Woolworths Collapse not the fault of recession
Retailing giant Woolworths this week called in the administrators as they could not see a way forward for the business.
The country is hitting hard times at present and retail is one of worst hit sectors with public spending well down on last year as the recession and credit crunch takes it toll. However the collapse of woolworths should not be confused with the recession, sure it didn’t help but this collapse is down to nothing more than poor product buying and bad management.
The truth is that Woolworths have been in trouble for over 5 years, customers have no real reason to go into their stores anyone. Back in the day, Woolworths had its place on the highstreet, you went to the Butchers, Fruit and veg man etc and Woolworths for everything else, gardening tools, sweets, CDs, Pens etc etc etc but with the raise of companies like Tesco and Sainsbury you can get all of this stuff along with your weekly shopping and if searching for a sole item in town like a CD you would have been more likely to go to a specialist store such as HMV.
All is not lost though, Woolworths in the 80s spend an absolute fortune researching and buying the best locations on the high street, these sites are now worth a fair bit of cash, even in todays climate.
The administraters will now seek to sell of the valable parts of the business, the retail stores for me are the most valauble assets, selling the 800 odd lease agreements to big retailers could go a long way towards clearing the £350+ Million debt the company has wracked up.
In other news this week, MFI have had to pull the plug and are currently selling off stock and knock down prices to clear the stores.
I would say by the end of 2010 we will be looking at a very different high street in many ways, big companies are not safe at present with hugh outgoings and warehouses full of cash tied up in stock.
It really is time for a small local business to thrive, they can make changes quickly to save the future of the business and apply changes that are suitable to their own town.
Woolworths simply didn’t invest adequately in ecommerce. As a result, they are missing out on an important retail sector.
It’s interesting that with all the talk of out-of-town retail killing the high street and driving out small businesses, that it’s the big companies, in Lisburn at least, that seem to suffer most. I remeber the talk of how PC World and Currys at Sprucefield would kill off JC Patterson and Tandy (remember Tandy? Good times…) and in the end the only shop that closed, due to loss of earnings, was Dixons. I like the irony there.
Oh i remember Lisburn Tandy very well, The first retailer in Ireland to stock Apple products and also the first company ever to employ myself, Russell McQuillan.
Really, I never knew you worked there. I used to love going in for Amstrad games and odd random electronic parts. Wasn’t there another shop on Antrim street that sold console and PC games too? That and the comic book and model shops on bridge steet and the Go-Kart track “over the County Down.” Now that I think about Lisburn used to be pretty awesome!
Yes, It was my first job at the tender age of 15. We sold the first Digital Mobile phones and the first playstations (chipped as well, hehe!)
I loved it.
Oh yea the Go-Kart track was pretty cool, my father and his friends tried to open a bowling ally but got blocked by the council.
Lisburn did used to be pretty cool, I can’t stand the place now.