Another Sad Woolworths Tale
Think Woolworths and you think Pic-n-Mix. Anything else in Woolworths, you could take or leave. The gloomy racks of children's clothes, the 'Singles Chart' updated less frequently than Rod Hull's Myspace, none of it could hold a candle to the Pic-n-Mix. And whilst it was prohibitively expensive to the average punter who maybe didn't have £5.42 to shell out on a dozen pink shrimps and a scattering of generic sugar-coated chocolate beans, everyone has a happy memory of the Pic-n-Mix.

So imagine this; Ms Costas visited a branch of Woolworths on its penultimate day of trading to see what bargains remained. She spotted the Pic-n-Mix. Picture it if you will - The two rows of clear plastic tubs, each with their accompanying scoopy box below. The bargain hunters had pretty much drained each one.

However, that didn't stop one particularly keen shopper. The missus could only look on in astonishment as a stout woman approached the Pic-n-Mix, spotted some stubborn sweets clinging to the tubs and began pounding the Pic-n-Mix with her fists, punching and hammering the icon of many a happy childhood, belting it until it finally released a measly shower of jelly worms.

It was tragic; The Pic-n-Mix had provided joy to children for over thirty years, and now the Credit Crunch had reduced someone to beating the shit out of it.
(costas, Sun 25 Jan 2009, 23:32, 4 replies)

This reminds me
Of trips to the Colchester cinema (which used to be located directly opposite woolworths) when I was younger than I am now. Me and a friend had the tradition of seeing how much we could get into the smallest cup (seeing as they price it by size, not weight).

Our record was 1.34kg

I used to love seeing the faces of the till staff when we handed them this cup, deformed at the seams by the sheer volume of sugary goodness contained within.

Now those days are over.

*sigh*
( MatJ LOOK, Mon 26 Jan 2009, 2:24, closed)

Aaaah Memories.
On our Woolies last day, there werepeople photographing the Pick n Mix counter.
(kitescreech still here, Mon 26 Jan 2009, 18:25, closed)

Am I the only person who noticed that
the Pic'n'mix counters were not actually Woolworths but a third party called Candy King?
They also do the Pic'n'Mix for Wilkinsons for 10p less than it was in Woolies.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Mon 26 Jan 2009, 23:10, closed)

They are indeed!
On my local store's penultimate day, I popped in to pick through the wreckage and see if anything was left. On a table by the tills, all the Pic-n-Mix had been bagged up for sale as individual Candy King bags. Each bag contained just one type of sweet - Some bags were boiled sweets, some were midget gems - Thereby removing the 'Mix' element from the experience. In addition, all the good stuff had gone (no pink shrimps or fizzy fish), drastically reducing the 'Pic' aspect.

So essentially what they had left was a big table of 'n' :(
(costas, Tue 27 Jan 2009, 13:47, closed)