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jeoma
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I believe it was due to a ban on the importation of ready-made clothes.
Does anyone know anything other than that? I find it hard to believe that the Woolworth’s franchise operating in Nigeria didn't do the due diligence to understand that this could be a factor that could close them down??
Is there any gist on this?
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naijacutee (f)
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There is Woolworths in Nigeria? 
And Woolworths doesn't sell clothes, Well, except school uniforms and the such. Maybe they were the wrong Woolworths 
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toptho (f)
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is there another branch in lekki?i thot it was just victoria island,just in front of st elmos and chicken licken. went there the last time i went to nigeria,they do sell clothes nothing great really.most were really overpriced,sleeveless tees for 3500-5000
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jeoma
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Thanks ,
Were there any clothes brands we'D recognise in Europe?? - were they definately new clothes as opposed to SHC.
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Shinor (m)
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Visited the Woolies store in Lagos. Wasn't impressed. I think it was one of those franchises that allow you to trade under a particular name only while leaving you at liberty as to what kind of products you will sell. Perhaps all they bought was the goodwill of the name WOOLWORTHS because that shop wasn't anything like the Woolies in Europe. Again i believe it was an extension of a south African Woolworths.
As to your question why it might have closed down, i think any organisation that will rely on 100% importation of the goods they want to sell in Nigeria will fail. Part of the reason Leventis failed ditto Kingsway and UTC. In fairnesss these other stores had some local input like Walls some food from UAC foods, chicken from Oke Afa farms in Isolo some used local tailors to for their clothes division, but were let down by the death of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.
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jeoma
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Not sure i understand.
On one hand you say, any organisation that relies 100% on the importation of goods will fail in Nigeria, on the other you say these outlets were let down by the poor manufacturing sector in Nigeria.
Please explain a little more, i'm interested to learn.
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gigitte (f)
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some people are so negative
woolworths sold clothes iand shoes in nigeria, i believe they were only on victoria island. they didnt get here via europe, rather they got via south africa (just like steers, hope that one closes down too lol)
it was very boring, bra for >1000? like wtf. and waaaaaaaaaay too expensive, i think only crazy nigerians did any reasonable shopping there. only expats and foreigners shopped their like they were at bend down select
this woolworths did not sell uniforms. why would they do that? this aint england, we have tailors to make our sh*t
and jeez yes, they were stuff you'D recognize in europe and they were new (but so what if you didnt recognize the brands. davida, mon ami, zizi cardow had better sh*t anyday anytime and why wouldn't they be new, do you know any woolworths that sells second hand? is it because its naija?)
what woolies should have done, tho it was an extension of SA franchises should have popularize up and coming designers in naija and have them do mass market ready to wear stuff. but no, they had to be imperialist and force their bland nonsense on us. well goodbye!
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jeoma
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not sure why you are so upset but in anycase your feedback (underneath the hostility) was helpful.
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gigitte (f)
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sorry oh. talk about transfer of aggression  i apologise sincerely woolworths did rub me the wrong way sha |
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jeoma
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No problem. As i said your comments were definately helpful. Maybe you also know something about TM Lewin. Is there still a franchise operation running in Nigeria.
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gigitte (f)
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as of last summer, they were still up and running (i've never been there sha)
i was at silverbird's one fine day and sporting a T.M Lewin shirt when i met this lady in bathroom and she was like that's a TM and i was like yeah. turns out she works for them and the way she spoke, business seemed good.
sha sha, she didn't offer to give me discount if i visited and i don't know about their prices lol, considering i didnt get the shirt from naija. i don't want to go and be broke hehe. na poor student i be
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jeoma
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I'm assuming they are in Lagos where abouts?? - it's always good to be informed.  |
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gigitte (f)
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i honestly have no idea, sorry oh
(i can ask around sha)
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jeoma
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no worries my dia. I'm sure i'll find when i need.
