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Business News Retail
Woolies might return to the high street
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 24 November 2009
While another string of retail brands might be about to disappear from the high street, one might be about to return. The company which acquired the Woolworths name when that classic retailer went under this time last year is thinking about bringing the brand back to the high street.
Shop Direct acquired the Woolies name in order to launch a website selling the sorts of things that used to be sold in Woolworths shops. That etail operation launched in June and seems to be going very well. Now management there are considering a new venture that could bring Woolworths back into the physical world.
CEO Mark Newton-Jones told reporters this week: “In the new year we will consider approaches from interested third parties. We believe it could be a successful chain of up to 200 stores, supported by the buying power of Shop Direct”.
That implies that Shop Direct, owned by Daily Telegraph proprietors the Barclay brothers, wouldn’t take the risk in launching physical stores itself, but rather would franchise out the brand’s name and product ranges to others interested in running a high street retail operation.
If Woolworths does return to the high street, new company Alworths could find itself saddled with a trademark dispute. Alworths was set up by a former Woolworths executive called Andy Latham, and will take over five old Woolworths stores, providing Woolies-style shops. Shop Direct have reportedly already accused Latham of choosing a name too similar to the Woolworths trademark they now own.
Whether any new Woolies on the high street would have a serious music department we don’t know. The original Woolworths – once the biggest player in British music retail – had already cut back its CD departments prior to its demise last year, of course, and it seems unlikely music product would be an area where any new Woolies operators would see the potential for quick profits.
