The day the music died

A cinema once stood on this site in King Street, Stroud. In the 1960sitburneddown:somesayitwashelped.Abrandnewtwo-storeyWoolworth'swasbuiltinitsplace.Duringthemostrecentrecession, Woolie'sintheUKwentbankruptin2008, havingdisposedofallitsassetspreviously. Goodbye pick 'n' mix....

(Ok, oops, something went wrong there. Tags instead of text. Phone blip. IPad not allowing me to edit properly, and some of the tags lost).

...When the asbestos was stripped out of the old Woolie's building, it reopened as the 99p stores in late 2009. Imagine my surprise to hear and see that this, too, has failed. A rumour is circulating that a store from a rival chain, Poundland or Poundworld, is opening in its place. All are needed, but none of them have the magic of Woolworths.

These people gathered outside smoking look so sad. Their posture and clothing reminded me of homeless people. Perhaps they have lost their jobs today. The paper signs announce that the store is now closed, but people were still going in and out of the closed doors.

Stroud still has a Home Bargains, a Wilkinsons and a Savers, so we are not without our discount stores at the Merrwalks end of town. But I still hate to see stores fail. A lot of the goods in the 99p stores were branded, and identical to those you'd find elsewhere. I will not miss the Vesta Curries, but where will I buy my bargain stationery and food storage boxes?