Welcome to the Original Virtual Museum - celebrating Woolworths' century at the heart of British High Street Shopping
- - - - -
please click a menu button
please click a menu button Original Virtual Museum Home Page please click a menu button The Woolworth value store concept is born in the USA please click a menu button Laying the foundations as the first British Woolworth store opens in Liverpool in November 1909 please click a menu button Woolworths rapidly open forty-four stores in Britain and Ireland before facing a World War please click a menu button Bigger, brighter and bolder Woolworth stores in the Roaring Twenties please click a menu button Woolworths go to amazing lengths to keep all prices under sixpence in the Thirties please click a menu button Bravery and defiance during World War II in Woolworths' finest hour. We pay tribute to the sacrifices made and look behind the scenes please click a menu button Redefining the Woolworth brand for modern times in the 1950s, as prices go up and stores get bigger and bigger please click a menu button Superstores in and out of town, a new own brand and the opening of overseas Commonwealth stores during the 1960s please click a menu button Woolworth struggles to keep up during the rapid inflation and change of the 1970s please click a menu button Woolworth stores in more recent times, covering the period 1980-2008 please click a menu button
please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button
Background to the Original Virtual Museum and copyright information about the contents Origins of the firm's legendary pic'n'mix and a century of chocolate, candy and confectionery in the High Street A century of music and entertainment in the High Street from sheet music and gramophone records to CDs and blu-ray discs A century of toys, games and fun in the High Street stores of F. W. Woolworth A century of fashion in the High Street, from paper patterns and sixpenny knickers to an extensive range of award-winning Ladybird clothing A century of cards, pens, pads and books from the shelves of F. W. Woolworth stores Pots and pans, paint and brushes, bulbs and compost and even toiletries - all in High Street Woolworth stores for much of the twentieth century Woolworths pioneered Christmas decorations in the 19th century and supplied presents for our parents, grandparents and great grandparents from their High Street stores Working conditions and pay rates at Woolworths over a hundred years and some of the people behind the brand-name Our cinema, quiz and picture gallery features Visit the new look 21st century Woolworths on line, on the site operated by Shop Direct Group
please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button
- - - - -

Introducing the Virtual Museum Author, Paul Seaton

Paul Seaton, the author of the Virtual Museum and the book 'A Sixpenny Romance, celebrating a century of value at Woolworths'
The site's author, Paul Seaton, is a history graduate from the University of Liverpool. He joined Woolworths in 1983 as a management trainee in-store and worked his way up through Store and Regional Management to a Senior Executive role in the IT department with responsibility for Store Systems, the woolworths.co.uk website and the main SAP Business Warehouse information platform.

Soon after joining he became fascinated by Woolworths' long and proud heritage and concerned at the way its oral tradition of sharing its story was being lost. He started to collect memorabilia and to research the story in 1985, taking photographs and videos of the unfolding story and retaining documents that others threw away. After the demerger from Kingfisher, in 2002 the new Chief Exeutive Officer, Trevor Bish-Jones, invited Paul to brief a new generation of executives, none of whom had grown up in the business, on the values and strengths that had made Woolworths great.

 

Ready for the Future, a forty five minute history video published by VCI Group Ltd and the Woolworths 21st Century Values, both were prepared by Museum Author Paul Seaton

Seaton's response - a forty five minute video of the firm's history proved a big hit with the Board. The senior management agreed five core values from the nine originally proposed and later distributed a polished version of the film on video to every one of the 30,000 employees. While the new CEO's strategy involved a radical departure from many Woolworths traditions, he was keen to harness the pride, innovation, openness, simplicity and low operating costs that had differentiated the founder's red front stores from competitors a century earlier.

Circulation of the video prompted many colleagues and senior managers to suggest a book or some other method of sharing the story more widely with customers and the public at large. Head of PR Nicole Lander offered to arrange a publishing deal and also trawled the Internet to see what others had done, highlighting a small Sainsbury website with heritage pictures. This inspired Seaton to suggest a Virtual Museum website. He was encouraged to progress the project outside working hours. The firm offered editorial independence and to provide a home for the site once it was built, and suggested that like the films it should be Copyright to Seaton's 3D and 6D Pictures venture.

 

The work was completed a hobby at home using leading edge technology. The author bought many of the photographs and exhibits used in the website at auction at his own expense, vastly expanding his collection of ephemera. The previous incarnation of the museum attracted more than three million visitors between 2005 and 2008, and was nominated as a national treasure. Everyone was surprised to find that 10% of purchases from the former Woolworths.co.uk on-line shop started with a visit to the Museum.

Cover shot of D-Day and Normandy Landings Commemorative Album, published by St James's House in 2004

 

Paul was invited to write a chapter for the official commemorative brochure marking the sixtieth anniversary of the D-Day Landings and later for the official history of The Spitfire. He has appeared on both television and radio, both as an historian - on BBC tv's 'Shopping for England' in the Edwardians series and Radio 2's 'The Wonderful Sound of Woolies' and The Vera Lynn story - and in recognition of his work in finding new jobs for more than 4,500 people through his website WoolworthsReunited.com after the business collapsed. He was dubbed 'Mr Woolies' by BBC1's Panorama. He has also featured on BBC2s Business Lunch and made several appearances as part of ITV News's coverage of the Credit Crunch, including an interview on their signature News at Ten.

In parallel with the web work, he also wrote a history of Woolworths, which the firm planned to publish and sell in store to marks its hundredth birthday. Sadly this was overtaken by events. After updating it was published independently on 5 November 2009, the 100th anniversary of the first British opening. A Sixpenny Romance, celebrating a century of value at Woolworths by Paul Seaton, published by 3D and 6D Pictures Ltd is available on-line, from Amazon.co.uk and can be ordered as ISN 9780956382702 through good bookshops. There is further information at the foot of this page.

 

 

Shortcuts to other 'about this website' exhibits
in the Original Virtual Museum


Woolworths history overview   The Woolworths timeline   Woolworths bibliography

Background to the website   How the site was built   Introducing the author   Legal information

Contributors and credits   Copyright information for commercial use   Copyright information for students and private use

Tell us how we did   Getting in touch with the author   Register for updates or just as a friend

 

The diamond 'W' motif was Woolworths' original logo and was used from 1890 until 1959. It was designed by Frank Woolworth himself en-route for a buying trip to Britain

 
Fully illustrated 194 page history of Woolworths, or a selection of professionally authored DVDs in our on-line shop