Sunday, January 4, 2009

Woolworths - the final days

Oh Mamotcha! I was in Woolies in Watford two days ago. It was a pathetic sight. There were just three lonely shelves of unwanted DVDs and miscellaneous tat.

Today, the Times reported that there is a long line of entertainment companies ready to sue the Woolies administrators for selling off those over-priced DVDs on the cheap:

"Entertainment companies including EMI and Microsoft are preparing legal action against the administrators of Woolworths to claw back millions of pounds of stock.

Although the shelves in its stores are emptying fast, Woolies’ distribution arm, Entertainment UK (EUK), still has CDs, DVDs and computer games worth tens of millions of pounds in its warehouses.

Under “retention of title” rules, suppliers can claim back their own stock if it has not been paid for but, more broadly, they can can claim stock that has been paid for in lieu of debts. That gives them the chance to resell the merchandise and prevent the administrator, Deloitte, offloading it cheaply."


At least it will keep some lawyers in gainful employment.

2 comments:

  1. I know we romanticise Woolies somewhat, but, on our final visit a couple of days ago, I went over to thank the manager of my local Woolies branch for all the toys, CDs and DVDs he had sold me over the years and to wish him the best of luck in finding a new job. I think I was closer to tears than he was.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "lawyers in gainful employment. "

    surely impossible?

    ReplyDelete