THERE was a time — before the much-trumpeted John Lewis Christmas adverts — when Woolworths was the store that lay claim to the Christmas commercial crown.

That was the era when the nation was limited to just three television channels and the much anticipated Woolworths’ advert featured a host of familiar televisions light-entertainers, usually performing a big song-and-dance number.

Those days are long gone — as is Woolworth’s, whose Bolton store closed exactly a decade ago.

The shop, which had been trading in Bolton for almost a century, was one of 806 Woolworths stores across the country which were closed after the firm fell into administration.

The store had been a firm favourite on the Bolton shopping scene for decades, renowned for its pick and mix sweets and bargain buys, until the financial crisis brought the company to its knees.

FW Woolworth opened its Bolton branch in 1912 at 17-19 Oxford Street, just three years after the first UK store began business in Liverpool.

In 1926, the shop transferred to new premises at Britannia House in Deansgate.

The new store, adorned with a statue of Britannia herself, opened on November 27, just in time for Christmas, and soon flourished as a favourite place for shoppers looking for cheap, but quality, buys.

So robust was the business in these early years that despite the recession of 1959 the shop was redesigned and staff numbers increased by 50 per cent.

Employees of the shop were very impressed with their premises.

At the time Betty Duncalf of Daubhill thought it was a great place to work and Gladys Cavell of Ruby Street, Bolton, described the new premises as “smashing”.

However, it was not always plain sailing for the Deansgate store. In June 1980 a slump in summer trading forced store staff to agree to work a 36-hour week for three months to stave off impending redundancies.

But Bolton’s beloved Woolies soon bounced back with a revamped, modernised look to the shop in 1989 which incorporated a kidswear department and the store’s famous sweets counter, which remained a children’s favourite to the end.

Back in January 2009, The Bolton News managed to chat to some of the store’s final customers.

“I always used to come, even as a youngster with my parents,” said Donna Knowles, from Little Hulton. “I certainly think the government could have done more to assist them.”

“I don’t know where I’ll do my shopping now, it’s been an institution for so long.”