Discount chain to open in former M&Co store after closing 170 locations – shoppers are delighted

SHOPPERS are gearing up for bargains after it was announced a new discount chain would open in a former M&Co after closing 170 locations nationwide.

Residents of Portishead, Somerset, are buzzing about the news, which could also see the redevelopment of a local retail park outlet.

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A new Poundland branch is set to open on the town’s high street in the building previously occupied by the clothing retailer.

Locals have spotted a “notification of construction” pinned up on the door informing them of what is to come.

Citing Poundland as the franchise behind the project, it states that the shop will be refurbished in short order.

However, this has left the future of the company’s branch in the Wyndham Way retail park uncertain.

Rumours are rife that the site at the retail park will close to make way for a new shop.

According to a report in Somerset Live, this is expected to be a branch of The Original Factory Shop, a discount department store chain.

The business has been advertising for staff to run a new store, which the ads say is “opening soon” in Portishead.

TOFS, as it is known, has also occupied a number of former M&Co stores in recent months after the latter brand collapsed last year.

It eventually closed all of its 170 branches in April, leaving them ripe for takeovers.

All hope is not lost, though, as The Sun exclusively revealed in June that M&Co will relaunch, with 50 physical stores opening over the next two years.

Poundland, too, has been on a moving spree, buying up 71 Wilko stores last month in the wake of the supermarket chain falling into administration.

The people of Portishead have been expressing their delight at the new arrival on the high street on social media.

One wrote: “That’s great, at last a new shop that isn’t a coffee shop, funeral director or estate agent.”

Another added: “That’s good news, another empty shop filled.”

And a third said it was evidence that the “high street isn’t dead”.

It comes after shoppers went mad for a £35 Argos item that cuts your heating bills to just 1p.

Meanwhile, an expert revealed the cheapest time to wash and dry clothes.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk