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245:(sports betting) company, known as Littlewoods Pools. After making a loss in the first season of operation, John Moores' original partners withdrew from the venture. Moores persisted with family assistance and by 1932 was in a position to expand the business into mail-order retailing. The first mail-order catalogue was sent to existing subscribers to the pools and the take-up, mostly women, formed 'clubs'. Effectively, they became retail agents, collecting money for goods ordered from the catalogue from friends and family and distributing goods shipped to them. The mail-order business expanded and the first Littlewoods high-street store opened in 1937 in
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store, which opened on 14 November 1989, was a notable example. The catalogue market was transformed with the emergence of the
Internet and phone transactions slowly diminished after the mid-1990s. It was around this time that Littlewoods began closing its stores, with the outlet at Merry Hill in the
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in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe but subsequently declined in the face of increased competition from rivals and the
Internet. The original company, employing 4,000 people, was wound up in 2005; however, its brand name is retained by
367:. At that stage, Littlewoods' football pools still had a million people playing a week and the sale, for £160m, included its online venture bet247.co.uk and its phone betting arm Bet Direct. The terms of the deal enabled the Littlewoods name to be used for a further ten years.
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was closed in early 2005, and at the time of its failure, it was noted that it had not made a profit for 18 out of its 20 years of operation and was running at a loss of £100 million. Half of its standalone stores were sold to rival
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Littlewoods grew as a retail and betting organisation and, at its height, there were about 25,000 employees. In 1982, it was the largest private company in Europe. At one time, it was also the largest family-owned firm in the UK.
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in 1994 led to a major advertising campaign to distinguish
Littlewoods Pools from other forms of betting and this proved successful in the short term. In 2000, The Moores family sold the Littlewoods Pools business to
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Littlewoods ran a division and e-commerce website dedicated to the Irish market but in July 2022 'Littlewoods
Ireland' became 'Very Ireland', adopting the parent organisation's flagship brand name.
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379:, the former headquarters of Littlewoods Pools caught fire. There were no reported injuries; the building having stood empty since 2003.
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295:). The amalgamation of the two businesses led to the closure of many of both brands' distribution centres. Kays main centres in
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Littlewoods was among the key retailers to relocate from town-centre stores to new developments, mostly in
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The closure of 119 Littlewoods stores was also announced in 2005. Around 40 stores were sold to the
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Littlewoods pools business was the first to be established and grew into the biggest
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This article is about the former company. For the company which exists today, see
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In
October 2002, the Moores family sold the shopping and catalogue business to
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were closed, while
Littlewoods main operations in Liverpool were cut back.
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Crowds gather for the opening of a new
Littlewood's Store at Oswestry, 1950
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The
Littlewoods Building in Liverpool, former headquarters of Littlewoods
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705:"Generous Sherman brothers should not be forgotten; Time to remember"
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business in the world. It went on to become the first sponsor of the
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Coopey, Richard; O'Connell, Sean; Porter, Dilwyn (27 January 2005).
345:, whose experience was immortalised in the book, play, and musical
503:"Game over or extra time? Liverpool art deco gem faces demolition"
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268:, to take advantage of the financial incentives they offered. The
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575:"Littlewoods selling off catalogue stores after losses of £100m"
679:"National Football Museum kicks off 2006 with pools exhibition"
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Mail Order
Retailing in Britain: A Business and Social History
481:"Littlewoods Catalogue Home Shopping: the 1930s continued"
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402:"Littlewoods' John Moores, the father of home shopping"
351:. In June 1961, Littlewoods took over Sherman's Pools.
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was a retail and football betting company founded in
817:. Vol. 42. St. James Press. pp. 228–232.
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435:International Directory of Company Histories 1992
291:to create the Littlewoods Shop Direct Group (now
277:being one of the first outlets to close in 1996.
341:and its winners were often celebrated – notably
864:Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom
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815:International Directory of Company Histories
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859:Entertainment companies established in 1923
209:A former Littlewoods branch in Chesterfield
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869:1923 establishments in the United Kingdom
807:Barker, T. C.; Salamie, David E. (2002).
505:. Save Britain's Heritage. Archived from
241:The original company began in 1923 as a
854:Retail companies disestablished in 2004
782:"Littlewoods building engulfed by fire"
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454:
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461:"Littlewoods' catalogue of disasters"
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884:Retail companies established in 1923
874:Defunct companies based in Liverpool
459:Farrelly, Paul (17 September 2000).
287:In 2004 Littlewoods was merged with
652:"Littlewoods 'mulling stores sale'"
677:Spicer, Graham (11 January 2006).
626:"Littlewoods shops sold for £409m"
600:"Jobs to go as Index stores close"
431:"The Littlewoods Organisation plc"
27:Defunct retail and betting company
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703:O'Neill, Dan (19 November 2001).
363:, a shell business part owned by
573:Patrick, Aaron (18 April 2005).
1:
813:. In Pederson, Jay P. (ed.).
755:Treanor, Jim (28 June 2000).
71:1923 (stores), 1990s (online)
32:Littlewoods (online retailer)
839:Littlewoods official website
784:. BBC News. 3 September 2018
757:"Littlewoods ends pools era"
371:Fire at Littlewoods building
879:David and Frederick Barclay
282:David and Frederick Barclay
145:David and Frederick Barclay
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377:Littlewoods Pools building
321:retail business, owned by
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375:On 2 September 2018, the
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229:as the online retailer
529:"Ireland becomes Very"
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730:"Littlewoods Pools"
579:The Daily Telegraph
348:Spend, Spend, Spend
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437:. Encyclopedia.com
354:The launch of the
284:for £750 million.
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810:"Littlewoods plc"
658:. 30 January 2005
559:978-0-19-152268-0
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168:Littlewoods Index
18:Littlewoods Pools
16:(Redirected from
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231:Littlewoods.com
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140:Sir John Moores
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220:, England, by
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786:. Retrieved
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163:Subsidiaries
123:Headquarters
97:Merged with
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788:13 December
714:31 December
222:John Moores
214:Littlewoods
179:littlewoods
40:Littlewoods
848:Categories
683:Culture 24
383:References
270:Merry Hill
260:Retail arm
135:Key people
117:Very.co.uk
105:Successors
58:Mail order
297:Worcester
247:Blackpool
218:Liverpool
142:(Founder)
129:, England
127:Liverpool
766:17 March
740:17 March
688:17 March
662:17 March
636:17 March
610:17 March
604:BBC News
584:17 March
513:17 March
487:17 March
441:17 March
412:17 March
54:Industry
319:Primark
237:History
174:Website
86:Defunct
76:Founder
68:Founded
821:
556:
361:Rodime
339:FA Cup
312:Argos
307:Index
301:Leeds
152:Owner
819:ISBN
790:2019
768:2014
742:2014
716:2015
690:2014
664:2014
638:2014
612:2014
586:2014
554:ISBN
515:2014
489:2014
443:2014
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299:and
181:.com
94:Fate
656:BBC
630:BBC
406:BBC
323:ABF
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
