Pulling the Wool over your eyes! (Woolworths)

Member Name: Emma1973

Product:	Woolworths
Date:	25/01/04 (1462 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A wide range of stuff, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans

Disadvantages: Getting a bit boring

I always used to dread going to Woolworth?s as a child. My mum would get me all excited by announcing we were going shopping in town, knowing this meant a milkshake and slice of cake at some point (McDonalds didn?t really feature back then!) So me and my sister would be cheerfully looking for a parking space till my mum said ?Oh yes, we?re going to Woolworth?s, but by then escape was impossible.

What was so wrong with this place I hear you ask? Were the staff scary monsters with big yellow eyes and spiky teeth? Was it in a dark basement with dripping walls and imprisoned children? Of course not, it simply meant the end of the summer holidays, meaning we were to be equipped for the new school year. What this actually meant was a day of arguments, recriminations, tears and gnashing of teeth as we tried to resist the ?sensible? brown saddle shoes (I wanted pink trainers with sparkly bits), Tupperware lunch boxes (I still cry about the Button Moon one I missed) and the sensible school bag when I wanted the funky one that was bound to fall apart after 2 weeks. And we wont even go on about the duffel coat when I wanted a parka. She was a cruel woman my mum, especially as all the other kids had everything then wanted (apparently!)

Of course its different now, Woolworth?s has obviously tried to move with the times, well its certainly brighter and more cheerful than it used to be. I don?t know if anyone in Bristol remember the old mausoleum of a place Woolies used to be before the Galleries was built, but now its been neatly compacted into the bottom floor of the Galleries.
When you walk into the Woolworth?s you are besieged with hordes of products, although they seems to be in defined area, they?re piled so high it makes your eyes go funny! For some reason they also have loads of things piled just inside the door which it really difficult to get in!

Lets look at the stuff then.

They have quite a range of entertainment goods, the top 4
0cd?s, the top 20 albums, and then it all goes a bit queer, a madder mix of odd records you?ll never hear! Yes, you?ll find the Beatles, maybe the Rolling Stones and certainly Agadoo, but try finding Robbie Williams and you?re more likely to end up getting Andalusia Pan Pipes playing Rob Orbisons greatest hits!
Its also the place to find those really dodgy B movies on DVD?s and Video.
They have moved into console games and do have a good selection but the prices are at the higher end and its very hard to find a bargain.

Stepping through this we find the clothing section, for kids up to the age of 13 but mainly aimed at the under 7?s They do have their own label called Ladybird and the clothes seem adequate enough. They have hundreds of baby clothes, romper suits, vests, mittens socks, etc. One of their most annoying habit is to plaster every cartoon character over all their clothes. Hence many a small child screaming when he is dragged out of the store not having purchased the Scooby Doo cardie he desperately wanted! Where they excel themselves is in their range of school clothes, my son is a very small 4 yr old and it was very difficult to find ?proper? shirts for him, but Woolworth?s had them, which would probably mean they were too small for other kids! These school clothes are also quite reasonable and certainly not going to break the bank. There?s also a good range of coats, hats, scarves and gloves ready for school. On the subject of school they also have good bags and lunchboxes perfect for the little ?uns.
Back to the clothes, I remember them being quite good value, however I do think they are getting more expensive, particularly the cartoon clothes and often wait for the sales. However the budget range for things like underwear, socks, etc cannot be beaten.

Sticking with the education theme we go to the stationary stuff, and I had to admit when I was a student this was where I went to buy all my paper, folders, etc. You can sna
p yourself up a good quality 200pg lined book of paper for 99p. They also do all kinds of pens, pencils, pencil cases, folders, plastic wallets, etc. Everything you need for school, college or uni.

But enough with the educational stuff, we want the toys! And it is rather a good range, anything from a 99p pocket money toy, up to the expensive talking weeing dollies! The brand names are well represented here with lots of Barbie?s, Action Man, Spiderman, Hulk, and TV characters. They also do a wide range of board games, most impressive is probably their own range of toys, the Chad Valley range. Mainly simple toys, wooden railways, basic cars, keyboards, drums, etc, they remind me very much of the Early Learning Centre but much cheaper (I?m always astonished by how expensive ELC is!) Again everything is standard RRP prices, and with a new cheap Entertainer along road Woolworth?s is often the place I now look last!

They also have a mix of household goods, crockery, cutlery, the occasional appliance, a small range of electrical goods, all at quite decent prices. It is also the place I buy my clothes dye as they are the only place I have found that stocks the whole range.
BUT, and that?s a huge but as you can tell Woolies have done a bad thing. You know those bleedin annoying adverts on telly, usually from JML Ltd, the one that sells a grater with about 20 different attachments which does everything but make the tea and, ooh, comes with a free cucumber slicer? Or the flip-over pancake maker in which you get a ?free? heart shaped mould? Well Woolies have become a major stockists of these ?products? and are piling them high, making the place start to look like a cheap stall at a car boot sale. Not nice at all.

I know why I go in Woolworth?s though, the sweetie section, its huuuugggeee!! The large pick and mix section which attracts 5 yr old shoplifters like a fork to a magnet! They also stock huge amounts of Easter Eggs and Selection Boxes, app
arently at those ?particular? times of year but it always skews a bit! Its also the place to buy boxes of chocolate, those huge bars of chocolate and also those funny 99 gift bags. They are also the only place that I have found sells Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, damn expensive though they are.

They also have a wide gift selection, particularly at Christmas when you can get heaps of those lovely smelly gifts, candle sticks, and chrome plated coffee cups. This year they were following everyone else and doing 3 gifts for the price of year.
I suppose I?d better drop in the other things they sell. They have started stocking a wide range of mobile phones but only ?pay as you go? and again at the high end of the price range. Over Christmas they also had a limited amount of cd players, DVD players, etc. They also stock books but these are not excessive, most are those books you would pick up in any cheap store. They have also started selling a wide range of magazines.

So where can you find these Aladdin?s Cave?s of Delights? Well off the top pf my head I can think of 4 in Bristol including the main one in the Centre, they often seem to be in in other local shopping areas.

I?m bored with Woolies though, not anything specific but it just seems to be the same old, same old when I go in there. Never a place to browse any more because I know exactly what they sell and how much it is going to cost. Never try to browse in a wheelchair or a pushchair though as you wont get very far as the aisles are absolutely shoved together, barely enough room to let two stick insects to pass you by! I only grace them now when they have a sale, or because I?m looking for something specific in the way of toys or stationary. Although it?s a nice cheery, bright store, and I have no complaints about the staff because they are always polite and helpful. Except for their security who, if he follows me around much more is going to be flabbergasted when I grab a bar of Toblero
ne and run around the store shouting Wibble!!

Sorry Woolies, a kick up the backside is in order because at the moment you?re beginning to look like a glorified Wilkinsons!

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