Over the weekend it was revealed that former Woolworths boss Tony Page is keen to relaunch the variety store group on the high street.

In some respects you have to admire Page’s longstanding commitment to the famous retail brand, where he was commercial director at the time of its collapse almost a decade ago.

But the world has moved on and so should Page, who has held a variety of roles at well-known retailers in the intervening period – most recently as chief executive of The Original Factory Shop – and no doubt could take the helm at another retailer.

In the past few weeks, once-proud retail names such as Jaeger and Jones Bootmaker have gone down – although the latter lives on following a pre-pack administration and sale to private-equity house Endless, which has a decent record in turnarounds.

“Nostalgia for Woolworths may survive, but that’s not enough to bring it new relevance”

Sadly, in the tough contemporary trading environment, others are likely to follow suit and fall into administration, which makes the idea of resurrecting Woolies all the more surprising.

In fact, Woolworths lives on. Retailers such as B&M, Home Bargains and Poundland were already encroaching onto Woolworths’ turf in 2008 and have picked up its mantle since.

Woolworths’ demise created opportunity for them.

Nostalgia for Woolworths may survive, but that’s not enough to bring it new relevance in a dramatically changed retail landscape.

Bringing businesses back from the dead

When reviving a retailer that’s gone bust, it’s best to strike while the iron’s hot, says OC&C partner Michael Jary.

“The key is to buy these brands when they still hold some value at that price,” he says. “They are not perfect, but the instant familiarity and customer momentum is worth something.”

But Jary warns that there is a tipping point, beyond which it’s too late. “There comes a point when the consumer does not care any longer and they feel their prior loyalty in the brand was misplaced,” he says.

KPMG’s former head of retail David McCorquodale agrees that brand equity can be lost if a business has slowly deteriorated over a number of years.

“Woolworths’ death was slow and painful, so by the time it was resurrected, its customers had all moved on and forgotten,” he says.

Online whimper

This impacted the success of its relaunch as an online-only brand by Littlewoods-owner Shop Direct, which bought the brand name out of administration in 2009, says McCorquodale.

“Between Woolworths closing and Shop Direct relaunching it online, retailers like B&M snapped up its share of the home and general merchandise market, while online retailers like Amazon ate its share of electricals, music and books,” he says.

Shop Direct closed down the Woolworths site last year.

McCorquodale also argues that Woolworths failed to gain mainstream appeal as a digital business because its customers were not online shoppers.

“It was even more difficult to breathe life back into the chain because it never had an online offer,” he says.

“It would have taken an awful lot of marketing from Shop Direct to convince Woolworths’ customers to navigate online.”

Originally published in October 2016. Read the full article: How to bring a business back from the dead

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