What happened to Woods Market

[boyfriday 21]

Blimey, Roger, yes, i remember him well, he was a bit of a purve and he stank, thats what i remember of him , he became area manager after a while and his wife always seemed to be with him for some reason, cant think why . Oh, and i told a lie, i worked at Ridgeway road shop first, then Bocking lane and Abbeylane . Which shop did you work at?

 

LOL, poor Roger, I worked at the shop in Broomhill, but it was only a Saturday job when I was at school.

 

I remember Roger was a butcher by trade and fancied himself as a bit of a chef, he once made some haslet and put samples out for customers to try, they all recoiled at it's saltiness.

 

It had snowed that day and he didn't quite recover from the feedback advising he chuck it on the pavements to melt the ice

[lubylou 10]

The Spar on Ecclesall Road used to be a Woods Markets aswell, and there is a guy who works there who has worked there since it was Woods, long time . Infact there is 2, my memory is crap . Yes i seem to remember Roger working at the top shop at Bocking Lane, cos there were 2 shops then, the top 1 then a chemist in between then the bottom shop where i worked, i think he did work on the butchers section in there. I must say though, i had some fab years working there due to some of the people i worked with, it was great when Barry and Jackie went away especially cos we could wrap the assistant managers round our little fingers and get away with all sorts. . Great days

[rubydazzler 11]

I hope none of these people being slagged are reading this, or their mates who will be only too eager to pass it on ... even managers have feelings

I remember the Woods Markets, they were useful because they used to stay open late when nobody else was, irrc?

 

On a related note, what happened to the Tate's Galleries? I think there were several, but I especially remember the one at the bottom of the Moor, where I bought one of those large pot leopards/cheetahs! It cost me half a week's wages and was totally vile looking back on it.

[lubylou 10]

For gods sake, theres always 1 isnt there that has to put a dampner on a thread If they are reading this, which i very much doubt, cos im sure at least 1 of them wont be with us anymore and they are upset by it, then i will apologise, but im only stating what i remember of them, im sure other people who knew me way back when would have things to say about me, but hey, that was in the past, so dont worry about it.

[boyfriday 21]

I must say though, i had some fab years working there due to some of the people i worked with, it was great when Barry and Jackie went away especially cos we could wrap the assistant managers round our little fingers and get away with all sorts. . Great days

 

LOL, it must have just been the young lads they beasted..we were worked to death, and being part timers got the crappy jobs to do. But it was better pay than having a paper round which was the alternative!

[Sonofsharrow 10]

Sorry, only just found this thread.

 

Woods Supermarkets had 7 branches, two at Bocking Lane (Top and bottom shop), and others at Abbey lane, Eccy road, ridgeway Road, Busheywood Road at totley and the oddity being the one at stannington.

 

Barry wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but he was a proper shopkeeper. He'd never asked you to do something that he wouldn't. Jackie did the hiring and firing, so she wasn't particularly popular, but I thought generally both of them were alright, except when you'd turn up with a hagover (lol), and you'd get the glare.

 

I believe there was a couple of major factors for his reason to sell.

 

This period saw the emergence of the big supermarkets coming in, Tesco's were rumoured to be after the Transport ground at Meadowhead. sainsbury's had just built their store at Archer Road, and applied for Sunday shopping and longer hours.

 

He attended Church, he didn't want to work on a sunday, and he didn't want his staff too either. As I said he didn't like anyone doing what he wasn't prepared to do.

 

Also, around 86/7 his brother suffered a heart attack, which made him seriously think about his own work ethic. I can't ever remember him having a day off.

 

So they found a seller in the American company circle K, and retired to the Isle of Man. The timing was bang right in my view.

 

Enjoyed my three years there, made some good friends.

[Dreb48 35]

Woods Markets were bought out by Circle K who had shops down south and were trying to expand up north. It was a short lived exercise as their whole operation in this country collapsed and they were taken over by Tates Lateshopper who were based in Grimsby.

They in turn became part of Blakemores who trade under the Spar brand.

The original Woods on Abbey Lane was run by Willie and Dora Wood with Frank and Barry, their sons. I think it was when the parents retired that they started the expansion that created the chain of shops.

Sadly it was shortly after they sold out that Frank died of a heart attack. Barry and his wife Jackie went to the Isle of Man.

The Woods were and still are a lovely family. Frank, in particular, was a real gentleman.

[Sabsam 10]

This is a stab in the dark but my parents both worked for Woods Markets between 76-84 and my dad has asked me to see if I can find any of the people he used to work with. There names are Les and Jess, they worked in Broomhill and got married whilst working there. Let me know if you can remember them

[IanMiles 10]

I loved working at woods on Bocking lane. Made some good friends. Love to know where they a are now tho. In touch with Nick Dee on FB. But would love to hear where Barry and Jackie are now. [email protected]

[BonAccord 11]

Barry has recently died back in the UK, both Jackie and Barry spent 17 yrs in the IOM, they were advised to go there for tax reasons but ended up staying longer as they liked it.

Eventually they moved back but Barry died, Jackie now lives on her own in Derbyshire and her mum is still alive at 105yrs old 

[Zumba Zebra 12]