Comments on: Woolies Thinking

By: bobelliotsghost

bobelliotsghost — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:20:23 +0000

Has Dave Dudley got a new job as George Galloway’s speechwriter?

By: Post

Post — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:57:02 +0000

then I’m going to burn their divi cards

I have the modern-day equivalent of the Divi card – it’s the Co-Operative Membership card now. Got a cheque for a whole £7 last week.

By: bard on the run

bard on the run — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:22:50 +0000

It was impossible for Woolies, with the amount of floor space needed to display everything including the kitchen sink to compete with the twin threats of the catalogue shops who have virtually no display area and the Everything for a Pound shops who have taken over the pile it high flog it cheap niche.
Wooliesaurus was unable or unwilling to adapt.

By: bard on the run

bard on the run — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:54:48 +0000

Mr Danger, Thanks for that. I should have said that ‘nostalgia kept some of the customer base (such as it was), rather than any sensible business plan on Woolies part. The poilcy of pile it high and sell it cheap; everything from garden spades, to cds, to toys, to clothes, to snack foods, to kitchenware, to electronics, to greeting cards, to musical instruments, to books, to every sort of bric-a-brac one can imagine was the height of folly. How could they hope to survive with such a crazy range of products? The very idea was ridiculous.

By: Darren

Darren — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:21:15 +0000

Steve M,

can you pwn Marcus some more?

Best thing about this post. Glad I clicked on the link.

By: field

field — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:43:43 +0000

Watch out – the peasants are revolting.

They’re also quite likely to rebel.

By: KMcC

KMcC — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:19:57 +0000

then I’m going to burn their divi cards

By: KMcC

KMcC — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:16:33 +0000

I am celebrating it – some peasants are bringing me a glass of fizzy wine and then I’m going to flog them for being poor and looking at me

By: field

field — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:51:42 +0000

K McC –

I think if you really liked the fact you’d be celebrating it, rather than trying to mislead us into believing that true building societies or co-operatives behave like capitalist companies.

Under capitalism there is tremendous pressure on companies to simply maximise profit, often on a very short term basis.

That pressure is not there in the co-operative or the building society where the linkage is far more organic between individuals and the organisation.

By: David Lindsay

David Lindsay — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:23:30 +0000

George Galloway has suggested that the Government buy Woolworths and turn it into 680 new co-ops. Well, as a strong supporter of co-operatives, I think that something like this would be very good for the Co-op (there is always a Tesco or an Asda nearby, for those who cannot afford it; there is bother over the Co-operative Party’s continued use of Co-op premises) and the John Lewis Partnership (which, as much as anything else, includes Waitrose).