Information AboutLittlewoods |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LITTLEWOODS | |
| defunct companies of the united kingdom | |
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Founded by John Moores in 1923 , Littlewoods was initially a Football Pools business. The National Football Museum in Preston , Lancashire , holds a Littlewoods Collection which chronicles Littlewoods origins as a Football Pools business. In 1928 , Littlewoods opened a printing arm, and later in 1932 Littlwoods branched into catalogue retailing in 1932 , which was already a flourishing and established sector of the retail trade in America , but never attempted before in Britain . Following the success of this venture, Littlewoods went into high street retail in 1937 . Littlwoods continues to be a catalogue retailer to this day, although is currently striving to become a leading internet retailer. In October 2001 , Littlewoods became the owner of the Swan brand, manufacturer of electrical goods and kitchen equipment. 1 In November 2002 the Moores Family sold the business to the Barclay Brothers for £750 million. In July 2005 Associated British Foods purchased the 120 branch Littlewoods retail chain on behalf of its retail subsidiary Primark for £409 million. Some of the stores, variously reported as 30 or 50, will be converted into branches of Primark, but the majority are expected to be sold on to other retailers. The Littlewoods name is expected to disappear from the British high street in 2006 . However, Littlewoods' home shopping operation continues to be one of the biggest players in the United Kingdom retail market. In 2005 , this was consolidated by the formal merger with the other big UK catalogue company, also owned by the Barclay Brothers , Shop Direct . The move created the United Kingdom s biggest home shopping company with a collossal market share. The new company was named Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited. As part of this process, the Littlewoods Index catalogue chain of stores was identified as a twenty-year loss making business and was then quickly closed in 2005 , with much of the chains assets sold to business rivals Argos , Primark and Matalan {Link without Title} . Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited currently operates a considerable number of home shopping brands, including Littlewoods Even More, LX Direct, Additions Direct, Abound, Great Universal, Marshall Ward, Choice and Kays. Littlewoods Shop Direct occupies one of Europe 's largest warehouse distribution centres from which it can deliver its stock to its customers. This complex, the Littlewoods National Distribution Centre is found in Shaw And Crompton , in the Metropolitan Borough Of Oldham , Greater Manchester . It comprises of three former cotton mills and a number of state-of-the-art stock handling facilities, and is supported by strong geographic positioning and local transport links. Littlewoods Shop Direct also owns a further former mill in the Oldham area - Raven Mill, in Chadderton , which it uses for processing returned goods. Littlewoods Shop Direct has recently invested in a new state-of-the-art head office, Skyways House, a £31 million renovated aircraft hanger, situated in and Manchester cities. EXTERNAL LINKS
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