WILKO has swung open the doors of two new shops just in time for Christmas.
Ahead of a national roll-out across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Wilko is celebrating the opening of its first new concept stores in Plymouth and Exeter.
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Chief executive of CDS Superstores, trading as The Range and Wilko, Alex Simpkin told The Sun: “The customer reaction to the new stores opening today has been fantastic and proves we’re doing the right thing in returning this much-loved retailer to UK high streets.”
The stores welcomed queues of returning Wilko customers eager to get their hands on their much-loved products.
The two store openings today will be closely followed by Luton on December 8 with more locations to be announced imminently.
It comes after Wilko collapsed into administration in August.
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The name and intellectual property were bought by rival discounter The Range in September.
At first it revealed it was relaunching the brand’s online operation.
Wilko.com returned in early October under The Range’s ownership, and Wilko branded items are being stocked in The Range stores.
But then in a surprise announcement CDS Superstores, which trades as The Range and Wilko, revealed that it will be relaunching the stores across Britain’s high streets too.
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It said it will open a total of five sites before Christmas, but so far has only confirmed the locations of the first three.
The company has also said it will be opening Wilko shops in Northern Ireland for the first time.
The roll-out will then continue in January with a view to having more shops open within months, according to CDS.
The Sun previously revealed that Wilko stores in the following three locations could open once again:
- Llewellyn Walk, Llywelyn Road, Cwmbran, South Wales
- Central Walk, Hucknall, Nottingham
- The Luton Arndale Centre, Luton, Bedfordshire (now confirmed)
Fans of the popular chain will be thrilled to know that the new stores will have had a bit of an upgrade.
The retailer revealed on X (formerly known as Twitter) that the shops will offer key cutting, paint mixing and carpet cleaning hire as new in-store services.
Popular features such as the iconic pick ‘n’ mix stands will also be making a comeback.
The new shops will also offer value items including cleaning and household, decorating and DIY, garden and outdoor, homeware, pets, storage, and seasonal items.
Earlier this week, The Range founder, Chris Dawson and his chief executive Alex Simpkin visited the Plymouth Wilko store, ahead of its opening.
They both issued a major update on their plans for Wilko and Chris Dawson said up to 300 stores could reopen on Britain’s high streets.
Speaking to PlymouthLive, Alex Simpkin said: “There are about 50 Wilkos openings in addition to these three.”
Chris Dawson said: “Those are with the lawyers – but it will be 300, more or less where there were, in most cases, ex-Wilko stores.
“Wilko had 406 stores, we don’t see that, our intelligence says we will do just under 300, I don’t know how long that will take.”
Mr Simpkin previously said that the company will aim to give ex-Wilko employees priority as a part of the recruitment process for the new stores.
Wilko tumbled into administration in August before a flurry of potential buyers expressed an interest.
But sadly, a buyer for the whole business couldn’t be found and it then announced all 400 shops would close by October.
Wilko’s last remaining sites shut for good on Sunday, October 8.
A flurry of rivals bought a handful of stores.
Among those was Poundland, which purchased 71 Wilko stores.
Dozens have reopened under the Poundland name earlier this month, with more set to follow.
B&M also agreed to buy up to 51 locations in a £13million deal.
These locations haven’t been announced yet, but will reopen as B&M shops.
In September, administrators confirmed they had agreed the sale of the retailer’s brand name to The Range in a £5million deal.
As part of the agreement, which also includes Wilko’s intellectual property, 36 jobs were saved as the employees transferred over.
Meanwhile, an online furniture retailer has also returned to the UK high street for the first time after being taken over.
Plus, Poundland has confirmed that it will reopen seven more Wilko stores within days following huge new expansion plans.
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