Some Woolworths Need a good shake up. (Woolworths)

Member Name: welshwickedone

Product:	Woolworths
Date:	06/11/06 (524 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Depends on store

Disadvantages: Depends on store

Woolworths.
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Newport is lucky in the fact that it has two Woolworth stores for customers to visit. In my opinion that is just as well as they are both so different because the main City Centre store in the Kingsway Centre is a nightmare to visit, but the larger store in 28east retail park is great. Having paid visits to both stores within the last two weeks I decided to write a review on the store I received most problems with, I will give credit to the other store though as it was a very pleasant visit.



History.
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Woolworths is a subsidiary company of its US parent group F.W.Woolworths that first started trading as a five and dime store in the US in 1878. It was foundered by Frank Winfield Woolworth which soon gained massive success and led to major expansions across the US and soon UK.

The first Woolworths store was opened in the UK in 1909 and was based in Liverpool. The company gained the same great success in the UK as it did in the US and continued its development across the UK and Germany, Mexico and South Africa. There are Woolworths stores in Australia and New Zealand however, these are operated by Woolworths Limited and have no historical connection in any way to the US Woolworths Group plc.

Woolworth’s main aim is to offer customers value-for-money on an extensive range of products including, entertainment, confectionary, clothing, toys, games, stationary, homewares and much more and has managed to grow into a well-known brand name across households around the UK.




Kingsway Centre Store.
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When you are approaching this store, you are greeted by a large entranceway, which is well lit, well maintained and clean in appearance, which is great for access for the disabled as well. This store is all on one level and as you enter the store, you have the music, entertainment and gaming centre to your right. This section is quite large and well stocked with good presentation but it does have very small aisles. To the left on entry you find the sweets and special offers surrounding the main checkout area. Silly really, as they have used the sweet displays as queuing guides for customers with very little room to move. The main central aisle is very large in the front entrance area of the store but as you travel through to the next sections, you notice that is narrows very dramatically.

As the main aisle narrows, you are greeted by the main toy section of the store, which runs the rest of the length of the store on the right hand side whilst on the left you have the stationary section. The aisle width between each of the individual toy sections is very narrow by the fact that you have to squeeze past a single person just to get past them in the aisle when walking and if using a mobility scooter or wheel chair you actually use up the whole width of the aisle. The same problem occurs around the whole store in this manner as on the left straight after the stationary you have the homewares, then the clothing, then the accessories.

The whole store itself is not massive and yet they have chosen to include a very extensive range for a very small size store, which I find strange. The fact is that it is difficult to travel around the store even when quiet and that no matter when you go in there you always seem to be greeted by a queue at the checkouts. There always seem to be plenty of staff on the shop floor and whenever I have had to approach them, they have always been very polite and helpful as well as smart and well presented. They seem to have too many staff on the shop floor and not enough staff covering the checkouts.

Christmas time in this store is a nightmare as the main checkout area only have three tills and getting to them when they have even more displays of Christmas stock is virtually impossible. There are tills at the entertainment desk and customer services, but they only ever seem to have one of the two tills there open and you can only use that if you purchase from the entertainment area. Further down the store on the left hand side there is another two checkouts hidden away out of sight and by them is a single changing room area for customers. I have yet to go in this store and find these tills open but regularly see staff hovering around the area.

My recent visit was to purchase three items for Christmas and what a nightmare it was. After blocking many aisles with my scooter and finally making my way around the assault coarse of additional Christmas displays, I finally reached the checkout area or should I say queue to the checkout area. I joint the queue being about the twentieth customer in the queue and had yet to try to get through the displays that controlled the queue. As I got closer I had to actually let my daughter stay in the queue with the money to pay and take my scooter up by the store entrance where the exit from the checkouts was. It was impossible for me to get my scooter around the displays and I was not alone in having many problems as I watched mothers with prams and pushchairs continually bump into the displays as they tried to navigate there way to the checkouts. Once or twice, we even saw the collapse of a display through no fault of the customers but through lack of space.

My daughter eventually came through the checkout area 15 minutes after I left her looking very frustrated and upset, which I was not very pleased about and I have to say after this experience this store will not be getting a visit from me again.

I want to give credit to the store they have located at the 28east Retail ark in Newport though as it was a very pleasant visit with minimum hassle and stress. The store had wide aisles with well set out and clear displays. There were no aisle obstructions, the staff in the store was extremely friendly, and helpful which was great. The store was very well stocked and very clean and tidy in its presentation and as for the checkout area, it was great. You are presented with twelve checkouts, which were well staffed, and you did not need to queue for more than one customer, which was a very pleasant surprise.

This store also has a more extensive range than the City Centre store and boasts cafe area for you to enjoy should you wish a sit down whilst struggling through the nightmare of Christmas shopping. They had loads of great offers in store, all there stock on the shelves, and there displays were very clearly priced. Now this is what I call a pleasant shopping trip so I say to you, if you are visiting Newport and wish to visit a Woolworths store then go to the 28east Retail Park store and enjoy unless you are looking for stress.

Summary: I will stick to 28 east Retail Park. in Newport.