Bad news at Woolies (Woolworths)

Member Name: davomrmac

Product:	Woolworths
Date:	27/11/08 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great value store, friendly

Disadvantages: To many products nowadays, stacked too high

I couldn't believe the news this morning, that Woolies has gone into administration. I just hope that they work out a way to save the company, maybe restructure it in some way, so that it does not disappear from our High Street. Before I continue with my ideas for how they can survive, a little bit about my Woolies experience.

As a kid, I remember going to the store to get my Mum some cotton for sewing. If I was lucky, I would get a Curly Wurly, or extreme luck would bag me a little diecast car, Macthbox no less. My Dad would by those little metal bits to bang into the bottom of his shoes (segs I think they were called), that is one of the things I remember about him. You see, Woolies sold just about everything you could need. They seemed to concentrate on hardware items though. Those little tools and things you need to look after your house.

When I got older, the retailer had changed slightly. Lots of toys, sweets, CD's and DVD's. They were still great because you could find the section with the torches, cotton, that iron on stuff for taking your trousers up. The section was a lot smaller, but it was still there.

Then a few years ago they had a redesign. All of the branches re-opened with lots more isles, all angled and mashed in, so that they could fit the maximum amount of product lines in. This leads me to where they went wrong. Instead of concentrating on serving the community with the little items they needed, they now stacked them high, sold them cheap and coupled with this a lot of rubbish products found there way into the store. Because there was so much, a lot of lines got missed by punters, so ended up being sold cheaply on Woolies never ending sales. Then came the January sales, packed with items that were not really reduced, instead they were manufactured and bought in just for the sale.

I do not think they need to close, I just hope the management want to save it and are not looking for the easy way out. Instead of making everyone jobless, just make some job cuts. Start at the top and see if restructuring negates the need for some roles, with a 25% cut in jobs, it could help a lot. I know that 25% of the workers here would still be effected, but that has got to be better than 100%. Then they need to go back to basics. Get rid of all the rubbish products and concentrate on 'good quality' and 'good value' lines that people used to go into the store for. This will draw customers back from the likes of the big supermarkets. Throw away a dozen isles per store and make it more welcoming. I am certain that this type of restructuring will go a long way to saving them.

Summary: Woolies need to go back to basics