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Constantin
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Why are all big brands expanding in other parts of the world like mad and in Nigeria they are closing down again. Oh my God! This really frustrates to hear, now I wouldn´t be surprised to hear if The Palms Shopping Mall closed down tomorrow and Tinapa Project is called off or burned down. This is simply Nigeria, oooo!!!! The world is advancing but Naija is regressing. The constant factor that will stay will be our awfully dirty, painfully over-crowded and horribly noisy open-markets with stinky gutters that will keep on mushrooming just like glitzy and modern malls and other leisure things in other parts of the world!  |
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Constantin
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it takes 5 years of tedious regulation work and endless bribery to bring a new brand on the Nigerian market but just a single day to make it close down again.
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Saddam
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Woolworths Is located right in Adeola Odeku. Victoria Island.
I havent really been to the shop
But have been to other nearby shops in that mini mall.
Though I believe its as a result of bad economic Situation they have to Go.
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gigitte (f)
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woolworths closed down and im happy!
why should we have a brand that is seemingly imperial
even the above average nigerian could not afford to shop there, so what is the point being a pseudo-department store and their nonsense is not deserving of that price at all
they didnt even try to develop a naija feel, they didnt promote themselves as being proudly nigerian, it seemed like a foreign/expat affair. this is not the direction in which i would like to see naija go.
charity begins at home, so the palms can rot and die if they don't start supporting naija in real ways and exporting naija image to the rest of the world.
those 'dirty' markets are part of us, and me i don't mind them so much. go over to america and see how people complain about malls and big brands like that. how is a big brand leaving naija a sign of regression. mehn, somedays i begin to wonder at the damage the white man has done.
the world is advancing because they have woolworths? na so i just dey laff here. maybe we will be advanced when we have serial killers lol.
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Saddam
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Gigitte
you re talking as if u re having a kind of Beef for all these foreign Investors
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gigitte (f)
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yeah baby!
i have serious beef with foreign investors who are imperalist in their outlook and refuse to promote a good nigerian image or try and make their business uniquely nigerian. i feel they are out here to make money at the expense of nigerian and nigerians which is altogether disgusting. i strongly feel that we should come up with our own stuff and export it to the west in addition to equally represented views in foreign investorship relations. i don't want another western world in nigeria i want a nigeria that is nigeria -- proud and magnificent, not knock off hollywood, malls and nonsense. scheww
look at MTN for God goodness sake lol, its as if south africa wants to take over, abeg wetin? even british american tobacco that is busy there doing proudly nigerian, they are just here because the nigerian government is taking their crap, their own is even worse than MTN or woolies. i wont even start on oil companies. we should make like chad and give them a real shake down
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chumas (m)
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@gigitte,
My sister u have the wisdom of a much older person. This is exactly how I want Nigerians to talk and think. I have enjoyed your contribution so much that I am forced to write something here.
With the Woolworths situation, If they do not want to embrace Nigerian designers talents then good riddance to bad rubbish. They do not even sell quality clothes in their UK shops and most good labels do not even identify with them. We have designers that can compete with the best of them but our people are stuck with this foreign concept sh*t that it amazes me as to how shallow we really are. Those foriegn designers do not want to recognize us, why should we patronize them? We should try and be Nigerians.
The market does not bother me at all, there is the Brixton market just like any other Naija market. We should just clean it up a little bit that's all. The big malls coming in should not replace our traditional markets, this is who we are!!! We should just improve the layout of the markets.
American Tobacco people are now in Nigeria peddling their filth to our people just because the Western countries have banned any form of tobacco commercial and even smoking in public areas. Cigarettes are bad for our health but our stupid government are allowing these people to bring this poison to us. Over here in the UK the anti-smoking campaign has driven them out of business.
Chuma.
