It has to be said it's a Sad day for British Retail, condolances to all at Woolies, despite all their recent faults and whichever way you look at it, Woolworths will be missed and Im sure there will be a big gap in most high streets, even if other retailers take over the sites there will still be something missing.
I fear this will be the start of only having Supermarkets or online as a choice for shoppers though be it many years away.
I just hope the supermarkets are reffered to the competition commission and denied having any of these prime uk sites as that would just add to the missery of many retailers trying to compete with the Supermarkets loss leading prices

I hear your sentiment and I understand that a lot of good people will lose their jobs.
On the flip side, my experience of the strategies and ethics of the buying teams have been questionable for years. I'll be careful here not to publish anything that may cause legal problems for this site - but you have my word that unethical practices have been in operation by their buyers for years.
In addition, Woolies have operated a policy for years where they buy stock for their season sales, pushing manufacturers to allow them full margin on the low prices, which Woolies 'price establish' at higher retails making huge (often 300%) margins and their normal margin at sale time, misleading customers and forcing manufacturers in emerging countries to make a living on slender margins.
The management team have attempted to copy sucessful stragetics elsewhere (Big Red Book/Argos is the best example), but have missed the essence of how the sucess was generated elsewhere and lost money.
As a consumer, I have fond memories of the store from my youth, but now they are poor at every sector they operate in, poor at video games, music, DVD, toys, homeware - need i go on.
Competition weeds out the week. Woolworths is reaping what they sowed.

They do a damn good Pick 'N' Mix, you gotta give Woolies that :)

With so many now (or soon to be) out of work, including Zavvi flying so close to the wind, the job centre is really going to get overcrowded during January.

My heart does though go out to the multitudes of good staff that are now facing thier mortgage without a full-time job.

@Charlie Fau

Don't often reply to anything on here, but as a previous employee at Woolies head office (no love lost incidentally, was long gone before the collapse) but, I can honestly say that you're talking absolute nonsense.

I'm not going to give away any detail, but I can assure you that not only were the margins terribly low on games (EUK still added their terms on top of suppliers even though they were the same group as woolies retail, but ww retail wasn't protected by any SLA) but if their margins were up to 300%, with the respectable volume that woolies sold in the market, they wouldn't have been in so much trouble! This has been mentioned many times on these boards, but I must say again, no EUK customer had their own buying teams.

I know this is a games industry board, so I just want to remind everyone that woolies didn't just sell games. In fact, believe it or not, the whole of their entertainment department did very enviable numbers all things considered, but it was only a small part of the business, one of the few parts that performed. The failings were with bad decisons from the top, coupled with too many outdated, "albatross-like" product departments.

I'd like to second Mathew@1's comments and pass on my condolances to the woolies staff, the high street, and the economy in general.

i have to say this is a horrible situation for all staff at these stores, no one wants to be out of work let alone at this time of year, i do hope this isnt the start of supermarkets and online as the only choice, i wont shop at supermarkets personally, even if it takes longer, i will use grocers, butchers etc, but people are lazy and lost leaders will win the bulk of customers every time, alot of customers dont understand this.

The sentiment is seconded here, good luck to all the staff in finding new jobs - especially in the current climate.
Best Wishes

I agree it is sad news, such awful timing for the staff.

Woolworths (hated the 'Woolies' moniker') has been 'a local shop' for kids for years. Granted one wouldn't shop there as an adult, but as a kid its where you get to play with toys, buy games, sweets etc.

It's been an interesting read this post, highlight would be where 'Left of Reckoning' bitch-slapped 'Charlie Fau'!

Ouch.

Lee

To Left of Reckoning

Most of my experiences with Woolies buying teams are not from the games sector, I guess most games industry sales people have no experience of woolies staff, rather trading through EUK.

My experiences surround pre-madonna buyers, lording around the world, flying business class, eating in the best restaurants, drinking to excess and generally holidaying everywhere. One one trip abroad I heard a gaggle of female Woolies buyers talk about how much money they saved being on those trips and how much they partied whilst on them.

I'm not restricting my criticism to the buyers either, I've expereienced senior management at the company doing the same.

To Charlie Fau

Incorrect again. EUK deal with the buying and logistics. Woolies, as a customer of EUK, had final say on any buying decision, and dealt extensively with games publishers directly in terms of marketing and strategy.

You sound amazed by this "buyers love a jolly" concept! Of course they do, always have, always will. It's important to build relationships, and it's the upside to the profession. The downside being the majority of their time slaving over figures. I can't comment on your experiences, but seeing a buyer letting their hair down with suppliers doesn't have a bearing on how well they perform in their job.

Oh, and "Pre-Madonna" buyers? Do you have something against those in the industry that were born before the queen of pop had her seminal hit with "Holiday"? Or do you mean "Prima Donna"?

To Charlie Fau

I think you will find that its pretty much standard practice shafting the supplier. Radio 4 reported of one big DIY chain that told a supplier that unless they supplied their sheds for free they couldn't get on there suppliers list.

Other practices such as charging huge fees just to get a look in on being on the list are common place. Many of the loss leaders are losses for the suppliers not the supermarkets.

... Pre Maddonna *snort*

Thank-you for correcting me, despite ignoring my real point surrounding questionable business practices.

It is a shame you mocked my error - English isn't my first language, I'd be happy to converse in Cantonese if that suits you?

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