WORLD> Europe
|
WORLD> Europe
|
|
Doors close at about 200 Woolworths in Britain
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-28 16:12 London - About 200 stores of Woolworths, one of Britain's best known retailers, have shut their doors for good.
The stores that closed Saturday represent about a quarter of the company's shops. The rest of the stores are to close within about a week unless a last-minute buyer is found for the failed retailer. It filed for a form of bankruptcy protection last month. About 27,000 people are expected to lose their jobs. The company's current debt-laden predicament is a far cry from the clamor that greeted the first British store, which opened in Liverpool, northern England, in 1909 under the FW Woolworths brand, a subsidiary of the US company. The British retail company has outlasted its original US parent, which closed its final Woolworths stores in 1997. |
