By Martina Fuchs and Avril Ormsby
LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Shoppers said farewell to Woolworths, one of Britain's best known retailers, with a mixture of sadness and disdain, scouring the half-empty shelves for bargains before the doors close for the last time.
The chain, one of the first big-name British businesses to fail in the global economic downturn, has been known for selling everything from electrical goods to "pick n mix" sweets during its 99-year history. On Monday, even the store fixtures, fittings and equipment were for sale.
About 600 of its 815 stores have already closed and the rest are set to close this week, with the loss of 27,000 jobs.
"It was a bit dilapidated," said Jo Gorman, a 22-year-old therapist who had gone in search of DVDs at the branch in Putney, south-west London which will cease trading on Tuesday.
She had stopped shopping at Woolworths because "it had nothing for me".
"Other shops either had it, or it was cheaper," she added.
Woolworths, originally an offshoot of American F.W. Woolworth's retail empire, had struggled for some years to compete with supermarkets and online retailers.
All that remained in the barren shop on Putney High Street was a shelf of books which included "Midlife Crisis Cars", a section of CDs containing "Pop Party 3" and a stack of boxes piled high ready to carry away any unsold clothes or games.
Barbara Grover, a 73-year-old retired post office worker, said Woolworths had lost its way and had failed to attract new customers.
"People still have money, and have spent it elsewhere if they have wanted to," she said.
"I used to shop here years and years ago when it was a sixpenny store. They used to have a lot of haberdashery and plants, but instead they moved towards clothes and birthday cards. It had nothing I wanted."
But some shoppers had happier memories of "Woolies", saying its absence would create a gap in the high street, which would be difficult to fill.
"I have kept a china horse from here which was a present about 50 years ago," said retired insurance worker Catherine Quinn.
"It's sad it's closing -- it's an historical shop, it's been around for about 100 years." (For a factbox of UK retailers in administration click on)
(Editing by Keith Weir and Erica Billingham)