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Woolworths Group
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This article is about the former British holding company. For the current British online
retailer, see Woolworths.co.uk. For other retailers of similar name, see Woolworth
(disambiguation).
Woolworths Group plc

Former type PLC

Predecessor F W Woolworth & Co. Ltd
Successor Woolworths.co.uk
Liverpool, Merseyside, England (1909)
(opening of F.W. Woolworth's first British
Founded
store)[1]
2001 (as Woolworths Group)
Founder(s) Franklin Winfield Woolworth
Defunct 2009
Headquarters Marylebone Road, London, England
Number of
819 (Peak in April 2008)
locations
Area served UK and Ireland
Richard North, Chairman
Key people
Steve Johnson, CEO
Industry Retail and distribution
Products General merchandise
Revenue £2,969,600,000 (2008) ▲[2]
Profit £7,500,000 (2008) ▼[2]
Employees 400 (As of 2009)
Woolworths plc, EUK Ltd. (Both in
Divisions
administration)
 Subsidiaries 2 Entertain (40%)

Woolworths Group plc was a British group which owned the high-street retail chain,
Woolworths, as well as other brands such as the entertainment distributor Entertainment
UK and book and resource distributor Bertram Books. The 800-branch Woolworths chain
was the main enterprise of the group, selling many goods and having its own LadyBird
children's clothing ranges, Chad Valley toys and the WorthIt! value ranges. The chain
was the UK's leading supplier of Candyking "pick 'n' mix" sweets. It was also sometimes
referred to as "Woolies" by the UK media and the general public.[3][4]

On 26 November 2008, the trading of shares in Woolworths Group plc was suspended
and the Woolworths and Entertainment UK subsidiaries entered administration.[5]
Woolworths Group plc also entered administration on 27 January 2009. The
administrators Deloitte & Touche closed all 807 Woolworths stores between 27
December 2008 and 6 January 2009 resulting in 27,000 job losses.[6]

On 2 February 2009 it was announced that the Shop Direct Group had purchased the
Woolworths and Ladybird names and these would survive as a brand within the internet
based shopping company.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 History
o 1.1 Inauguration
o 1.2 Internal concerns with British stores
o 1.3 Inauguration of British stores
o 1.4 During World War I
o 1.5 Post-split from parent company
o 1.6 Republic of Ireland
o 1.7 Recent history
o 1.8 Administration
o 1.9 Closing-down process
• 2 Gallery of Defunct Stores
o 2.1 Future of Woolworths in the UK
 2.1.1 Former stores
 2.1.2 Wellworths
 2.1.3 Shop Direct Group (Woolworths online store)
• 3 Disasters
o 3.1 New Cross, London
o 3.2 Central Manchester
o 3.3 Central Leeds
o 3.4 Bangor, County Down
• 4 Wooly and Worth
 • 5 Music
o 5.1 Entertainment UK
o 5.2 Streets Online
o 5.3 2 Entertain
• 6 Brands
o 6.1 Chad Valley
o 6.2 Ladybird
o 6.3 Winfield
o 6.4 WorthIt!
• 7 References

• 8 External links

[edit] History
[edit] Inauguration

A Woolworths store façade in 2004

The English branch of the originally Pennsylvania-founded Woolworths stores,[7][8] F W

Woolworth & Co, Ltd was founded by Frank Woolworth in Liverpool, England in 1909
primarily due to Frank Woolworth's ancestry linking to Wooley, Cambridgeshire[9] —
Frank himself claiming he had traced his ancestry through the Founding Fathers of the
district to a small farm in middle-England.[10] When Frank eventually travelled to England
in 1890,[11] he docked in Liverpool and travelled by train to Stoke on Trent for the
purchase of china and glassware for Woolworth's ranges, but also noted his love of
England in his diary and his aspirations for bringing the Woolworth name to England;

I believe that a good penny and sixpence store, run by a live Yankee,
“ would be a sensation here.
”
—Frank Woolworth

When at a Stoke on Trent railway station, Frank Woolworth met a young freight clerk,
William Lawrence Stephenson who impressed Woolworth with his "can-do attitude"[12]
and was invited several years later at the time of conception for the British "F. W.
Woolworth & Co. Ltd", to meet with Frank Woolworth again, who dispatched a carriage
and invitation to his hotel room in London.[13] When Stephenson arrived to meet with
Woolworth, he was offered the job as director of the new company, which he accepted.[14]

