WILKO went bust earlier this year, breaking thousands of shoppers’ hearts in the process.
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 retailer’s 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 for around £5million.
Plus, Poundland owner Pepco agreed to snap up to 71 Wilko shops.
B&M is yet to confirm which branches it has bought, but it said it’ll give an update in November.
Which Wilko stores are reopening?
Poundland has said it is opening 75 new shops by Christmas, with many cropping up in former Wilko branches.
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”.
The following former Wilko stores reopened as Poundland shops on September 30:
- Broad Street, Chell Road, Stafford, Staffordshire, West Midlands
- Pendle Rise Shopping Centre, Nelson, Lancashire
- The Peel Centre, Great Portwood Street, Stockport, Greater Manchester
- The Mall, Church Street, Eccles, Manchester
- London Street, Southport, Merseyside
- Lord Street, Leigh, Greater Manchester
- East Street, Barking, London
- High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire
- Bede Precinct, Viking Centre, Jarrow, South Tyneside
- The Broadway, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire
Poundland has since confirmed a further 19 former Wilko stores which have reopened, or will reopen, under the retailer’s name.
These are the stores that opened on October 28:
- Carregaman Road, Ammanford
- Institute Lane, Alfreton
- Vale House, Pavilion Shopping Centre, Thornaby
- Market Place, South Shields
- Killingworth Centre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Darwin Shopping Centre, Shrewsbury, Shropshire
- Salter Shopping Centre, St Andrews Square, Droitwich
- High Street, Redhill
- Epic House, 2 Charles Street, Leicester
- Bancroft, Hitchen
Meanwhile, these are the branches which are reopening on November 4:
- Lagny Street, Alnwick
- Headingley Central, Otley Road, Headingley, Leeds
- Freeman Street, Grimsby
- St Andrews Retail Park, Hull
- Bore Street, Lichfield
- High Street, Wombwell, Barnsley
- Edmonton Green Shopping Centre, 3-11 North Square, London
- Oak Mall Centre, Greenock
- Castle Dene Shopping Centre, Peterlee
Below, is the full list of Wilko stores that have been bought by Poundland:
- Aberdare
- Alfreton
- Alnwick
- Altrincham
- Ammanford
- Ashby
- Barking
- Bedminster
- Beeston
- Bicester
- Bishop Stortford
- Bletchley
- Bolton
- Brentwood
- Brigg
- Cambridge
- Chepstow
- Coalville
- Cramlington
- Droitwich
- Eccles
- Edmonton Green
- Ellesmere Port
- Ferndown
- Gateshead
- Grays
- Greenock
- Grimsby
- Havant
- Hayes
- Headingley
- Hessle Road, Hull
- Hillsborough
- Hitchin
- Jarrow
- Killingworth
- Kimberley
- Lee Circle
- Leek
- Leigh
- Lichfield
- Maidenhead
- Matlock
- Melton Mowbray
- Nelson
- Northallerton
- Orton
- Pembroke Dock
- Peterlee
- Pontefract
- Pontypool
- Redhill
- Redruth
- Ripley
- Rugeley
- Sale
- Seaham
- Selly Oak
- Shrewsbury Darwin Centre
- South Shields
- Southport
- Stafford
- Stamford
- Stockport
- Thornaby
- Wellington
- Wembley
- West Ealing
- Wombwell
- Worcester
- Worksop
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
In other news, we look at what went wrong at Wilko to cause its collapse.
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