Woolworth

Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to:

Businesses

American F.W. Woolworth Company and related businesses

Woolworths.co.uk

Woolworths.co.uk was an online retail website owned by Shop Direct Group, formed in 2009 after Shop Direct bought the rights to the name and website address of the defunct high street retailer Woolworths. The online store opened on 25 June 2009, but it closed in June 2015, after 6 years, to be replaced by Shop Direct's existing brand Very.

History

Stores in Britain

Woolworths started out in the UK in 1909 as F.W Woolworth & Co, part of the American company that was established in 1879. The first store was on Church Street in Liverpool and sold children's clothing, stationery and toys from the very beginning. Woolworths took off in the mid-1920s with stores opening as often as every two to three weeks. By 2008 there were 807 Woolworths stores.

Woolworths return as an online retailer

In November 2008 Woolworths Group entered administration with Deloitte, and by early January 2009 all of its stores had closed. Woolworths' financial performance had been declining in the previous few years, and the events of the closure coincided with the financial crisis and recession which was occurring at the time.

Woolworths Limited

Woolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales, and the largest food retailer in Australia, and the second largest in New Zealand. In addition, Woolworths Limited is the largest takeaway liquor retailer in Australia, the largest hotel and gaming poker machine operator in Australia, and was the 19th largest retailer in the world in 2008.

Despite similar names, Woolworths Limited has no affiliation with the F.W. Woolworth Company in the United States, the Woolworths Group of UK or the South African chain of retail stores, Woolworths Holdings Limited.

History

Woolworths opened its first store, the Woolworths Stupendous Bargain Basement, in the old Imperial Arcade Pitt Street, Sydney, where Westfield Centrepoint now stands, on 5 December 1924. Its nominal capital was just £25,000 and although 15,000 shares were offered to the public, only 11,707 shares were subscribed for by 29 people, including the five founders – Percy Christmas, Stanley Chatterton, Cecil Scott Waine, George Creed and Ernest Williams. One of the foundation investors was Preston Lanchester Gowing, the then chairman of Gowings. The name on the draft prospectus drawn up by Cecil Scott Waine was "Wallworths Bazaar" – a play on the F.W. Woolworth name (the owner of the Woolworth's chain in the United States and United Kingdom). However, according to Ernest Robert Williams, Percy Christmas dared him to register the name Woolworths instead, which he succeeded in doing after finding out the name was available for use in New South Wales. Accordingly, Woolworths Ltd in Australia has no connection with the F.W. Woolworth Company in the United States, nor the Woolworths Group of UK.