[edit] Internal concerns with British stores

After the idea for the creation of British stores, Frank Woolworth had offered invitations
to store managers in the United States to open up stores in the UK and had only received
offers to take positions at the time of his illness in March 1909 from Fred Woolworth of
the Sixth Avenue and Samuel Balfour of the 14th Street stores in New York City.[15] After
these initial offers, Byron Miller, a superintendent in a Boston store, also offered his
assistance and set sail with the other volunteers on the Steamer, Kaiserin Auguste
Victoria on 29 May 1909 for England from Hoboken.[16]

Although Frank Woolworth himself expected other members of staff to admire the
volunteers in establishing FW Woolworth & Co in Britain, vice president and general
manager of FW Woolworth & Co, Carson C. Peck had reservations with enlisting staff
members to travel to Britain, questioning whether Woolworth had indeed created the new
business adventure following a dream, or due to his dissatisfaction with the current
condition of the American branch.[17]

Peck also asked those who were willing to volunteer to reconsider their decision,
claiming that those who had volunteered were unaware of the uncertainty and risks
involved and that some were only tentatively willing to engage in Woolworth's new
endeavour:[18] His concerns mainly entered on the fact that the majority of the managers
who followed the decision did so out of loyalty to Woolworth[19], and that moving such a
valuable resource already established in the United States to what was a financially-
unproven "Little Infant" in the UK would have a detrimental effect upon the "Bread and
Butter" of the Company.

To me it seems that these return sheets are in danger of being

“ misunderstood and that it is a good deal like asking a boy to volunteer to
go into a bear's den when he does not know whether he is to eat a nicely
”
cooked luscious bear's steak, or be eaten by a great, big black bear.
—Carson C. Peck

[edit] Inauguration of British stores

Despite reservations such as Peck's, the decision to launch stores in the United Kingdom
went ahead as previously planned by Woolworth. He considered several locations for the
first stores, together with future possible sites.[20] The chosen locations for the first stores
were 25 - 25A, Church Street and 8, Williamson Street Liverpool[21] – the reasoning being
that Liverpool was claimed to be the "second city of the [British] empire". The very first
UK store, at Church Street, opened on 5 November 1909 with a performance by a full
orchestra, circus acts and fireworks.[22]
As a means of adherence to American trading tradition, only viewing of items was
allowed on the first day of the shop's opening. This included guests being given
complimentary tea while being entertained by a traditional brass band in the refreshment
room. The event was reported positively by the local newspaper, the Liverpool Courier,
which praised the decor of the stores along with the value and range of items on sale.[23]

Despite local press praise, the British national newspaper The Daily Mail likened Frank
Woolworth to Phineas Taylor Barnum and claimed that the store positions were decided
as part of a contingency plan in the event of failure so as to facilitate escape from any
financial liability.[24] Despite these reservations, the stores proved to be a success; large
queues outside both shops and low priced 3d (1.25p) and 6d (2.5p) items leading to stores
being almost stripped bare of goods before the end of the first day of trading and being
attributed to mass purchased mass-produced foreign and local goods.[25]

[edit] During World War I

At the onset of World War I, FW Woolworth & Co. had 40 stores located both in Great
Britain and in Ireland located in most major cities - from which a total of 57 staff
including store managers had enlisted; the majority of whom did not return after the end
of the war in 1918.[26] Despite American staff again offering their services to the
Woolworths branches in Britain, remaining staff increased their efforts to cope with the
lack of staff members throughout the war with several staff members being promoted to
managerial positions.[27]

Stores in the United States, which were then stocking ranges also present in British stores
were dependent upon European manufacturers which had adopted newer production
methods than their American counterparts.[28]

[edit] Post-split from parent company

The Woolworth logo used from the 1970s until around 1985

In 1982, the British Woolworths was acquired by Paternoster Stores Ltd, the forerunner
of Kingfisher plc. Woolworths Group plc was formed by the demerger of Kingfisher's
general merchandise business,[29] and began trading as a listed company on the London
Stock Exchange on 28 August 2001, using the symbol WLW.

