Could Woolworths be set to return to Warwick after former boss makes admission?

Retailer collapsed in 2008 after racking up debts of £400m but former boss plans to resurrect brand.

Woolworths, which had a store in Market Place, Warwick, could be set to make a comeback to the British high street almost 10 years since the retailer shut its doors after collapsing.

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Tony Page, the company’s former managing director, said he has approached shopping giant Shop Direct, which owns the Woolworths brand, to repurchase the name in a bid of launching a series of stores.

“I am still emotionally attached to it,” he told the Daily Star.

Warwick WoolworthsWarwick Woolworths
Warwick Woolworths

“I still think it has got a role in the future. I have contacted Shop Direct and said ‘you’re not using the brand any more, would you consider giving it to someone who would?’”

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Page added that he felt the stores would still be a ‘physical retailer’.

“I feel as though if the brand name was available it would still be a possibility to bring it back [to high streets],” he said.

“I still absolutely think it would still be a physical retailer. I would want it to be much more a part of the community. The stores that really used to do well were those that were at the heart of the community, rather than being in the big shopping centres.”

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Warwick WoolworthsWarwick Woolworths
Warwick Woolworths

Woolworths entered administration late in 2008 after racking up almost £400m in debt, with administrators Deloitte closing all the 807 stores between 27 December 2008 and 6 January 2009, which resulted in 27,000 job losses. Shop Direct purchased the name a month later and continued to operate Woolworths website until it closed down in 2015.

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