
Today marked the end of an era, an institution so deeply engrained in our culture that it's going to be weird without it - Woolworths closed all its shops today, one of the many victims of the credit crunch.
My first memories of 'Woolies' is of seeing my first black man coming out of the Kingston-upon-Thames branch (I'd previously lived in a tiny village in Sussex). Early memories include my mother having an embarassing accident in the very same store (she wouldnt thank me for publishing this incident on the internet), oh and so did my very young sister (again she wouldnt thank me.....) Pick'n'Mix every Christmas, cheap Ladybird clothes, always there for a bargain.
Other memories include the Woolies cafe in Guildford. A place where I started to grow up, become more independent - we used to have a coke, coffee or a cake in the cafe in Guildford before catching the bus to our respective homes.
Although American in it's origin (I've had a Starby's at the bottom of the wonderful Woolworth building in New York) it was truly a British institution, RIP Woolies!