During the 1980s, management rationalised merchandise lines into clearly defined
categories: entertainment, home, kids (toys and clothing) and confectionery. During this
time many Woolworths branches were downsized. Older branches in major cities were
sometimes almost as large as the major department stores nearby. For instance in 1987,
Woolworths left their five floor branch on Briggate in Leeds which they had occupied
since 1913 (now occupied by House of Fraser) and kept only their smaller single level
branch in the Merrion Centre in an area of the city centre which generally saw a lesser
footfall, of shoppers who were generally on a lower budget.[30]

Woolworths Group PLC headquarters on Marylebone Road, London

In the late 1990s, the management extended the Woolworths brand into other retail
formats and alternative channels to accelerate growth by taking advantage of changing
retail trends. Some larger format stores were opened under the Big W brand, similar to
Wal-Mart in the US. Although initially successful, the format ultimately failed to catch
on; the original plan had relied upon leveraging the involvement of other Kingfisher
group retailers, but following the demerger this was no longer possible. In 2004,
Woolworths sold off some Big W store sites to other retailers, including Asda and Tesco.
The gross internal floor area of the remaining sites was reduced to an optimum trading
size of around 40,000 to 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2). Following this, they were
rebranded as Woolworths Out of Town stores.

Woolworths had previously tried the large out of town store or hypermarket format in the
1960s with the Woolco stores.[31] All of these stores were sold or closed down following
the acquisition of the business by Kingfisher.[32]

[edit] Republic of Ireland

Woolworths had some stores in the Republic of Ireland which were closed in the early
1980s. They were based in large towns and cites in the state. In August 1996, market
research was undertaken by Woolworths' Belfast District Office, which investigated
opportunities to re-enter the Republic of Ireland market. In a project commissioned by the
then Northern Ireland District Manager Bruce Strang, a total of 32 potential locations
were identified that could support a Woolworths store. However, the project did not
proceed beyond the market research phase.

[edit] Recent history

The Woolworths logo used from 1985 to 2009.

The newly independent Woolworths faced severe competitive and financial pressures.
The market for physical copies of music, one of Woolworths main money spinners,
slowed in the early 21st century; specialist music chains such as Our Price collapsed. The
major supermarket chains expanded into many of Woolworths product areas, and fast
expanding Wilkinson challenged it directly on the high street.

In an attempt to raise the groups corporate profile, under the chairmanship of Gerald
Corbett, Woolworths sponsored a show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2004.
Designed by a group of graduate students from Pickard School of Garden Design,
including Catherine Gamble, Bella Montgomery, Darryl Moore and Rob Whitehead, the
contemporary-formal style garden was awarded a silver medal.

In Summer 2006 the business launched an in-store collection service for items ordered on
their website or in-store, to complement the already established in-store ordering system.
In late September 2006, the "Big Red Book" was launched. This was designed to be a
direct competitor of the Argos catalogue.[33] Big Red Books 2 and 3 followed in March
and October 2007 respectively.

Woolworths Group plc share price dropped gradually between 2006 and 2008

In the years before 2008 the brand had moved into the entertainment and electronics
aspects of retail after its acquisition of the company Entertainment UK, and expanded its
chains by converting existing stores into larger "20x20" stores found in larger high-street
locations for larger product ranges and smaller "10x10" stores aimed at meeting everyday
shopping requirements. "Out-of-town" stores, formerly known as "Big W" were set up
further away from towns and stocked the standard Woolworth lines and other items that
are not offered in high-street locations. As of April 2008, there were 819 stores in the
United Kingdom.[34]

On 12 August 2008, Woolworths Group announced the appointment of Steve Johnson,

former Chief executive officer of Focus DIY, to the post of Woolworths Chief Executive.
[35]
He replaced Trevor Bish Jones, who had left during the summer.

