Woolies have been a part of the town shopping scene for as long as I like to remember. At one time there were two, one in Gold Street and one in Abington Street.
I think before the end of 2009 around 20% more shops will be unoccupied in Northampton town centre as Britain's increasingly gloomy economic situation casts its ugly shadow over the town's main shopping areas.
But what can be done to stop more stores disappearing from street corners and high streets? I'll give you one good idea: buy your newspapers in newsagents, buy your wine from wine shops, use the local pharmacy for prescriptions, and use your local market for fresh fruit and vegetables and clothes and general goods.
Just remember Tesco's own words:
'Every little helps'. Every time you choose to spend outside of a supermarket it helps to put them out of business.
I feel sorry for those people who took out huge mortgages on over-priced properties at the wrong time, and now find they're stuck with negative equity. I blame the banks for gross negligence, and I blame the government for deregulating what we now find were sensible financial regulations that would have kept us out of the present mess. This goes for the USA too, where I hope new President Barack Obama will be bringing in legislation to more closely regulate the behaviour of banks.
