When Woolco’s doors swung open on October 29, 1968, at the newly minted Hampshire Centre on Castle Lane West, it became Britain’s biggest out-of-town department store, with a two-and-a-half-acre sales floor bigger than a football pitch, 40 departments and more than 200 sales assistants. As the supersized sibling of the familiar Woolworths high-street empire, Woolco stocked groceries, vinyl records, clothes and toys, including goods under its own Winfield label, while shoppers explored its single-storey 114,000 sq ft layout after checking personal bags for a numbered plastic wrist disc, and parking for more than 1,250 cars made it a destination. Woolco in Bournemouth. (Image: Echo)For nearly 20 years, Woolco was at the heart of local shopping, but retail changed and it closed for good in 1986; Gateway and later Asda replaced it before the site was demolished in 2001 for Castlepoint, while Woolco remains a landmark in Bournemouth’s history for those who shopped there. The Hampshire Centre also housed food retailer Williamson & Treadgold, Barclays and National Provincial banks, and retailers including Currys, Millets and Rosees Fashions.