at Gunton's in Crouch Street, Elmstead Market Post Office, the hairdressers' shop at Mile End or from Jim Robinson, telephone 01206 540655.
I suspect the only local journalist competent to do a series of articles as suggested by Hughie-s would be Andrew Phillips, the historian. I can't think the young journalists would have the interest in the past to do full justice to such a project.
Juno, Elmstead says...
9:38am Mon 5 Jan 09
Sainsbury's seemed to me, as a child, to be staffed by tall, ruddy cheeked assistants with dark glossy hair, who all played in the Salvation Army Band at weekends! It was right in the middle of the High Street.
The Librarians and Assistants at our Library never seemed to change. Where are you now, Daphne? I recall the old Library by the Town Hall.
On a baser note, no modern Public Conveniences could ever be as spotless, shining and fresh as the ones off Culver St by the gateway to Kent, Blaxill's Transport Dept. Well worth a penny!
However, as the headline to the article says, "Everything must go!".
Let's hope that the present array of drinking and eating venues will gradually be replaced by more individual shops, cafes and offices, and the wheel may yet have turned full circle.
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
10:19pm Mon 5 Jan 09
Juno, Elmstead says...
6:07am Tue 6 Jan 09
Yes, shopping had to be done nearly every day, but that was good exercise. I was married just after the end of rationing and just before the dawn of the supermarket, and remember the first Colchester Tesco, a fairly gloomy place where women left their shopping bags by the door lest they be suspected of shoplifting!! Self-help from the shelves was a frightening prospect.
We queued at each counter in JS, but it wasn't that bad. Less consumption, again, more basic food and plenty of individual suppliers. Quite a lot was delivered to the door.
Can you believe, chicken was a great treat! Then intensive rearing came in and it fell to the bottom of the list, cost-wise.
There were bigger back gardens and most families had a vegetable plot at the far end, many also rearing chickens and rabbits.
Most pre-war houses had good larders built into the cooler side of the house, where food could safely be kept for a while. There were also devices such as the meat safe, a cage of various metals to hang outside in the shade - and a bit dubious as to its benefits.
I seem to have had a great deal of time for friends and socialising; making clothes for myself and family; I did the vegetable gardening, enjoyed baking cakes. At the end of the day there was not much problem getting to sleep, but nothing wrong with that!
I guess each era adjusts well to its needs, we humans are better at that than we imagine.
Maybe we are in for big changes again? So long as we learn something from history we will be ok. As they say, if you don't learn in that way, you are doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over.
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
11:41am Tue 6 Jan 09
I remember helping my mum on wash-day (Monday) with her old twin tub. The spinner used to make a right racket! I can never get my whites as clean as my mum unless I use lots of chemicals in the wash.
My Grandmother had a massive fridge/larder that held absolutely everything (it was more like a Tardis).
In my flat there is just nowhere to keep anything cool apart from the fridge that seems to taint vegetables so I find myself shopping for fresh foods everday so as not to waste anything.
I remember going shopping with Mum and it used to take us an hour just to get down to the shops (half a mile away) as she would stop and chat to people she knew. Very frustrating for a boy who wanted to get to the sweet shop LOL
Juno, Elmstead says...
4:04pm Tue 6 Jan 09
My Mother had one of those stand-alone spindryers. We borrowed it for a while.
It would start by building up spin, then waltz across the kitchen and, if not switched off, would be out the door and across the garden!
Woe betide anyone who got in the way - I can recall some very nasty bruises!
In comparison, an hour's hard work with the mangle was a doddle...
Feisty CBC, Colchester says...
11:25pm Tue 6 Jan 09
Buy this photo »
Going, going, gone - shoppers peer through the window of Colchester's Woolworths store. Picture: LOUISE MORRIS (82109-18)
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SOMETHING2SAY, OUTANDABOUT says...
5:01pm Fri 2 Jan 09