Retail

Article — 11 January 2012 — 325 words

The newfangled apostrophe

Outrage has broken out among pedants everywhere, as it was revealed that Waterstones has dropped the apostrophe from its name. Waterstones is hardly the first business to make this move. For instance, Woolworths was, up until the 1980s, called Woolworth. But people called it Woolworths, so the company adopted it. Note how many people also […]

Article — 15 January 2009 — 1,319 words

Spare part

Business — Current affairs — Personal — Technology

I see that the BBC’s iPM blog is asking for the human stories behind the current unemployment figures. Well, I am a human face of two recent news stories. As readers are no doubt sick of reading by now, one of those stories was the loss of around 27,000 jobs at Woolworths. The other is […]

Article — 13 January 2009 — 993 words

The beginning of the end

Business — Economics — Society

Work: Woolworths

On 5 November, a poster appeared in the staff area at Woolworths. “Remember remember the 5th of November”, it proclaimed. The copy went on to outline how Woolworths would celebrate 100 years on Britian’s High Streets on 5 November 2009, and to look out for the celebrations the company would be having throughout the year. […]

Article — 11 January 2009 — 1,157 words

The blunder of Woolworths

Business — Personal — Society

Work: Woolworths

By the time I started working for Woolworths, the company was pushing its in-store ordering system big time. In Summer 2006, the Big Red Book was launched to encourage customers to make use of the ordering facility. As sales assistants, we were always encouraged to offer to order any items that weren’t in stock. Unfortunately, […]

Article — 8 January 2009 — 1,282 words

Woolworths: Childhood memories and adult gripes

Business — Personal — Society

Work: Woolworths

I have felt very sad about the demise of Woolworths ever since the business began to unravel in front of my eyes around two months ago. I was not sad so much because of my job — I was planning on leaving after the Christmas period anyway. I was just sad to see Woolies go […]

Article — 7 January 2009 — 1,034 words

Woolworths as it was known and loved, and neglected

Business — Society

Work: Woolworths

In 1982, the British arm of Woolworths was separated from its US parent when it was bought by retail consortium Paternoster, later to become Kingfisher. It changed the direction of the company forever. According to the Woolworths Virtual Museum, BBC News reported on Woolworths being under British ownership for the first time against a backdrop […]

Article — 6 January 2009 — 771 words

Woolworths: The curiously British US-based company

Business — Society

Work: Woolworths

Today, the shutter came down for the final time at Woolworths Kirkcaldy, Store 1201. It was among the final group of branches to close. It is the end of an era. This institution had been a fixture in Britain’s High Streets for almost 100 years. The history of the original company set up by Frank […]

Article — 23 November 2008 — 533 words

Prices dropped at Woolworths

Business — Current affairs

Work: Woolworths

Update: This offer has been extended! It will now end on Sunday 30 November. This is great news if you’re unable to pop into Woolies until the weekend. Okay, first off, I know it’s a while since I posted on this blog. And I appreciate that this post represents a rather jarring change in tone. […]

Article — 3 September 2006 — 366 words

Shouting ‘fire’ on a crowded train

Current affairs — Personal

I’ve just found out about something that’s almost as scary as numbers stations. Inspector Sands. I’ve seen more than one person on the internet calling themselves this, and I always thought it was the same person. I’m not so sure now! Inspector Sands is actually code for “get ready to run for your fucking life”. […]

Linknote — 3 August 2006 — 83 words

Economics

Economics everywhere — Piers Parry-Crooke — BBC - The Editors

There is a post on the BBC’s Editors blog pointing out Evan Davies’ report on how the recent hot weather has been affecting the economy in so many different ways. Having been working inside a boiling shop for the past few weeks in this extreme weather, I’ve seen that in action. Even a Saturday was pretty dead. The post ends by tackling the misconception that economics is just all about money issues, which I was recently trying to explain to a sceptical colleague.