Britain's Woolworths stores to close by early January

LONDON -- Administrators for Woolworths announced plans Wednesday to close all the retailer's stores by the early new year, signaling the end of the road for the venerable British company and the loss of almost 30,000 jobs.

Deloitte, which was appointed to run Woolworths after it filed for a form of bankruptcy protection last month, said it would shut down the group's 800-strong chain of stores around the country in stages from Dec. 27 to Jan. 5. — unless it manages to sign a last-minute rescue deal.

Neville Kahn, joint administrator of Woolworths, said that 300 stores were under firm offer for sale to a number of separate buyers, but the remaining 500 outlets had failed to attract buyers.

Kahn added that Deloitte was also in discussions with several parties interested in buying Woolworths' intellectual property, including the brand.

But he acknowledged the likely break-up of the company's stores and delays in any other deals meant that the Woolworths name was likely to disappear from Britain's shopping streets for some time.

The collapse of Woolworths just a year shy of the company's centenary marks the biggest retail casualty in Britain of a recession-fueled slump in consumer spending.

The company's current debt-laden predicament is a far cry from the clamor that greeted the first British store, which opened in Liverpool, northern England, in 1909 under the FW Woolworth brand — a subsidiary of its U.S. parent.

The British retail company has outlasted its original U.S. parent, which closed its final Woolworth's stores in 1997.

At the height of its success it was opening a new store every 17 days in Britain, but the purveyor of an eclectic range of goods from sweets and cheese graters to magnifying glasses and DVDs also fell victim to the cheaper pricing and more modern ranges of supermarkets and other department stores.

Unions were dismayed at Wednesday's announcement from Deloitte, saying workers had been given little time to prepare for redundancies.