In September 2008 Woolworths scrapped its interim dividend after it announced a pre-tax
loss of £99.7m for the six months to 2 August.[36] Also in September, Steve Johnson, chief
executive, outlined a possible turnaround plan to sell 120 stores, axe a quarter of its
products, reduce web operations and cut jobs.[36] During the same month The Telegraph
noted that Woolworths' chairman, Richard North, had rejected an indicative offer tabled
by Iceland founder Malcolm Walker to buy the group's 815 stores.[36]

At that time the retailer's largest shareholder was Iranian property developer Ardeshir
Naghshineh, with a 10.2% stake. A consortium led by Icelandic investor Baugur, called
Unity owned a 10% stake in Woolworths.[36] In October 2008 Sir Alan Sugar, founder of
electronics firm Amstrad, increased his stake in Woolworths to around 4%.[36] Theo
Paphitis, owner of stationery retailer Ryman, also stated his interest in the company.[37]

[edit] Administration

Queues form in Hounslow for the final sale.

From September 2008 the world entered into a severe financial crisis with decreasing
availability of credit and reduced consumer spending.

On 19 November 2008 The Times reported that the Woolworths' retail business was a
target for restructuring specialist Hilco, who would buy the retail arm for a nominal £1;[38]
this was confirmed the same day.[39][40] This deal would have left Woolworths Group with
its profitable distribution and publishing businesses and a reduced debt load.

The group's banks, GMAC and Burdale, rejected the deal[41] and recalled their loans,
forcing the group to place the retail business and Entertainment UK into administration.
On 26 November 2008, the trading of shares in Woolworths Group plc was suspended.
Neville Kahn, Dan Butters and Nick Dargan of Deloitte LLP were appointed joint
administrators.[5][42] When the company entered administration it had a debt of £385
million. The administrators announced that they were aiming to keep the company as a
going concern over the crucial Christmas period, although analysts feared that any heavy
discounting would create a domino effect and drag down other high street retailers.
Deloitte later announced they had received "substantial interest" in Woolworths.[43]

When news about Woolworths being placed into administration became widely
publicised, National Lottery operator Camelot Group immediately suspended
Woolworths from selling their lottery tickets and scratch cards, as well as preventing
claimants from redeeming prizes at the stores.[44]
On 19 January 2009 the parent company, Woolworths Group, announced its intention to
also enter administration, as it can no longer pay its debts. The application was heard by
the High Court on 27 January, and Woolworths Group plc entered administration.[45][46]
By April 2009 Woolworths Group plc's website no longer existed.

[edit] Closing-down process

Woolworths in Keswick on its final day of trading.

On 5 December Woolworths both recorded their greatest single day takings of £27
million, and axed 450 head office and support staff jobs. [47] A closing-down sale started
on 11 December.

On 17 December 2008 administrators announced that all 807 Woolworths stores would
close by 5 January 2009 (later changed to 6 January), with 27,000 job losses.[48] Deloitte's
Neville Kahn also said that it was unclear how much of Woolworths' debt would be paid.
In the last few days of trading discounts of up to 90% were offered, and a number of
stores sold all of their stock, many selling all of their fixtures and fittings too.[49][50] A
buyer for the business is still sought.

The former chief executive of Kingfisher, Woolworths' former parent company, and
Ardeshir Naghshineh, a current shareholder of Woolworths, have criticised the closures.
[51]

The stores were closed in phases, and the final two closing days were moved back a day
to try to sell more of the remaining stock and to ease logistics of closing.[52][53]

• 207 stores closed on 27 December 2008

• 37 closed on 29 December
• 164 closed on 30 December
• 200 closed on 3 January 2009 (Originally 2 January 2009)
• remaining stores (approximately 200) closed on 6 January (Originally 5 January
2009)

[edit] Gallery of Defunct Stores

An almost bare Woolworths in Empty shelves in A closed-down
Woolworths in the Rayners Lane, Woolworths Keswick Woolworth's store at
Merrion Centre, Leeds Harrow permanently store on its final day the Westfield Centre,
during the final sale. closed. of trading. Derby.

Woolworths in
Welshpool, Wales.
Still empty and for
sale in August 2009.