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gigitte (f)
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@chuma
spot on spot on!
and can u imagine its people like st.moritz and co that will be sponsoring events in fashion and entertainment and arts industry , how could the naija government allow british american tobacco to come here.
kai instead of people to update our traditional stuff, every thing must be oyinbo. na real wah oh
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Constantin
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Gigitte, you make me feel very bad when I read you. (although i have to accept your viewpoint) Who says that open- air markets should close down? Of course, they are part of Naija but Naija has to move forward, too, like all the Asian, Arab and Latin American countries do. In Asia (I am not talking abot the highly adavnced countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Korea or Taiwan but of new emerging markets like Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia, countries on par wth Nigeria) cool and huge malls coexist next to Asian traditional markets and shops! MALLS CREATE EMPLOYMENT AND WEALTH IN A BROADER SENSE, TOO! Why can´t it be the case for Nigeria, too? Why do you want that The Palms to close down, too? IS THAT A GENERALLY HELD VIEW??? Have you heard anything about modern marketing methods about wealth creation, principles of modern day market economy??? Are Europeans still shopping like they did in the 18 th century? Maybe in US people are complaining about malls but they definitely don´t want to exchange them for our Naija markets, I am sure you don´t want modern cinemas, spas, fitness clubs, theme parks, hotels, good universities, good health clinics, fast food (even if all of it had a Nigerian flavour), because all that is not originally Nigerian. AM I RIGHT??   I am sure that this is the Nigeria you want to see    Well, I accept it but accept also my viewpoint because I want Nigeria to be like an Asia tiger (without denying its Nigerianness)       modern shopping culture , more and more people begin to buy such things in malls          |
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gaby (m)
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Gigitte, you make me feel very bad when I read you. (although i have to accept your viewpoint) Who says that open- air markets should close down? Of course, they are part of Naija but Naija has to move forward, too, like all the Asian, Arab and Latin American countries do. In Asia (I am not talking abot the highly adavnced countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Korea or Taiwan but of new emerging markets like Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia, countries on par wth Nigeria) cool and huge malls coexist next to Asian traditional markets and shops! MALLS CREATE EMPLOYMENT AND WEALTH IN A BROADER SENSE, TOO! Why can´t it be the case for Nigeria, too? Why do you want that The Palms to close down, too? IS THAT A GENERALLY HELD VIEW??? Have you heard anything about modern marketing methods about wealth creation, principles of modern day market economy??? Are Europeans still shopping like they did in the 18 th century? Maybe in US people are complaining about malls but they definitely don´t want to exchange them for our Naija markets, I am sure you don´t want modern cinemas, spas, fitness clubs, theme parks, hotels, good universities, good health clinics, fast food (even if all of it had a Nigerian flavour), because all that is not originally Nigerian. AM I RIGHT?? I am sure that this is the Nigeria you want to see Well, I accept it but accept also my viewpoint because I want Nigeria to be like an Asia tiger (without denying its Nigerianness) modern shopping culture , more and more people begin to buy such things in malls My dear you are such a cutie honey ay with the mind and thoughts of an adult, was so so impressed with all of your comments here where damn right on you got it girl, going to be looking out for your comments on other threads as well, one thing is certain no matter what anyone on here is got to say this is just good riddance to bad rubbish, periood, GO girl i gotcha ack xoxoxoxox |
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gaby (m)
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@chuma
spot on spot on!
and can u imagine its people like st.moritz and co that will be sponsoring events in fashion and entertainment and arts industry , how could the naija government allow british american tobacco to come here.
kai instead of people to update our traditional stuff, every thing must be oyinbo. na real wah oh
 My dear you are such a cutie honey ay with the mind and thoughts of an adult, was so so impressed with all of your comments here where damn right on you got it girl, going to be looking out for your comments on other threads as well, one thing is certain no matter what anyone on here is got to say this is just good riddance to bad rubbish, periood, GO girl i gotcha ack xoxoxoxox |
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jeoma
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I'm not certain how this became a debate about ideologues but it is good to get an understanding how people are feeling on the ground.
