Not much in store for former Woolies

More than 300 people lost their jobs across the Black Country and Staffordshire as a result of Woolies going bust.

And today there remains little prospect that the majority of the landmark stores will bustle again as the recession bites on the High Street.

Of more than 15 Woolworths stores in the Black Country, Stafford and Cannock, only the Blackheath branch has a bright future ahead of it after being snapped up by a new buyer. Hull-based Heron Frozen Foods is to transform the shop into a supermarket to compete alongside the town's branch of Iceland.

Despite plenty of rumours and hush-hush plans, the shutters remain down on the rest of the region's Woolworths.

The credit crisis, plunging consumer spending and all-powerful supermarkets spelled the end for Woolies, which was criticised by business experts for not moving with the times.

Arguably the most-famous name to go to the wall during this economic downturn, Woolworths closed all 807 of its outlets in December and January and was handed over to administrators Deloitte. For many smaller towns, Woolworths was the focus of the shopping centre and its loss has had a profound effect.

Isabelle Szmigin, professor of marketing at Birmingham Business School, said the majority of sites would be difficult to sell during the credit crunch due to their size.

"Even the smaller sites are quite big so I can understand the struggle in taking them up," she said. "New enterprises could not afford them and existing businesses are not really looking to expand at this time. I can't see much happening in the short or medium term unless the economic situation picks up and existing enterprises look to expand.

"Woolworths lost its uniqueness over time - customers could find what they were looking for at other retailers, such as supermarkets. It failed to reposition itself and its rivals were in a much better position when the downturn came. In the end, Woolworths became trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea."

Professor Szmigin's claim that many Woolies sites are simply too big to sell is ringing true in Stafford, where there is talk of breaking the Gaolgate Street shop up into smaller units. The same is true at Wolverhampton's Mander Centre, where it occupied one of the largest units. There has been talk of "strong interest" in the former Woolies sites in Lichfield, Kidderminster and Cannock.

The store in Market Street, Lichfield, first opened in February 1930 and a number of mystery parties have expressed an interest in it. Three buyers are in negotiations for the shop in Cannock and three parties are also said to have shown an interest in the Kidderminster branch. Without any firm plans on the horizon, a campaign has been launched to restore the Walsall shop to its original use as a town centre cinema.