For generations of Islanders, no Saturday trip into town felt complete without a visit to Woolworths. Whether it was Newport, Ryde, Cowes, Shanklin or Sandown, generations of Islanders grew up with their local ‘Woolies’.
From pick ’n’ mix sweets and chart singles to toys, school supplies and Christmas presents, Woolworths became one of the defining shops of Island High Streets for more than 80 years.
The Woolworths story began in 1879, when Frank Winfield Woolworth opened his first store in Utica, New York. The company expanded to Britain in 1909 and quickly transformed High Street shopping with its fixed prices and wide range of affordable goods.
By the time Woolworths arrived on the Isle of Wight in the 1920s, it was already becoming a familiar part of British life.
The first Island branch opened in Ryde in 1927, followed by Newport in 1928. Cowes gained its own store in 1934, Shanklin followed in 1936, and Sandown opened around 1960 as Woolworths spread across the Island’s busiest shopping streets.
The Newport branch became the best known. Sitting prominently on the High Street, it was the sort of place where Islanders felt they could buy almost anything under one roof.
Toys, records, stationery, sweets, kitchenware, school supplies, birthday cards and Christmas decorations all sat side by side in a kind of organised clutter that generations of customers came to know well.
Even today, traces of the old Newport Woolworths survive in the High Street, where some original tiles can still be spotted beside the units that replaced the store.
Children headed for the famous pick ’n’ mix counters, carefully filling paper bags with cola bottles, flying saucers, chocolate raisins and pear drops before nervously watching them weighed at the till.
Elsewhere in the store, teenagers browsed cassette singles and later CDs from the music department, often buying the latest chart releases during Saturday trips into town.
For many Islanders, Woolworths was where they bought their first record, first cassette tape, first football annual or first Airfix kit.
One customer summed it up simply:
“This is the one shop I really miss. It had everything.”
Others remember the toy aisles in the run-up to Christmas, when shelves were stacked high with dolls, board games, selection boxes and wrapping paper while queues stretched toward the tills.
At busy times, the stores could feel packed. Pushchairs squeezed through crowded aisles, staff rushed between tills and customers, and somewhere nearby there always seemed to be the smell of pick ’n’ mix.
One Islander recalled:
“I am old enough to remember the babies in their prams parked outside and spent ages talking to them all when mum was in the shop.”
When Woolworths first arrived on the Island, many traditional shops still specialised in one trade – grocers, ironmongers, outfitters or stationers. Woolworths helped popularise the idea of buying everything in one place.
The stores adapted constantly. Vinyl records gave way to cassette tapes, then CDs, while traditional household goods slowly disappeared as toys, electrical items and seasonal stock expanded.
Former staff also remember the routines behind the scenes.
One former worker, who started with an after-school and Saturday job before later going full-time in the grocery and fruit and veg department, recalled:
“Had to clean the brass foot plates on the doors – put sand down on floor, and sweep and mop every night. Mr Evans was the manager – for a bloke with one leg, he got about quick.”
Another remembered the staff uniform clearly:
“Used to have to wear a sort of dark grey jacket with a big W on the breast pocket.”
Then came the collapse few expected.
Burdened by heavy debts, changing shopping habits and growing competition from supermarkets and online retailers, Woolworths entered administration in late 2008 during the financial crisis.
Clearance posters appeared in windows across the country, including on the Isle of Wight, and shoppers watched as shelves slowly emptied.
Customers wandered through increasingly bare aisles looking for bargains, souvenirs or simply one last look around stores they had known for most of their lives.
One shopper remembered:
“What a great shame when they closed their doors. Always something different to buy. Great selection of sweets. The Boxing Day sales were amazing.”
Others felt the closures marked a turning point for Island town centres.
“Newport is not the same since Woolies went.”
“Loved Woolworths, miss it so much. No good shops left in Newport High Street – like a ghost town now.”
Another former customer reflected:
“In my opinion it was the beginning of the end of retail when we lost Woolworths.”
By early 2009, the doors had shut for the final time.
For many Islanders, the loss of Woolworths felt like far more than the closure of another chain store.
It was the disappearance of somewhere woven into everyday life – the place people bought their first cassette tape, queued for Christmas presents, spent pocket money on pick ’n’ mix or simply wandered around on a Saturday afternoon in town.
Years later, former customers still talk about “Woolies” with a mixture of nostalgia and disbelief that such a familiar part of Island shopping life could disappear so quickly.
What was the first thing you remember buying in Woolworths on the Isle of Wight? Share your memories of ‘Woolies’ below.
