Woolworths Closure

So time for some updates about what we have been getting up to during the Christmas and New Year break, starting with a pre-Christmas visit to a soon to be closed Woolworths store (specifically the one in Redhill) -

- and what a scrum it was, just hundreds of people all fighting to look through the remains of the stock -

- all just shoved on the shelves in the boxes they obviously lived in while being stored out the back -

- I scored a bit of a bargain in the shape of a ceramic speed peeler (at 60% off) and Flyingpops managed to get about 20 packs of coloured pencils, crayons and paints (to keep visiting children quietly amused), all the DVDs and games weren't being reduced by much though (at the point we were visiting, anyway)...when it came to be time to pay, we joined the queue of about 40 fellow shoppers and waited patiently, watching (open mouthed) as a succession of people brazenly strolled out through the frantically beeping security barrier with things tucked under their coats - apparently the security staff had been early casualties...

Flyingpops then had a ten minute argument with the extremely young till supervisor, who finally yielded and took the correct amount of money off the items she had picked up (no wonder the queue was going so slowly, all the prices on the system seemed to be wrong)...while I got asked if I needed any help by a stressed looking manager who (I'm guessing) didn't want me taking pictures of his plight...I sympathised, as it's got to be terrible to find yourself out of work just before Christmas...

It's going to be an odd high street now with Woolworths gone...I wonder what will fill the space?

Books etc. closing down in Canary Wharf

Wah...(well sort-of-wah)...spotted the other day that my nearest book shop in Canary Wharf, was closing down! I don't buy a huge number of books in book shops (as it's so much cheaper online), but if I've had a bad day, or if I've finished a book off and need something new for the way home, or if I'm off on holiday and need to quickly stock up, or even the odd present - suffice it to say it's saved my bacon on a couple of occasions (in a number of ways) and is near enough to not eat too much into the commute...so you can understand I was just a little bit upset when I saw the signs, but just not upset enough to run in and buy a load of 50% off books with a smile on my face...

Today I am wondering what on earth they bothered for...another shop is opening -but- it's a Waterstones (as you can clearly see if you click that picture and peer through the silver covering on the windows)...! Found a news story confirming it here...but the crazy thing is, they had the front doors open today, and when I peered in I noticed that they haven't even bothered to re-fit the store, it's exactly the same layout, same shelves, same tables...same books? Well, almost certainly not if they belonged to a different retailer, but I imagine the stocks arriving now won't be *much* different from those which populated them previously...

Rather a curious move...but not one I am going to question (as a consumer)...I'm just going to say "thanks for staying as a book shop"... ;)