Then & now

GETTING your pick ‘n’ mix in the same place your parents got their tea towels and bedding, was once a common Saturday morning occurrence for anyone growing up in the time of the mighty Woolworths.

These days the high street is not what it used to be, with declining sales in the face of an ever growing online market place.

During its heyday of the 1980s and 90s, Woolworths went unchallenged as the premier place for families to shop for everything besides food. Entering beneath the huge red sign of the Newcastle store, many a child made a beeline for the toys, racing with all the effort they could muster.

For many us who were kids during that time, a visit to Woolworths would not be complete if we did not leave with a paper-bag filled with an assortment of pink prawns, white mice, cola bottles and Jazzles - all carefully selected, much to our parents’ foot tapping frustration.

It is difficult to conceive now of a shop like Woolworths existing, let alone dominating as it did.

However, in the shoulder padded and pastel coloured 80s and 90s, it was a brand which became ingrained in the minds of the generations of us who spent many a memorable and fun-filled hour in the aisles while our parents looked at the ‘boring stuff’ and we were all introduced to Now That’s What I Call Music, Transformers and Star Wars figures. Woolworths once had a port in each of the six towns, and Newcastle, pictured. Alas, it is no more. Today the unit is home to another popular retailer, Poundland.