Shop Direct, the owner of the Woolworths brand, is considering lending the name to franchises. Of course, this kind of plan carries little risk for Shop Direct. All it has to do is use its buying power to source goods on behalf of the franchisees and invest in the branding. It will, however, have to devise a proposition. This was the problem that dogged Woolworths in its final years on the high street. I lost count of the number of times I was told that if you were going to invent a Woolworths now, you wouldn't: its function, by its very nature as a general store, was undefined.
Its broad offering may have meant that Woolworths held a special place in British shoppers' hearts, but it did not stop them shopping elsewhere for the same goods. Yes, the former manager of the Dorchester branch of Woolworths has set up a successful doppelgänger in the same format, but that does not automatically mean this success will be replicated 200 times over.
This is where the brand challenge really kicks in. Shop Direct has spent a lot of money keeping the brand name in consumers' minds, initially online through social media and some cinema ads. It has splashed out on a TV campaign for Christmas, but that has all been about the online shop. It will now have to reverse this web-only retail strategy when it returns to the high street. Inevitably, just as it received much publicity when the last Woolworths stores closed, so the first ‘new Woolies' to open can expect to enjoy plenty of attention.
However, it will be returning to a different market. It has been nearly a year since Woolworths left our high streets. It might still hold fond memories for many of us (I certainly miss it), but we have also learned to live without it.