Forums Forums National News Administrators pledge of Woolworths

im glad because they were really poo, makes room for a new and better store

Id love it to be a maplins you know where id go

here here

Woolworths stores that were expected to close on Friday will remain open for another day of business, administrators Deloitte said.

Two hundred outlets were due to shut on Friday but this has been postponed to Saturday.

The final closure deadline for the retailer has also been delayed by a day, with the remaining 200 stores now set to close on January 6.

A spokesman for Deloitte said: "There are two main reasons for delaying the closures. One, stock levels - there's still some stock remaining. Two, workload - it's a big logistical exercise. The remaining dates were delayed to allow time for the final arrangements to be made."

More than half the UK stores have already shut down. At least 150 of the retailer's 807 outlets held their last day of trading on December 30, with everything, including the fixtures and fittings, on sale at discount prices.

The firm's collapse leaves 27,000 workers facing redundancy.

FW Woolworths first came to the UK in 1909, when the American firm opened a branch in Liverpool.

Everything in the Merseyside store was sold for sixpence (2.5p), making it an instant hit and the company quickly expanded.

The chain, which outlived its US parent by more than 10 years, was already foundering when the credit crunch and sharp downturn in consumer spending finally toppled it in November.

Deloitte has held talks with other retailers to take on the leases of around 300 Woolworths stores and hopes to sell off the Ladybird children's clothes and Chad Valley toys brands.