Woolworths Group had been opened, although in April the company also entered administration and closed. The Woolworths store in Dorchester, Dorset was reopened as an independent business named "Wellworths" by the store manager Claire Robertson. The store was officially opened by BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans on 11 March 2009. It was later renamed "Wellchester". Wellchester ceased trading in August 2012, after store manager Claire Robertson left to set up her own retail consultancy business. The Woolworths brand and domain was bought by Shop Direct Group, owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, on 2 February 2009. The company announced
Woolworths Group of their stock, many selling all of their fixtures and fittings too. The stores were closed in phases, and the final two closing days were moved back a day to try to sell more of the remaining stock and to ease logistics of closing. The former chief executive of Kingfisher, Woolworths' former parent company, and Ardeshir Naghshineh, a major shareholder of Woolworths, criticised the closures. On 19 January 2009, the parent company, Woolworths Group, announced its intention to also enter administration, as it could no longer pay its debts. The application was heard by the High Court on 27 January,