Despite entering administration and closing way back in 2009, Woolworths remains a much-loved and iconic retailer, but do you remember their long-lost Hertfordshire stores?

Stevenage

Woolworths opened in Stevenage in 1939 in the High Street, trading there for 20 years before being moved to Queensway in the new town.

It was the 1008 Woolworths store to open according to Woolies Building - The and Now, and closed in 2009 when the retailer entered administration.

Today, the former High Street store is home to a Tesco Express, while the Queensway unit is now a Wilkinson.

Hitchin

Woolworths came to Hitchin in 1931, when part of The Cock Hotel was demolished to make room for the purpose-built store at 7 High Street.

Woolworths traded here for 31 years before moving to a bigger premises just along the street.

Now at 9-10 High Street, the store greatly expanded - including a tearoom where my grandmother worked when she moved down south in 1980s.

It was so big in fact, that for a time, it became a Woolworths Weekend, a store divided into sections and colour-coded in pastel shades.

It would return to a normal Woolworths before closing in December 2009, when it was divided into two units which both stand empty today following the closures of Poundland and M&Co.

Letchworth

Woolworths opened in Letchworth in 1929, calling a small store in a purpose-built two-storey building in Leys Avenue home.

The store would expand in the 1960s, before moving to Garden Square shopping centre in 1986.

Argos would occupy the old unit until 2014, when the decision was made to close, and the iconic red mosaic tiling of the old Woolies was revealed.

It was then incorporated into the signage for Cultivo Lounge, which still remains at the site.

The Garden Square Woolworths closed in January 2009.

Welwyn Garden City

The Welwyn Garden City Woolies is one of the more short-lived in our area.

The store opened in Howardsgate in 1953, and traded for 36 years before closing in June 1989.

Today, the unit is home to Vision Express and McDonalds.

You may notice in the photo that there is empty space where the Howard Centre now stands, because the picture was taken some 15 years before the shopping centre was built.

St Albans

Woolworth moved into the existing building on St Peter's Street in 1928, and would last right until the very end, shutting down in January 2009.

In the 1970s, a market was held on the street, covering the front of the shops.

Harpenden

Woolworths opened in Harpenden in 1938, with the purpose-built store having an impressive Georgian style facade.

It would be a victim of the 1980s closure after the retailer was purchased by Kingfisher, shutting down in June 1984.

Argos called the unit home for many decades, and the Woolworths windows, doors and mosaic remained until 2013.

A library now operated from the site and has a new shopfront.

Hemel Hempstead

Opening on Lower High Street in 1935, the Hemel Hempstead Woolies would move to a much larger facility at 198-200 The Marlowes after the Second World War.

In 2002, it would be used as the first trial 10/10 store, with a new look inside and out, but it would close down just six years later as the retailer headed towards administration.