WILKO fans will be delighted to know that some of its stores will be reopening.
The family-run chain employed 12,500 staff and ran 400 shops before administrators PwC had to step in to try and salvage a deal.
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It came as the retailer buckled under the pressure of reduced consumer spending and debts owed to suppliers.
But no deal could be struck and PwC was forced to sell off Wilko’s assets.
All 400 of its stores closed in the following weeks although three retailers did step in to buy different parts of the business.
Discount chain B&M purchased 51 Wilko stores, while The Range agreed a deal to buy Wilko’s brand and intellectual property for around £5million.
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Plus, Poundland owner Pepco agreed to snap up to 71 Wilko shops.
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.
Which Wilko stores are reopening?
Poundland has said it is opening 75 new shops by Christmas, with many cropping up in former Wilko branches.
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It has snapped up 71 stores from the failed retailer which will stock customer favourites, including clothing.
The group said it is planning to roll out a full makeover of the stores throughout 2024 to become “fully operational Poundlands”.
Poundland has now revealed that it will re-open seven more Wilko stores under its brand in the coming days on Saturday, November 25:
- Unit B, 25-37 Foregate Street, Chester
- Unit 6, 34A The Parade, Swindon
The 61 former Wilko stores that have already opened as Poundland are located in:
- Stevenage
- Camberley
- Barnstable
- Long Eaton
- Retford
- Stafford
- Nelson
- Stockport
- Eccles
- Southport
- Leigh
- Barking
- Maidenhead
- Jarrow
- Scunthorpe.
- Melton Mowbray
- Matlock
- Chepstow
- Nottingham
- Worcester
- Ellesmere Port
- Brigg
- Redruth
- Ferndown
- Pontypool
- Ripley
- Bolton
- Gateshead
- Bicester
- Peterborough
- Sheffield Hillsborough
- Cramlington
- Rugeley
- Brentwood
- Altrincham
- Worksop
- West Ealing
- Wembley
- Sale
- Seaham
- Selly Oak
- Bishops Stortford
- Ammanford
- Alfreton
- Thornaby
- South Shields
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Killingworth)
- Shrewsbury
- Droitwich
- Redhill
- Leicester
- Hitchen
- Alnwick
- Headingley
- Grimsby
- Hull
- Lichfield
- Wombwell
- Edmonton Green
- Greenock
- Peterlee
Meanwhile, CDS Superstores, trading as The Range and Wilko, is opening five stores under the Wilko name.
It has since confirmed the locations and opening dates for the first three. They are as follows:
- Armada Centre, Mayflower Street, Plymouth – December 1
- Guildhall Shopping Centre, Exeter – December 1
- Arndale Centre, Luton – December 8
The Range founder, Chris Dawson and his chief executive Alex Simpkin visited the Plymouth Wilko store, ahead of its December 1 opening alongside stores in Exeter.
Both gave 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.”
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)
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
