Woolworths set for revival

I was reading an interesting article on the big brands which went bust during the credit crunch over the past year. I remember it all started with the fall of the banks and Woolworths. It was headline news everywhere, the big and long surviving brand lost it's battle...however the economy is recovering and new stores are opening again...it was here that I read that even Woolworth's is being reopened (in it's brick and mortar format) and it seeks to relaunch under the new name 'Alworths'. Could this be the proof of the end of the recession?

The idea is the brainchild of former Woolworths commercial director Tony Page, former UBS banker Gareth Thomas and former Woolworths store development manager Andy Latham.The Independent claims the plan is set for the launch of 50 stores, which will be Woolworths in all but name.

However problems started to merge as Page will not be involved in the new launch and is now threatening legal action against Latham who is set to launch the store on his own. According to the Indipendent, Alworths stores are set to open in Didcot in Oxfordshire, Faversham in Kent and Wokingham in Berkshire. The new chain will not be able to sell Woolworths' former own-brand products which have been bought by various chains including Argos (which bought Chad Valley toy range) and Shop Direct (which bought the Ladybird childrenswear brand).

Woolworths....is it really dead?

Who said that Woolworths is actually dead...it could have gone dormant but there still seems to be activity going around the name and the number of outlets it used to have. When browsing for the name Woolworths you come across a blog for Woolworths announcing it's imminent online revival...basically the brand has been acquired by Littlewoods-owner Shop Direct, who has planned it's online relaunch.

However this is not over, Tony Page ex executive director all Woolworths has teamed up with former UBS banker Gareth Thomas in an attempt to raise sufficient capital (it is estimated that they need between £5m and £10m) to acquire the lease of about 200 ex Woolwoths outlets in the next five years. However they would have to rethink the name. Apparently they have come up with an idea of making a poll and people will be asked to vote for their favourite name. This attempt is probably being done to create more customer involvement around the reopening and create a name that is acceptable to everyone.

However is such a branding strategy successful? And what about opening with the same store concept and in the same locations of Woolworths...would history repeat itself? What are your opinions?