The end of an era as Hooty's shuts up shop
It was an end of an era for a landmark discount store that has been an Aladdin's cave of treasures for 50 years.
Half a century after Hooty's opened its doors, customers paid their last visits to the Rose Hill site in Willenhall as it stopped trading yesterday.
The nature of the closure remains unclear but it is believed the Longacres Industrial Estate premises will be revamped and taken over by home store The Range.
The future of the present staff at the store has not been made public.
Bosses at the store yesterday said there would be no comment or statement from the firm about the closure or on the future of sites in Kidderminster and Birmingham.
A sign on the gates to the premises stated: "With regret our last trading day is Tuesday 31 December. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our loyal customers for their support over the past 50 years."
The store was busy with shoppers making their final visit, while inside the store was a shadow of its former self with empty shelves and low levels of stock.
Leaving the shop yesterday with a trolley full of goods were husband and wife Ken and Susan Rowley.
"It is a sad day," said Mr Rowley, who lives in Compton, Wolverhampton.
"It has been here so long and if there is ever something we cannot find we know we will find it at Hooty's.
Mrs Rowley added: "Our daughter lives in London and when she comes back to visit us she always wants to come to Hooty's. It will be odd with it not being here."
Retired Mike Reed has been shopping at the store for decades and paid tribute to the staff.
"It will be sorely missed," said the 80-year-old from Willenhall. "The one thing I hope is that the staff get given new jobs if there is the takeover.
"The staff are wonderful. They go out of their way to help you and always know when new stock is coming."
Sharron Kocil, 44, and her daughter Hayley, 23, left the store yesterday with fireworks and party material to help celebrate New Year's Eve.
"It will not feel the same without," said Sharron from New Invention.
"I have been coming here since I was a child and I was really gutted when we found out it was going to be closing."
Hayley added: "You can always get what you need in Hooty's. It has just always been here and it is sad that such a household name in this area is going to be no more."
But the future of the £500,000 store in Kidderminster, which opened its doors in 2010, creating 50 jobs, remains unclear.
It is also not known if the Hooty's shop in Erdington, Birmingham, which opened in September creating 20 jobs, would be affected.
The Range has said it is only dealing with a takeover of the Willenhall store.
The well-known store was founded in 1963 by the family of Steve Smith, who sold the business in 1988 and went on to set up Poundland in 1990 before selling that for £50m in 2002.
The Range was founded by Plymouth-based entrepreneur Chris Dawson. He started the business in 1980 as an open-air market trader and saved up enough money to launch a superstore.
