LONDON - ABOUT 200 Woolworths stores in Britain have shut their doors for good.

The stores that closed on Saturday represent about a quarter of the company's shops. The rest of the stores are to close within about a week unless a last-minute buyer is found for the failed retailer. It filed for a form of bankruptcy protection last month.

About 27,000 people are expected to lose their jobs.

The company's current debt-laden predicament is a far cry from the clamor that greeted the first British store, which opened in Liverpool, northern England, in 1909 under the FW Woolworths brand - a subsidiary of the US company.

The British retail company has outlasted its original US parent, which closed its final Woolworths stores in 1997. -- AP