I personally believe some where in the middle you are all right. Just as they do in the Europe and America these retailers have an obligation and a moral duty to add value to the indigenous people and customers they are serving. They should meet the demand in Nigeria for choice and quality at value for money prices.
The consumer should be able to choose whether to shop in a mall or a market, choose whether to buy Nigerian made or European made goods. This sort of competition is what advances economies and improves the way people live.
Prohibition is probably not the way as it doesn't actually get at the root of the problem. So long as there is (if there is) a negative brand image amongst the consumer of Nigerian manufacturing, agricultural produce etc they will simply just get this stuff on the black market not buying the domestic produce anyway.
The government are better off doing what other economies do. Allow QUALITY imports only into the country. Provide tax incentives, grants and subsidies to Nigerian companies. Allow all products to be available in the market place side by side. In doing so the consumer will see that there is little difference between the two, equate European made and Nigeria made as comparable and where this doesn't happen it will be the inspiration Nigerian industry needs to get to that next level.
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gaby (m)
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Kiss My dear you are such a cutie honey ay with the mind and thoughts of an adult, was so so impressed with all of your comments here where damn right on you got it girl, going to be looking out for your comments on other threads as well, one thing is certain no matter what anyone on here is got to say this is just good riddance to bad rubbish, periood, GO girl i gotcha ack xoxoxoxox Kiss yeah baby!
i have serious beef with foreign investors who are imperalist in their outlook and refuse to promote a good nigerian image or try and make their business uniquely nigerian. i feel they are out here to make money at the expense of nigerian and nigerians which is altogether disgusting. i strongly feel that we should come up with our own stuff and export it to the west in addition to equally represented views in foreign investorship relations. i don't want another western world in nigeria i want a nigeria that is nigeria -- proud and magnificent, not knock off hollywood, malls and nonsense. scheww
look at MTN for God goodness sake lol, its as if south africa wants to take over, abeg wetin? even british american tobacco that is busy there doing proudly nigerian, they are just here because the nigerian government is taking their crap, their own is even worse than MTN or woolies. i wont even start on oil companies. we should make like chad and give them a real shake down
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gigitte (f)
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@ constantin don't annoy me oh, Go and read my posts very well, i said if the palms is not ready to promote naija, it can rot and die. i also said update our traditional stuff so even tho these things are creating employment and wealth we should allow them, even if it is tobacco companies that have been kicked out of their country, evn if its MTN that is useless in south africa? nigeria is not anybody's dumping ground ojare.# and this is not about the originality of ideas, this is about making naija shine and doing something for the people, i don't want modern cinemas if they wont show naija movies and play a big role in improving nollywood, i don't want fitness clubs if they want all nigerian women to look like nicole ritchie or men to be another arnold, i don't want fast food that will come and kill us before our time, malaria is enough abeg, i don't want health clubs that force you to eat leaves instead making our food healthier, i don't want health clinics that cannot specialise or focus on diseases unique to america (you think every doctor in yankee knows what do with malaria eh) and i don't want universities that are not committed to research that is useful to nigeria or cannot develop teaching methods that will benefit the country. please constantin don't take words out of my mouth, i never said i didnt want progress, i said i didnt want another western world, there are many roads to the marketplace and i want nigeria to find its own road, not do a COMPLETE copycat of others and frankly id rather have those dirty markets than a useless mall because at least u can haggle. so what is europe is not shopping like they did in the 18th century, do you want to be like europe, not every that glitters is gold oh. as for your pictures im not moved? everthing is so manmade, even the greenry. as for those tall buildings, how many of them are green, cost efficient, energy efficient, how many recycle, how many of them hurt the landscape with their grandioseness? im not saying that they are bad, but nigeria shouldnt just copy, they should build on it and be so much better @ jeoma, sorry for hijacking your thread @ gaby, thks |
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gigitte (f)
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@ constantin to make it very clear, NONE of what i wrote suggests all the things you have accused me of, so abeg don't put words in my mouth thank you.  |
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