The boss of Poundland said there was ‘plenty of positivity’ on the High Street as he hailed strong trading at dozens of former Wilko stores snapped up by the value retailer.
Managing director Austin Cooke said that while ‘times are tricky’, there had been an ‘amazing’ response from customers to the newly opened shops.
Poundland agreed to buy up to 71 former Wilko sites in September after its rival discount retailer collapsed.
Wilko’s demise resulted in 400 shops closing and 12,000 jobs being lost this summer.
Its former bosses have been lambasted for poor leadership, including a failure to cash in on a demand for affordable goods amid the cost of living crisis. But Cooke said: ‘There is still plenty of positivity on the High Street.’
Rebranded: Poundland agreed to buy up to 71 former Wilko sites in September after its rival discount retailer collapsed
The Poundland chief added: ‘You can’t deny times are tricky for many and the cost of living situation is having an impact, but it just gives us more reason to give outstanding value.’
His firm has so far opened 64 former Wilko stores under the Poundland branding.
And it has hired more than 1,000 former Wilko staff.
Cooke said that there had been an ‘amazing’ response from the retailer’s customers.
He added: ‘Every time we have opened a new store, we see that. People are really chuffed we are opening in their towns.
‘We saw an opportunity there to accelerate openings and are really happy with how it has gone.’
Poundland has also opened another 23 stores in addition to those it purchased from Wilko’s administrators during the past two months and is planning more openings in 2024.
Its estate has grown to more than 800 shops in the UK amid an ambitious expansion.
