At one time there were two FW Woolworth & Co. stores in Salisbury.

The company’s first outlet in the city, at 55/59 Silver Street, opened on Saturday, August 6, 1927. Originally a “3d and 6d store”, it aroused great interest and to mark the opening, everyone who bought goods worth 2s 6d was given a new galvanised bucket.

For the two days the offer remained open, there was the rare spectacle of many people going home carrying shiny new buckets.

The store was later remodelled and became a self-service Woolworth food market, known within the company as Store 999.

In an old edition of “The New Bond” (Woolworth’s house journal which ran from 1936 until 1971), it was reported that the Silver Street store was the company’s first all-food outlet in Great Britain.

It had a sales area of 3,600 feet, with large square mahogany counters and hanging lights - the interior decorations were clean and simple, with the use of three colours on the walls: light blue, peach and yellow.

The High Street Woolworths opened its doors for the first time in March 1957 and it was officially designated Store 273.

Christine Roper at the tender age of 21, became the youngest supervisor at the High Street branch and she recounted how working in the store was like working at school with a strict hierarchy.

“In those days it was a different world, with even separate canteens for female and male staff. Customer service was paramount when, with each battery or light bulb individually sold, it would be first tested to see if it worked then put into a paper bag” she said.

Following the collapse of Woolworths in the UK, the High Street branch closed its doors in 2009 with 43 unfortunate workers losing their jobs.