Recommended Posts

Everybody over the age of about 40 remembers Woolworths on Lister Gate, especially its massive cafeteria, which was bigger than most shops.

In the 60s they seemed to have stores all over Nottingham. The Lister Gate one relocated and expanded a few times, from this ...

Z26Zmsp.jpg

Ending up in two parts, with the other half a bit further down the road.....

ZCtpeN1.jpg

There was one at Hockley/Cranbrook Street:

mIl6Ii6.jpg

One in Beeston

e4N8CuY.jpg

The later version of the one in Bulwell

CfFxY81.jpg

 

And the one at Clifton

dP2ByvJ.jpg

There must've been others.

 

  • Upvote 3
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 83
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

When I left school I started work at the Listergate store in 1972 until 1974. It was a great time but very hard work. All the stock was ordered from a warehouse based at Castleton. Every item of a vas

Everybody over the age of about 40 remembers Woolworths on Lister Gate, especially its massive cafeteria, which was bigger than most shops. In the 60s they seemed to have stores all over Nottingh

i remember Woollies down bottom of Hockley mam would take me and sister to Sneinton Market going from City Centre up to Thurland St. then down Hockley passed Wigfalls, (pay rental on Telly set), and i

There was one in Long Eaton.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Arnold,Sherwood,Hyson Green.

That was Front street Arnold...nearly opposite Winchester street Sherwood....and Hyson Green near the lights on Radford Road...I think Boots took That one over when it closed years ago.

Link to post
Share on other sites

There' wasn't one in Carlton as far as I can remember or Netherfield for that matter.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ironic, FW Woolworths started in the USA and I don't think there is one single branch over here now. They were still big in Australia when I lived down there, but I think Dick Smith bought them out.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Regarding Cliff Ton's first photograph of Woolworth's on Lister Gate; back in the 60's I had quite a few school friends who had Saturday jobs here. Having a Saturday job had become a must for we school girls completing our final year of O' levels.

At school these friends often used to complain about how they'd not know until the last moment which counter they were to work behind. I remember feeling sorry for them because Woolworth's counters were big, well stocked and busy. :huh:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I had a school friend, name of Yvonne who worked Saturdays in Woolworth's on Hyson Green. Unlike my other friends employed by the store, Yvonne was given a permanent place Saturdays on the biscuit and cake counter. How I envied her. I had a Saturday job up the road at Farrands the Grocers and we didn't sell the slabbed Angel cake like they did at Woolworths. What I wouldn't have given to be in reach of a piece of heaven! :ohmy:

Link to post
Share on other sites

We were told when we got to work which counter .....make up and haberdashery were the best, broken biscuits and grocery the worst......everything wad added up by the assistant not the till....the green overalls were disgusting along with the staff canteen but it was an education in life for us pre o level students and paid for the night down the boat club ....

Link to post
Share on other sites

The one on Front Street Arnold was in a former cinema next to the Cross Keys when I was a lad. You had to climb a flight of stone steps to get to the entrance because it was above pavement (Corsi) level.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Remembering with fondness Bulwell Woolworth's, the huge, red weighing scales that greeted you as soon as you walked in the store, one penny it cost to weigh yourself. At the first counter you came to on the right, it was here I gazed in wonder at the different coloured plastic biros, a new idea all the way from America. They were so expensive, as a young girl of eight I couldn't possibly afford one out of my pocket money. I recall too the many coloured hoola hoops hanging up high above this very same counter; the latest craze from America and costing seven shillings and sixpence (37 and a half pence). Oh, but I wanted one and knew the only way I could get one was to save like billio! :ohmy:

Link to post
Share on other sites

The one on Front Street Arnold was in a former cinema next to the Cross Keys when I was a lad. You had to climb a flight of stone steps to get to the entrance because it was above pavement (Corsi) level.

That was the first one. It moved directly across the road to the premises which are now Iceland.

6967247279_9c31f1c9dc_m.jpg

There was also a Woolies in Sherwood. It was in the premises which are now owned by Ginza Japanese restaurant at 593-595 Mansfield Road,on the west side roughly opposite the older Co-op store.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ironic, FW Woolworths started in the USA and I don't think there is one single branch over here now. They were still big in Australia when I lived down there, but I think Dick Smith bought them out.

Woolworths are still going strong here in Aus.Them and Coles almost have a monopoly on grocery and variety stores.They rip us off something terrible.

Re Dick Smith.He was actually bought out by Woolworths but the stores are still trading under the Dick Smith name.

Sadly many of them are being closed down and the trade they were doing is being absorbed by Big W which is also part of the Woolworth chain.

Baz :ninja:

Link to post
Share on other sites

God!! Dick Smith looks old now!! I saw an interview he did with the ABC last night, I hardly recogized him..

Yeah I had it the wrong way around Bazza, Woolies bought him out, he did a good job building his chain of shops up too. Back then they catered for the radio ham electronics enthusiast. I still have my first stereo amp and equilizer I built from kits I bought from his Wollongong store.

I'm sure I bought my Yaesu FT757 from one of his shops too, still works a treat after all those years. I've done a couple of master oscilator realignments over the years as it was prone to going off frequency when the PLL circuit unlocked, common fault with those radios...

Link to post
Share on other sites

My main memory of Woolies - especially the Lister Gate one - is that in those days the stores weren't self-service which they would be now (if they still existed)

Back then there was an assistant at every counter; and all the counters were rectangular shaped with a kind of alleyway down the middle where the sales assistant moved up and down to serve the customers

The wage bill for that many staff must've been tremendous, compared to paying a few check-out operators.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hard to believe we went from counter to counter, picking up what we needed and paying for it seperately everytime. We never thought anything of it though, it was the norm.

Link to post
Share on other sites

i worked at hockley woolworths 1967/ 68 my main counter was hard wear but we had to move onto other counters as and were we were needed i remember the lay out so well as you went in the bottom door on your right was deli counter bacon cooked meats cheeses on your left was the sweet counter then makeup counter all at the bottom end or near the doors past the deli as you went down to the far end was the grocery on the right onthe left was the biscuet counter beyond that in the left hand corner was the little glass sided office sheared by the manager senior casher and miss mossman who was the senior supervisor. down the back wall was the lighting section and along the side wall that was kind off an l shape was hard wear counter in front of that was stationarycounter and between that and the biscuets was haberdashary counter. for one month every year i would work in all the other stores as one of the checkers when they had done there own stocktake most of the smaller stores took two to three days but it took two teams the whole week to stock check big woolworths they carried a lot more stock and much bigger wearhouse . as beefy sain not woolies in carlton netherfield or gedling areas, but i visited and worked in all of the formentioned stores plus ilkeston as at that time it was classed as nottingham as was long eaton store.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I remember most of the Woolworth stores mentioned, the one I used/shopped at the most as a kid/young adult was the one in Bulwell market place, always got my dads Christmas present from there (socks), I thought I looked cool in those Black and White baseball boots they used to sell while spending hours going through the Music for Pleasure or Top of the Pops albums with the scantily dressed woman on the front, I still have some of the "proper" albums I bought from there, Echo and the Bunnymen, Dexy's Midnight runners, Human League...no! I have just remembered I have a Bawdy Barrack Rooms songs album I got from there somewhere.

Curly

Link to post
Share on other sites

There used to be a Woolies top end of Radford Road, going down from Bentinck Road

just on the left before you got to Gregory Blvd lights.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I can remember stocking up on tuffees at Lister Gate, before going to the Saturday Morning Picture Show at The Odeon in the Seventies with my sister and cousins.....what a bleddy racket that was, great times!!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...