55 – 57 Main Street, Coatbridge, Lanarkshire ML5 3BB

Woolworths opened in Coatbridge in Scotland in 1927. I can’t find any early photos of the store, but the frontage in this photo looks 1950s, so there must have been a makeover around then.

Source: The Transport Library

Margaret Barber was the Assistant Manager at Coatbridge twice, with 24 years of service in total. She remembers a few different managers “Pauline Adams was the team leader when I left. First manager I had was Alan, then Pat Delargy, Steven and Paul that’s the only names I remember I think there was at least 4 more. A great bunch of staff at this store.” 

James Kelman was Pat’s assistant manager between August 1995 and July 1996. He remembers moving all the kids wear from the back of store to stop it getting stolen.

Former employee Nicola Clarke says the staff nights out were fab. She worked there from 2004 right until the end and was one of the last to have a Woolies baby, being four months pregnant when they closed. She wonders if the drains behind the old entertainment counter still flood in bad weather! Here’s a staff photo she has kindly shared.

And she has shared a photo of what must be the basement level – look at that vintage floor tiling.

Woolworths in Coatbridge closed in January 2009, and it stayed with the signage still there for a good few years. The business that later occupied the building painted a ‘NOT’ on the fascia and called themselves ‘Not Woolworths’. They sold beds and random screws and fittings apparently.

They left, and the building has lay empty ever since. I think somebody bought the building at auction and replastered the front so it looks better, and now they are just looking for a business to lease it. Note on the right side, the original Woolworths doors from the 1950s are still there.