Boxing Day, 2008. Cool and blustery, it was a typical winter’s afternoon on Whitley Bay promenade, ideal for a festive stroll.

Turning into Whitley Road, however, all was far from typical. In a cacophony of red, yellow and turquoise, a shop window was proclaiming its “Last 4 Days!” If a CD, babygrow or Christmas tree didn’t take your fancy, you could, as a dayglo poster implored, snap up the store’s fixtures and fittings.

But this was not just any “Store Closing”. It was Woolworths, a shop that was supposed to always be there to serve us. In Whitley Bay, Woolies had operated from the same spot since 1927; across the country, where 807 stores were by then closing down, some had traded through both World Wars.

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Back in 2008, my own retail consultancy was still a few years off; my job, as a researcher, had little to do with high streets. My architecture and planning degrees, however, had given me a sense of what places mean to people: the experiences they inspire; the memories they spark. 

As I stood there, reflecting on the exhortation that “Everything Must Go!”, it was evident that in losing Woolies we were losing part of ourselves. I took a photo, captured the scene, and, unwittingly, began my 15-year Woolworths odyssey.

Within days of the final stores shutting on January 6, 2009, Iceland announced it would pick up 51 sites. Discounters, like B&M, 99p Stores and Poundland swiftly snapped up others. I created a spreadsheet of all the stores and began to document the changes.

As I delved deeper, I discovered more about Woolies’ remarkable legacy. Launched in the US city of Utica in 1879 by American entrepreneur Frank Winfield Woolworth, the chain’s “five and dime” concept was transplanted to the UK in 1909 as “3d and 6d stores”, with a shop in Liverpool’s Church Street.

That store, like all the early British ones, adapted an existing building. However, it was not long before Woolworths was erecting its own stores in a distinctive architectural style, many of which it still occupied until the end. From Ladybird clothing to Embassy records, Woolies was also a product innovator; and in the 1970s, its Shoppers World catalogue format and Woolco hypermarkets paved the way for today’s Argos and Asda stores. 

Fast forward to 2024, and the result of my 15 years of tracking research is #Woolies15, a report that looks at what the ex-Woolworths estate has become. So, what exactly does it tell us? 

Well, despite what you might read elsewhere, the high street evidently isn’t dead. Only 9% of 807 former Woolies sites are currently fully empty — a notably smaller proportion than the 14% national shop vacancy rate — and only one location has never been occupied at all in 15 years. What’s more, over 80% of locations remain entirely or partly in active use by other retailers.

Elsewhere, changes mirror the evolution that we are seeing on the high street more generally. Compared to my analysis five years earlier, there are more independents in ex-Woolies locations, alongside many more non-retail uses: cafés and restaurants, of course, but also education, healthcare and housing. As brands die, high streets are becoming more mixed use, more sociable, and, arguably, more interesting.

There is an unexpected postscript, too. A fortnight after I published #Woolies15, the CEO of the German Woolworth chain (without the “s”) disclosed in a Retail Week interview that UK expansion was on his “bucket list”. I’d already revealed months earlier that the company now owned the UK trademarks and domain names, an obvious prerequisite to trading here.

The history is complex, but Germany’s Woolworth, like the British chain, grew out of the American parent. Both were later spun off (ours in 1982, Germany’s in 1998), but share the same heritage; indeed, German Woolworth shops still feature a portrait of Frank Woolworth, who they proudly claim “invented the discount store”.

So could Woolworths really return? It’s certainly plausible. Aside from brand ownership having been resolved, my own #Woolies15 research demonstrates how many ex-Woolies now house variety stores — like Whitley Bay’s B&M — whose range is not dissimilar to what was there before. 

Clearly, shoppers like an affordable local shop where they can pick up everyday essentials, and last year’s demise of 400 Wilko branches perhaps offers an opportunity for someone new. 

With familiar strengths in stationery, toys and homeware — alongside an impressive own-brand clothing offer to rival Poundland’s Pep&Co — the German Woolworth would be recognisable enough to UK consumers, with name recognition that money can’t buy. Enjoying much sharper value credentials, and far more flexible lease deals now, it could also avoid the problems that hobbled its predecessor.

If Woolworth(s) does come back, rest assured that I’ll be there making the case for North East towns and cities to get a slice of the action. In the meantime, I’ll keep tracking post-Woolies occupants, alongside celebrating and learning from the retailer’s history. 

Amid such change, a rich understanding of the past has never been more useful in helping us contextualise the present and imagine the future.

Graham’s #Woolies15 report can be downloaded for free here