Galloway - Save Woolworth's

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George Galloway MP - Save Woolworths.
Respect press release:

Woolworths would have celebrated a century of trading in this country next year. It has survived two world wars, the Great Depression and the oil shocks of the 1970s. But it has finally succumbed to this terrible credit crunch.

Woolworths is one of the first shops I ever remember going to. Although it has changed somehwat since I was a child, it still provides cheap goods, from sweets and toys, to kids' clothing, DVDs and CDs, kitchen hardware and other useful items, predominantly to those on lower incomes.

Just as importantly it employs 30,000 people nationwide, including a significant number in Tower Hamlets in the Bethnal Green Road store in my constituency, where we are already feeling the adverse effects of the meltdown in the banking sector.

In my view, Woolworths ought to be on Business Secretary Lord Mandelson's list of companies which the government should intervene to save, as a matter of urgency. It's on sale for just a £1 and, although there would be additional costs to keep it as a going concern, the government could turn it into a people's Woolies, employing local people, buying from local producers and ensuring it provided the services and goods local people on low incomes need. The alternative is to allow the vultures to pick it apart for their own profit.

The government has been moving in the right direction in response to the credit crunch but not nearly fast or far enough. Now it needs to bite the bullet and take Woolies into public ownership to show it really does mean to try and stop the worst effects ot this mother of all recessions.

George Galloway MP

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Woolies were £250 million in debt last Spring before the credit crunch hit.

Why would we want to waste our tax money on crap like that?

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Considering their hugely valuable shopfronts I'd imagine that 250m would be a bargain. Which is probably why that Duncan Bannatyne is looking at buying.

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Wonder of Woolies is how it lasted so long
Frankie Boyle
Nov 29 2008

SHOULD we mourn the loss of Woolworths? I think they were lucky to make it this far.

What were their meetings like? "Yeah that's it, sweeties in the front, lots of sweeties, a good 1000 square feet of prime retail real estate dedicated to one pence chews and strawberry laces. Next to them we want paint rollers, hundreds of paint rollers. But get this, no paint. We'll only sell tiny pots of tester paint, exclusively in shades of grey and luminous orange. And I want one wall, floor to ceiling, with toastie machines, but alternating with size 24 knitted women's blouses. Toastie, blouse, toastie, blouse. And wherever there is a space on a shelf, I want it filled by either frying pans, loft ladders or American-sized envelopes that won't take a sheet of A4 no matter how you fold it. The only requirement for staffing is they should have either Alzheimer's or an Asbo. If they have both, make them a manager."

How does a business rack up debts of £300million selling pick and mix? Business is simple. Buy something then sell it for more than you bought it for. What corporate retard bought 300million chocolate mice thinking, "It's pocket money day tomorrow, we are going to be so rich." Whenever these huge businesses go bust they always end up selling for the nominal sum of £1. How funny would it be for a kid who went in to get a Curly Wurly leaves with 800 shops and £300million of debt?

The first British Woolworths store opened in 1909 in Liverpool. The story goes that once the doors were opened, the queuing Liverpudlians emptied the entire shop on the first day. Didn't pay for it mind you, just emptied it. Shop security was invented the next day. Many have said Woolworths was a British institution and I agree. Full of old mad people.

When I was young, Woolworths was an exciting store, where everyone went. In recent years it just began to look like the shop out of Bagpuss. I also read that the whole of MFI has just collapsed. They obviously used their own furniture.

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Of course, we should disregard his opinion because he's just a celebrity, eh sesh?

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BTW I think when you said Bannatyne you meant Theo Paphitis who has been looking at a rescue plan.

That's completely fine, good luck to him. He specialises in turning around failing retail chains and no doubt by making all sorts of cuts and changes he can sort them out.

My objection is to Galloway's childlike statement that our tax should be pissed away on a failing company which would lose even more money if the government tried to run it.

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You might think that but you would be wrong.

They're bad leases because they agree that rents can only go up which in the current market is not good. They did sell a few but it's irrelevant compared to the now £400 million debt.

I don't remember saying Penn shouldn't have an opinion probably because I didn't.

For more info



Might be worth passing it on to George too...

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The implication of your comment about Penn was quite clear - you derided his opinion as worthless purely because he's a celebrity.

I see from that report that only 182 of the 800 shops were sold and leased back. It doesn't say how many of the others are still owned or if they are all leased though.

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Tis true that Woolworths do not own their own properties ,nevertheless, the leaseholds that they hold are still very valuable. This was demonstrated earlier this year when they sold 4 of their leaseholds to Waitrose for £25million. The leaseholds they hold were the primary factor for Alan Sugar (or is it Faceless maybe!!) acquiring 4% of the company in October.


The business has been struggling ever since it was demerged from Kingfisher seven years ago. Steve Johnson, who took over as chief executive in September, warned that the business does not put customers first and has lost focus - underlined by the fact that it sells 54 different types of pencil case but does not sell women's tights.

It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. I personally find all the sentimentality that surrounds the issue quite surprising, many business's that are in decline in this 'economic downturn' havent garnered the same interest. One would have thought that Galloways/ respects press release may have actually alluded to the inherent problems in the current economic system as well as seeking a bail out. There is some that would say their will always be casualties in a capitalist system based on greed rather than need, though this will be little comfort for 30,000 woolworths employees who face an uncertain future.

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Yes, celebrities should just know their place and remain in their pigeon-holes. Especially that bastard Terry Pratchett with his campaign for research into dementia - who cares?!

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He only started the campaign once he got dementia. It's amazing how often it works that way around with celebrities.

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