[edit] Future of Woolworths in the UK

[edit] Former stores

The administrators announced on 10 December 2008 that they were having difficulty
selling the company as a going concern, and as a result some stores might close before
the end of the month. Talks were still progressing to sell individual stores and leases to a
number of retailers, said to include the supermarket chains Morrisons, Tesco, Asda,
Sainsbury's, The Co-operative and the discount chain Poundland.[54]

In December 2008 Woolworths executive Tony Page was trying to raise around £40
million to relaunch the brand after closure.[55][56] This would have been a smaller chain of
125 stores in the North of England, with hopes of returning to the South.[57] However, a
deal could not be met in time. The government were also asked in a final attempt to make
the deal but without success.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown noted that the Government had considered saving
Woolworths, but they concluded that it was a "financially unviable" business.[58]

51 of the stores were bought by the supermarket chain Iceland on 9 January 2009 for an
undisclosed sum.[59] Iceland had previously made a bid for Woolworths in 2008, but this
initial bid was rejected.[36] Baugur, one of the major shareholders of Woolworths, partly
owns Iceland, and Baugur UK itself entered administration in February.[60] Meanwhile,
some of former Woolworths stores have been sporadically replaced by stores such as
Boots, [61], H&M,[62] Primark,[63] TK Maxx, [64] B & M,[65]Home Bargains,[66] and W H
Smith [67]. As of 2 February the administrators are still negotiating the sale of the
remaining sites of the Woolworths property portfolio.[68]

According to press reports on 17 February 2009, the plan by Tony Page to re-open a
chain of shops adopting the Woolworths business model but under a different name, are
due to go ahead with an initial 50 shops planned.[69]

[edit] Wellworths

Main article: Wellworths (GB)

One of the former stores in Dorchester, Dorset was re-opened by BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris
Evans on 11 March 2009 under the name Wellworths.

[edit] Shop Direct Group (Woolworths online store)

Main article: Woolworths.co.uk

On 2 February 2009 it was announced that Woolworths is to be "re-born" as an online

store, after the brand was bought by one of the companies belonging to The Daily
Telegraph owners, Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay. The Woolworths and Ladybird
brand names were both bought by Shop Direct Group who also own companies such as
Littlewoods, Kays and Great Universal.[68] The website will use the same URL as the
previous Woolworths Group retail website, Woolworths.co.uk.

Apart from the acquisition of the Woolworths trademarks and URLs there is no link at all
between Woolworths Plc (and its predecessors) or the shops and businesses they
operated, and the business that Shop Direct propose attaching the names and URLs to.

[edit] Disasters
[edit] New Cross, London

Many branches of Woolworths suffered severe bomb damage and even destruction
during the Luftwaffe attacks in the early part of the Second World War. However it was
towards the end of the war that the largest civilian loss of life due to direct enemy fire in
Britain during the conflict occurred when, at lunchtime on 26 November 1944, a German
V-2 rocket fell on a packed Woolworths store in New Cross Road, killing 168 people
(including 15 children), injuring 122 others and razing the building to the ground. The
neighbouring London Co-operative Society store was also demolished in the attack.

The store was especially busy as news of a delivery of hard-to-obtain saucepans

generated huge crowds, many of whom were queueing outside the store at the time of the
rocket's impact.
Planning and economic restrictions after the war meant Woolworths did not build a
replacement store on the site until 1960; this closed in 1984. It was reported that some
employees there felt the building was haunted.[70]

Lewisham Council and Woolworths erected a plaque on the site commemorating those
who died that day.

[edit] Central Manchester

A serious fire erupted just after 1pm on 8 May 1979 at the Manchester store opposite
Piccadilly Gardens, said at the time to be the largest Woolworths in Europe, with six
floors plus two basement levels. The fire, which started in the second floor furnishing
department, killed nine shoppers and one member of staff;[71] of whom three were found
just six feet away from an exit with another three bodies nearby. Of the 12 calls made to
the fire service that day, none came from the store itself. It is believed that the fire was
started by a damaged electrical cable, which had furniture stacked in front of it.[72] An
inquiry showed that, although the store's fire precautions met all legal requirements, the
spread of the fire and the high number of casualties were in part due to the absence of
measures such as a sprinkler system to stop the spread of the fire from the furniture
department, and the use of polyurethane foam in the furnishings, a material which is
highly-inflammable and highly toxic but cheap and at that time legal in furniture;
however, this would have consequences for later legislation.

