The first closures of 207 branches will take place on 27 December followed by 200 closures each on 30 December, 2 January and 4 January, depending on stock availability in stores. Distribution centres will close on 27 December.
Staff will receive notice of redundancy 10 days prior to the closure of their stores.
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is appalled at the news. National officer John Gorle said: "We are shocked staff will only be given 10 days' notice of store closures and deeply disappointed no buyer has yet been found for Woolworths. Redundancy is devastating at any time of year, but particularly so at Christmas."
While Usdaw general secretary John Hannett added: "I am personally devastated for the 30,000 Woolworths staff and our members can rest assured we will do everything we can to assist them at this difficult time. The Woolworths staff are extremely loyal, dedicated and well trained and whenever vacancies exist in the retail sector we will use our contacts to find alternative employment as speedily as possible."
Lights finally go out at Woolies
It's official. After weeks of speculation, Woolworths has announced it is to close all its stores by 4 January with redundancies numbering 30,000.
