THREE more Wilko stores have the potential to reopen, The Sun can reveal.
It comes only a day after the brand’s new owner revealed that Wilko will return to the high street in time for Christmas.
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Shoppers will once again be able to browse in the beloved discounter, with five stores opening before Christmas.
The Wilko name and intellectual property was bought by rival discounter The Range in the summer.
Now CDS Superstores, which trades as The Range and Wilko, has confirmed it will be relaunching the chain at sites in England, Scotland, and Wales in a surprise move.
Five stores are set to be up and running before Christmas and more will open in January.
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So far the only exact locations confirmed are in Plymouth and Exeter.
But The Sun can now reveal that Wilko stores in the following three locations could reopen once again:
- Llewellyn Walk, Llywelyn Road, Cwmbran, South Wales
- Central Walk, Hucknall, Nottingham
- The Luton Arndale Centre, Luton, Bedfordshire
Research by this publication shows that The Range careers website is hiring dozens of roles in the three locations above at undisclosed addresses.
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Store manager and assistant store manager roles and a handful of retail assistant jobs are up for grabs.
The job descriptions don’t specify whether the roles are for stores operated by The Range or Wilko.
However, numerous roles have already become available for the Wilko stores which are confirmed to open in Exeter and Plymouth – all of which are listed on The Range’s careers website.
The Range already operates stores in Nottingham and Bedfordshire and could take advantage of the retail space offered by closed Wilko stores to aid its high street comeback.
According to The Range’s own store opening schedule, it has no plans to open stores in these locations under its own brand in the coming months.
A source at CDS Superstores hasn’t denied that Wilko shops in Cwmbran, Hucknall and Luton could reopen.
A spokesperson for the retail group said: “We’re launching five Wilko stores pre-Christmas, two stores are already announced, the remainder will be confirmed imminently.
“In addition, and to support our roll-out ambition, we’re in discussions with landlords across the UK with a view to opening more stores from January.
“We’re excited at the prospect of offering opportunities in local communities up and down the country.”
The company has also said it will be opening Wilko shops in Northern Ireland for the first time.
Alex Simpkin, boss of CDS Superstores, said yesterday: “The public reaction to the loss of Wilko stores was undeniable.
“It’s clear that there’s a huge love for Wilko and we’ve seen an encouraging demand for the return of its own-brand products.
“That’s why we’ve taken the decision to reintroduce Wilko back to many of the high streets and communities that it used to so proudly serve.”
Mr Simpkin went on to add that the company will aim to give ex-Wilko employees priority as a part of the recruitment process for the new stores.
Nearly 10,000 staff were made redundant when 400 Wilkos stores closed.
The new shops will offer value items including cleaning and household, decorating and DIY, garden and outdoor, homeware, pets, storage, and seasonal items.
Customers will also be able to buy the wilko.com range for home delivery using in-store terminals.
Wilko.com returned earlier this month under The Range’s ownership, and Wilko-branded items are being stocked in The Range stores.
CDS Superstores is asking landlords across the UK to open “productive conversations” if they’re interested in their sites becoming Wilko stores.
A mixture of former shops and new sites are being considered, it added.
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.
The first of these 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 on the sale of the retailer’s brand name ato The Range in a £5million deal.
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As part of the agreement, which also includes Wilko’s intellectual property, 36 jobs were saved as the employees transferred over.
Rival chains Home Bargains and Dunelm also offered devastated Wilko staff new roles after the retailer collapsed.
