Woolworths (UK) to return to high street

Three former bosses of Woolworths are ‘relaunching’ Woolworths under a new name. Former Commercial Director Tony Page and colleagues Andy Latham and Steven Jebson will open 50 shops based on the old Woolworths format – and are working on a name “as close to the original as possible without breaching trademark”. The first store opens in May and is likely to be in Camden or Notting Hill. Page has secured GBP10 million (USD14.88 million) of funding for the move. He told The Sun newspaper: “There’s a big gap in the market where Woolworths was. We want to recreate a better version of the old Woolies. We could have 300 sites in three years’ time if things work out.” Page attempted to buy the rights to the Woolworths name from administrator Deloitte, but lost out to Shop Direct which plans to relaunch the Woolworths brand online.

www.planetretail.net