Elderly women potter about the store with their granny-bags, a young boy drags a toy helicopter along the floor behind him and the workers bustle around filling the shelves. This was the scene at Twydall Woolworths as it faces its hardest time yet.

Ironically you’d think that Woolworths would be the saviour of many in this harrowing financial crisis but it doesn’t appear to be so. However, some customers still flock to the well loved family store to take advantage of the penny saving offers that line the shelves. From 3 for 2 on toys and clothes, to 20% off on everything until Sunday, these deals offer a cheaper alternative in a time where money isn’t so easy to come by.

Although the well known high street store is going under, its customer relations certainly aren’t. It was smiles all round and nothing but politeness as a cashier handed over a bar of chocolate that a loyal shopper had left behind the week before. The queue was backed up the aisle and a second till even had to be opened to cater for the bargain hungry public. For a store about to be shut down it appeared to be doing fairly well at 11am this morning.

Woolworths was introduced in Britain in 1909 after its ‘parent’ store in the USA seemed to flop. Its founder, Frank Woolworth, brought the company to our country 99 years ago but this Christmas 30,000 employees are likely to face unemployment as Woolies comes closer and closer to collapse.
A Twydall employee who doesn’t wish to be named said:
“We aren’t told anything, we aren’t allowed to say anything – we only know as much as is on the news.”
Is it really fair that the employees are being kept in the dark when their jobs are under threat?

The high-street chain was going to be sold for a shocking £1 but this deal has recently been put on hold in the hope that a higher bid may come into play. With the mountains of debt that Woolworths are under, it seems unlikely that anyone will want to foot the bill.

For many it will be impossible to forget their childhood memories of our favourite high street store. One of my earliest experiences was getting lost and coming so close to the goldmine that was the ‘pic ‘n’ mix’ stand only to come face to face with my parents before I could obtain my ‘pick me up’.  

Whether it be the sickly sweet aroma of the Pic ‘n’ Mix stand or the mountain of toys towering over awestruck kids’ heads, the store will be sorely missed. There will undoubtedly be many a heavy heart this December as Woolworths faces its last Christmas.