The second floor was gutted by the fire, while the third floor suffered severe smoke
damage; the ground, first and second floors all received extensive water damage when the
fire was extinguished. Due to the loss of life and devastation to the Manchester store, the
Fire Research Station conducted a number of tests to develop sprinkler systems that could
handle a similar large department store fire. However, there is still no requirement for
United Kingdom retailers to have a sprinkler system in place, with many preferring to
focus on evacuation procedures rather than fire containment. The catastrophe also
resulted in modifications to the Fire Precautions Act and was among the factors that led
to the ban on the use of polyurethane foam in home furnishings (a long-time concern of
the Fire Service) forcing furniture manufacturers to develop new fabrics and materials for
sofas and other items.

The fire brought graphic images into the public consciousness (including footage of
office girls trapped behind barred windows on the top floor) due to the store's location
near the studios of BBC Manchester and Granada Television, the offices of the
Manchester Evening News and the northern offices of several national newspapers.

The disaster has become a significant object of study for academics interested in the
behaviour of people in emergency situations, after research showed a number of
customers (predominately in the public restaurant area) refused to leave despite the
sounding of alarms, requests from staff and even the smell and visibility of smoke; some
continued to queue at an abandoned check-out.[73] The majority of those who perished
were in this area.
Woolworths did not re-open a store in the building, and it is presently an amusement
arcade[74]. The company has not had a major store in the centre of Manchester since the
fire, although the firm did have several smaller outlets during the 1990s which sold music
and confectionery. Smaller outlets with a similar format were also tried at the Sheffield
Meadowhall Shopping Centre (which closed in 2003), but did not survive for long; the
Manchester Music and Video store was superseded by a larger MVC store, owned by
Woolworths Group.

[edit] Central Leeds

Woolworths original branch on Briggate in Leeds which opened in 1913 was one of the
chains flagship shops and was spread over four floors. The branch however suffered a
major fire in 1969. Significant damage was caused to the shop which was refitted
following the fire. The shop was not open to the public at the time and all staff were
evacuated, avoiding fatalities. Only minor injuries were suffered. It took several hours for
the fire to be extinguished.[75][76]

[edit] Bangor, County Down

Woolworths’ store at 18/22 Main Street Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland (Store
No. 380) was targeted by terrorists on 30 March 1974 as part of co-ordinated incendiary
bomb attack on the town centre.

At 5pm, a telephone warning was received that fifteen incendiary devices had been
placed in the town centre and were due to explode in 30 minutes. Immediate and
successful efforts were made by the Police to evacuate the commercial centre of the
town, however there was inadequate time to prevent the devices from exploding. The
Woolworths store was badly damaged after a device exploded on the salesfloor. A
Policeman suffered concussion after he was blown off his feet by the resultant blast from
the device and a female civilian was cut by flying debris.[77]

Other stores targeted in the attack included the town’s Co-operative Department Store
and FA Wellworth Department Store. The town’s Woolworths’ store was demolished
after the attack. A new 8,000 square feet store was built on the same site, which reopened
in the mid 1970s.

The rebuilt store suffered minor damage after a 200lb car bomb exploded a short distance
away, near the town’s FA Wellworth’s store on the evening of 21 October 1992. Nobody
was injured in the explosion, which occurred after most stores in the town centre had
closed for the day. However, significant damage was caused to the entrance area of the
Woolworths' store, with windows being blown out, the porch roof being destroyed and a
small quantity of stock toward the front of the store being damaged. Additionally, minor
structural damage was caused to the store's stockroom with two internal portioning walls
adjacent to the Generator Room and Fixtures' Store having to be rebuilt. The store
recommenced trading on 23 October 1992.
[edit] Wooly and Worth
From 2004 till 2008, Woolworths adverts featured their own mascots, 'Wooly' the sheep
and 'Worth' the sheepdog. They appeared in lots of adverts, including Woolworths
WorthIt! adverts.

[edit] Music
Woolworths, for many years, was a leader in the UK music industry. In the 1950s and
well into the 1960s, Woolworths issued recordings available only via their stores on their
own label Embassy Records, produced and manufactured by Oriole Records. These
releases were double-sided singles featuring two cover versions of current hit singles sold
at a much cheaper price. This venture was very successful at the time, but was eventually
killed off when other record companies started to issue compilation albums. However,
Woolworths remained in the music business selling a wide range of singles and albums,
and remained the UK's Number 1 music retailer well into the 1990s. Even successful
nationwide music specialists stores such as Virgin Megastore and HMV did not overtake
Woolworths during this time. They later suffered from strong competition in this field
from the large supermarket chains Tesco and Asda.

