Remembering the wonder of Woolies
How many of us have uttered these words in the last 12 months: "Where's a Woolworths when you need one?"
How many of us have uttered these words in the last 12 months: "Where's a Woolworths when you need one?"
A high street icon, the Woolies store was the only place where you'd be guaranteed to pick up a frying pan, clothes dye, a CD, Ladybird school shirts and a bag of pick 'n' mix all under the same roof.
Not to mention the last-minute dash for a Christmas present, a birthday card or something as simple as a bottle of water and a packet of crisps.
Perhaps it's only now, a year after the demise of the company's high street empire, that we truly appreciate what the big stores with the red frontages in our market towns and shopping centres meant to us, as we have to travel to six different shops just to pick up the odds and ends that no-one else had all under one roof.
But more important than making us travel further to shop for the stuff which always ends up in a kitchen bottom drawer for when we next need it, is that Shropshire and Mid Wales saw 11 stores shut, leaving gaping holes in the high streets and shopping centres.
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Woolworths went into administration with £385 million of debt at the end of 2008, the closure of 800 stores and the loss of 27,000 jobs nationwide. This region saw more than 220 staff lose their jobs last Christmas and early into the new year.
Since the demise of Woolworths, about 60 per cent of its stores have been filled by value retailers such as Poundland and the 99p Store, while Waitrose and other "express" supermarkets have taken others.
The highest-profile reopening came in the spring, when former Woolworths store manager Claire Robertson reopened the Dorchester branch as Wellworths.
Research shows discount retailers have led the way, acquiring 37 per cent of the Woolies, grocers accounted for 31 per cent of shops while fashion retailers snapped up 15 per cent. The national trend appears to be mirrored in Shropshire, where discount stores Home Bargains and B&M Bargains have opened four stores.
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B&M in Newport was one of the first of the former Woolworths stores to gain a new lease of life. When it opened in February, 17 former employees were among the new 32-strong team led by former Woolworths store manager Stephen Prole, who had worked for the firm for 16 years.
He said being made the store manager at B&M had brought to an end one of the worst times in his life.
Mr Prole, 41, who is married with two sons, said: "We had 30-odd members of staff all looking to me for support and comfort and to say to them, 'I'm sorry, we are going to be closing the store', broke my heart.
"It was great to get back on the phone and say to them, 'Remember me? I made you a promise'. I had promised them I would get them back into work. The end of November, start of December was perhaps the darkest period of my life."
Paula Scott, 23, had worked at the town's Woolworths since she was 16.
The sales floor supervisor, of Meadow View Road, Newport, said of losing her job: "It was upsetting, disbelief that the Woolworths name would be no longer."
She was offered a job at B&M.
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Home Bargains took the former store in Oswestry, creating 30 jobs and also took over the former Shrewsbury store, a site it shares with fashion retailer H&M.
H&M opened in Shrewsbury in mid-November in Pride Hill, bringing a major fashion name to the town and creating 25 jobs. Another fashion retailer taking on a Woolies site was The Original Factory Shop which opened in July in Bridgnorth after an investment of more than £250,000.
The 10,220 sq ft store offers an extensive range of men's, ladies' and children's fashions, as well as homewares, electricals and toiletries.
In Welshpool, fashion store M&Co created 10 jobs when it opened in the former Woolworths site.
Grocers took on two of the closed stories, with Spar moving into Ludlow and creating 25 new jobs and Heron Frozen Foods opened its doors in Wellington.
The Newtown Woolworths has been transformed into a CarpetRight storeroom, creating three jobs at the store and new opportunities for carpet fitters.
Still standing empty are stores in Whitchurch, soon to be taken over by Poundstretcher creating up to 12 jobs, and Telford Town Centre.
A spokesman for Hark, which owns Telford Shopping Centre, said it was a key location - and hinted it may not be too much longer before it is back in business.
He said: "There is interest from a retailer but we can't divulge who they are at the moment. The lease is still with the administrators."
Shop Direct, the owner of Littlewoods which bought the Woolworths name for £7 million in February, is currently unveiling plans to establish a chain of up to 200 stores.
The home shopping retailer, owned by Sir Frederick and Sir David Barclay, wants to hear from possible franchisees and is not considering running the stores itself.
The scale of Shop Direct will give any Woolworths franchise an advantage over the stores which have opened up in its former sites because it will be able to source goods directly, rather than through a wholesaler.
