Wellworths... 8months later

The Woolworth's store in Dorchester that closed and then reopened as Wellworths is getting ready for the busy Xmas period.

Claire Robertson, the manageress who bought over the failing branch remains upbeat and confident about the future.

She is the epitome of the little person who refuses to let a dream die. Whether or not she can keep her unique Wellworth's store alive in such hard fiscal times is another matter.

Indeed many Woolworth's employees are struggling to find work. Woolworth's was not only the most sentimental casualty of the recession, but it left the most people unemployed.

Fingers crossed that Claire and her team (including 20 former Woolies veterans) can survive and prosper.

From Woolies to Wellies

In Dorchester, an ex-manager of the failed Woolworths brand has created a phoenix from the ashes, documented in a show on BBC 1 last night.

Claire Robertson re-employed all the axed Woolies staff and renamed it Wellworths. She changed the stock a bit - with help from a new buyer who was obssessed with picture frames - and changed the look of the store slightly. She axed the poor selling CDs and DVDs - which did not keep everyone happy - but it was a cold blooded business decision.

The famous pic and mix was still there for everyone to see. Claire got a £100,000 loan and an agreement with her landlord for 3 months. The Wellworths store had a target of £38,000 sales to make every week in order to keep the business solvent.

Under huge time pressure the store opened and Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans did the honours - giving Claire and her shop well wearned national publicity.

Who knows how long the store will remain open in these troubling times of recession but good luck to Claire and her team. There was something about Woolworths that we all liked even if we didn't always shop there.