[edit] Entertainment UK

Main article: EUK

Entertainment UK (EUK) was founded, originally as Record Merchandisers Limited in

1966 by EMI Records, to distribute music to non-specialist retailers, and subsequently
became a joint venture between a number of record companies. Woolworths became
Entertainment UK's largest customer and in 1986 Record Merchandisers Limited was
acquired by the Kingfisher Group. In 1988, Record Merchandisers Limited changed its
name to Entertainment UK (EUK).

EUK became the property of Woolworths Group plc after the demerger from parent
company, the Kingfisher Group, in 2001. In 2006, the Woolworths Group acquired Total
Home Entertainment Distribution Limited (THE) to form part of Entertainment UK
(EUK) division.[78] In November 2007 EUK acquired Bertram Books, a major book
wholesaler and distributor.[79]

EUK was the main supplier of Zavvi under an exclusive supply deal.[80] As a result of
EUK entering into administration, on the 24 December the music retailer was also forced
into administration as it was unable to source stock on favourable terms direct from
suppliers.[81] Zavvi later closed entirely.

[edit] Streets Online

Streets Online logo

Streets Online, founded in 1996 by Stephen Cole, was one of the pioneers of online
retailing in the UK. Originally the name behind the online bookseller Alphabetstreet and
music site Audiostreet, 85% of the company was bought out by the Kingfisher Group in
2000 for £15.7 million,[82] and then became part of the Woolworths Group with its
demerger in 2001. It then became responsible for the web operations of MVC and Tesco.
When Kingfisher bought this 85%, the remaining 15% was owned by Sky New Media
Ventures (part of BSkyB).[83] In 2003 the company headquarters was moved to the EUK
site in Hayes.[84]

[edit] 2 Entertain

Main article: 2 Entertain

2 Entertain is a joint-venture company combining the former video and music

publishing and TV/video production businesses of the Woolworths Group subsidiary,
VCI, with the video publishing business of BBC Worldwide. Woolworths are currently in
talks with BBC Worldwide for the sale of their 40% interest in 2 Entertain.[85]

[edit] Brands

Winfield logo (circa 1960s)

Woolworths WorthIt! logo

[edit] Chad Valley

Main article: Chad Valley

Chad Valley was launched in 1991 to create an own label range of merchandise. The
Chad Valley brand name, which has been in existence since 1860, is used on a range of
toys and games suitable for children under 8 years old. Home Retail Group, the parent
company of Argos and Homebase, purchased the brand for £5 million on 20 January
2009.[86] Chad Valley is now exclusively in the Argos catalogue starting Autumn/Winter
2009.

[edit] Ladybird

Main article: Ladybird (clothing)

Ladybird is a brand of children's wear for children aged 0–10 years which was sold
exclusively in Woolworths stores. Before the collapse of the Woolworths chain it was is
ranked third overall in the childrenswear market, with a market share of 5%. Woolworths
purchased rights to the Ladybird brand in 1984, purchasing it outright from Coats Viyella
in 2001. The brand has a history which dates back to a trading partnership beginning in
1934 between the original firm Adolf Pasold & Son and Woolworths. On 1 February
2009, Shop Direct purchased the brand and whole rights from the administrators.[87]

[edit] Winfield

The Winfield brand was launched by Woolworths in 1963 and continued until the 1980s.
Goods sold under the brand included household cleaners, groceries, kitchenware,
perfumes and other ranges e.g. fishing tackle.[88]

[edit] WorthIt!

The WorthIt! brand was a value range released by Woolworths in 2007.[89] The first
advertising campaign for the brand which first aired on 15 June 2007 introduced the
characters of Worth the dog and Wooly the sheep.[90] Further advertising campaigns
featured celebrities such as Rolf Harris and Kelly Osbourne.[91] The brand covered a wide
variety of products including confectionery, electricals, alcohol, jewellery, perfumes and
clothing.