Londonist » woolworths

Policemen Faced A “Relentless Mob”

Dean — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:40:54 +0000

Image / 33mhz

The “burger wrap brawl”, as it should be known to criminologists and social-despairers of the future, reached the ears of the judicial process this week. Croydon Crown Court today heard testimony from the police officers attacked by a mob last year after asking a girl to pick up litter. According to Pc Lathwood, the girl became aggressive at his second request to collect her burger wrapper. She approached, he took her by the arm, which she then proceeded to bite, he says. His colleague, Pc Smith, says he turned around to see the girl with her hand around Lathwood’s throat, while a mob had sprung from nowhere and was attacking the officer. It was only the deployment of CS spray and the call for backup that placated the situation, say the officers. Lathwood describes how he felt that he was “trying to save his life” as the attack began, and a local Woolworths employee, who called for assistance, described the mob as “hostile and like animals”. The 16-year old girl, and two thirty-something men, all deny charges of violent disorder.

The Worry of Woolies

SallyB2 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:59:04 +0000

Gone but not forgotten: it looks as if Woolies, darling of the high street, may be enjoying something of an afterlife. In North London they are being colonised by the 99p Store chain (which has already caused one riot of anticipation this week). Last month a former branch opened as an art gallery in Leytonstone. Perhaps the most interesting/worrying reincarnation is in Peckham, where the empty store has opened up as a co-operative bazaar selling tight clothing covered in glitter and plastic furniture covered in glitter. High Street historians would see this as a glorious return to Woolies’ market trader roots: cynics might simply see it as the devolution of the High Street. What’s happened to your Woolies: is it still standing sad and empty, or has it been recycled? (Image/sinister pictures)

Extra, Extra

SallyB2 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:18:50 +0000

Eveningsky Standardovich: the Russians are coming.

Yelp, the local search community forum thingy, has just launched in London.

Lots more measles cases, um, spotted in the capital.

Iceland has bought 51 former Woolworths stores, 10 in London. That’s an awful lot of freezers they’ll need.

Southwark Council tough? Apparently they’re the toughest in the country – if you’re a council tax cheat.

Piccie by Dave Gorman via the Londonist flickr pool.

Your Weekly Fire Update

Rachel Holdsworth — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:50:25 +0000

It’s been a busy week for Fire (Earth and Wind presumably having gone away for Christmas). Last week we told you about the residents of Banstead being left without a nearby source of tasty (and probably organic) nibbles when their local Waitrose burned to an empty shell. Now a suggestion from MP Crispin Blunt (just how posh is Banstead? Waitroses and Crispins?) could solve two problems at once. Woolworth’s closure will create an unsightly gap on Banstead High Street, so Blunt wonders if Waitrose could take over the space while they rebuild. Watch this space, Surrey fans…

Fire has also been busy in a rather more earthy part of town. North London indie-pop afficionados will be gutted to hear that Holloway Road venue Nambucca has been, um, gutted. The fire started late on Tuesday night and burned merrily away, despite the attentions of 75 firefighters, until 7.20 yesterday morning. Holloway Road was closed off and residents evacuated. Band The Holloways formed when its members lived above the pub, and it seems they lost most of their equipment and demos for their new album in the blaze. And with Nambucca the “best independent bar of the year” the loss will be keenly felt around the entire area.

On the whole it’s not been a brilliant year for music venues managing to not turn to ashes, but if it only took 9 months for The Hawley Arms to reopen we’re hopeful the owners will rebuild, and Nambucca will be belting out choons to N7 residents in no time.

Image by cobalt123 under the Creative Commons licence

Extra, Extra

SallyB2 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:14:26 +0000

Tarique Ghaffur has allowed himself to be settled out of court.

The Olympics ain’t gonna be easy: it’s official.

The NHS have opened a gambling re-hab centre in that quiet, safe-haven, Soho.

Lots of hateful and violent people have been arrested in a series of raids.

The end of a flat-packed era, as MFI goes under. We’re still worrying about the wonder of Woolies.

Piccie by klbw via the Londonist flickrpool.

Angel’s Woolworths to Waitrose Fairy Tale

Amanda Farah — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:26:53 +0000

It’s either a sign of Islington advancing or people getting priced out of their homes, depending on how you want to look at it. The Woolworths at Angel has been bought by the slightly posher Waitrose, with the change-over of shops to be complete by the end of the year.

Waitrose manager Mark Price has said there has been great demand for one of the supermarkets in the area, and that those worried about the store providing unfair competition for the local Chapel Market needn’t worry — they’re looking to compete with the Liverpool Road Marks and Spencer, not humble vegetable stall owners (Price made no mention of the Sainsbury’s a stone’s throw away from the site).

Chapel Market Association Chairman Peter Adamides seemed to support this theory to the extent that he believe Woolworths provides more competition to market traders than Waitrose would. Londonist is inclined to agree that people wanting fresh and comparatively cheap fruit and veg aren’t likely to abandon the street market for the glossy interiors of Waitrose. However, valid concerns have been expressed by many that the arrival of the upscale supermarket in Angel speaks volumes about the changing demographic of the neighbourhood, and how many households can afford to transfer from Woolworths to Waitrose.

Residents of Chiswick, Clapham, and Edgeware Road beware: the Woolworths in these areas will also be purchased by Waitrose. The swap is imminent.

Image courtesy of buckaroo kid via the Londonist Flickrpool.