Viral
Harriet Brewis
May 16, 2021
The UK bid farewell to Debenhams over the weekend, as Britons shared fond memories of the one-time high street giant.
The historic department store closed all remaining sites on Saturday after the coronavirus pandemic precipitated the company’s collapse.
It had suffered slumping sales in recent years as customers continued the transition to online retail.
But Debenhams is by no means the only once beloved shop to have disappeared from our towns and cities over the years.
On Saturday, one man asked fellow Twitter users which now defunct high street icon they would bring back out of Kwik Save, C&A, Woolworths and Blockbuster.
The verdict was almost unanimous, as the following tweets show:
Woolies no contest #WhenWoolworthsDiedSoDidI https://t.co/p4bPVBBqEC— Jeremy Vine (@Jeremy Vine) 1621143810
Woolworths. Every child should experience the deliberations of the Pick n Mix https://t.co/5l91MwujTt— Simon Hoare MP (@Simon Hoare MP) 1621153496
Woolies all day long. Home of pick n mix 👌 https://t.co/S4wr2Q8nKa— Chris1878 (@Chris1878) 1621149649
So much sadness about #Woolworths still. We should establish a retail theme park where nostalgic people can enter i… https://t.co/kESOeRnKkm— Will Black (@Will Black) 1621122966
Every time I see Woolworths trending or as we called it Woolies, it just brings back good memories as a kid growing… https://t.co/Nzj6FftaGp— LynneG (@LynneG) 1621149333
@theJeremyVine Of course, it’s Woolies x— Kate Mosse (@Kate Mosse) 1621148974
@RWTaylors The correct answer is Woolworths - my mum worked in our local Woolies & have fond memories of walking do… https://t.co/6tvpzzrlxh— 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑅𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑠𝑜𝑛💙 (@𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑅𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑠𝑜𝑛💙) 1621121288
@RWTaylors I did my entire Christmas shop in Woolies when I was about 11. A record for my brother, pick'n'mix and a… https://t.co/utOF3iqTws— Bertha Mason (@Bertha Mason) 1621119873
So did anyone pick one of the other options?
Well, some people acknowledged their charms at least:
@RWTaylors Woolworths, obviously. But C&A did brilliant ski wear at one time.— Bessie (@Bessie) 1621153885
@theJeremyVine @JuliaHB1 Woolworths all day, although have great memories of Kwik-Save when as a young QS the firm… https://t.co/bVa6OkNtZx— Foxtrot Alpha Zulu (@Foxtrot Alpha Zulu) 1621154049
Woolworths. Was my favorite shop. Now it is Wilko. In there at least 3 times a week. It is Woolworths on steroid… https://t.co/OHkklTgHDv— Tony Wilson (@Tony Wilson) 1621147983
@RWTaylors Difficult choice between Woolworths & C&A. Woolworths would win if it was the old style Woolworths, that… https://t.co/jrPgwPueND— Dr Julia Reid PhD (@Dr Julia Reid PhD) 1621104190
@RWTaylors Blockbuster. You could always find a wide variety of titles that you can’t find with anything on offer today.— Debbie Eaton 🍊 (@Debbie Eaton 🍊) 1621106772
But just none were quite as irreplaceable as Woolies, apparently:
@RWTaylors Woolies, all the others have alternatives. Kwiks = Aldi/Lidl C&A = Primark Blockbuster = Netflix/Disney/Prime— Gruffydd (@Gruffydd) 1621154222
@RWTaylors woolies ... no doubt about it. C&A were the posh fk's were. kwiksave were rip off merchants blockbuster… https://t.co/No18ZEvwcT— Scottishchee (@Scottishchee) 1621122197
For those who don’t remember what became of Woolworths, or who never experienced the joy of it’s pic n’ mix section, here’s a quick history.
The chain had more than 800 stores across the UK prior to its closure in 2009.
It sold many goods, including its own Ladybird children’s clothing range, “WorthIt!” value items and Chad Valley toys.
In November 2008 it entered administration and, over the following months, Deloitte close all of its 807 stores.
Woolies disappeared from UK high streets more than a decade agoGetty Images
Still, social media is a powerful thing, so maybe Sunday’s Twitter trend will mark the start of a comeback…
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