On of the high streets biggest names of the past could be making a shock return eight years after the last store shut its doors.
Woolworths – or Woolies as it was affectionately known is being resurrected by former director of the brand Tony Page has confirmed to the Daily Star that he has made an approach to Shop Direct to buy the name back.
Mr Page would like to bring the brand back and says he would place stores more at the “heart of the communities” rather than major shopping centres.
“I am still emotionally attached to it,” he told online site.
“I still think it has got a role in the future. I have contacted Shop Direct and said ‘you’re not using the brand anymore, would you consider giving it to someone who would?”
Mr Page reportedly tried to buy the brand after its collapse, but his bid was beaten by Shop Direct, who have failed to do anything with the brand since the purchase.
By the time it entered administration in 2008, Woolworths had amassed debts of around £400 million, ultimately leading to the disappearance of its 800 stores from UK high streets by 2009.
Around 27,000 employees were made redundant as a result of the retailer’s demise including the Swindon store which was one of the longest established in the country after opening in Regent Street on 12th September 1914.
