All 408 Wilko Stores to Close By Early October
Image source: Sky News
All 408 Wilko stores in the UK will have closed by early October, resulting in what is likely to be 12,500 redundancies across the business.
A rescue deal proposed by the owner of HMV, Doug Putman, collapsed on Monday. This is a devastating loss as there was the potential for up to 200 branches to be saved in the deal along with a chance for staff to retain their jobs, but rising costs to ensure the running and stocking of Wilko shelves has caused the deal to fail.
Some branches are lucky to have been saved by rival chain B&M, who is purchasing up to 51 of their stores in a £13m deal. The stores will not be keeping the Wilko name, but will be rebranded following the end of the administration trading period. It is also unclear as to which stores have been purchased, but it is unlikely that the current staff’s jobs will be saved by the deal as the offer was only for the sites Wilko occupies.
The brand is understood to currently be in discussions with high-street name Poundland for the potential purchase of stores, but this is also unlikely to save the jobs of any of the current staff.
Across the coming weeks we will see the shop fronts start to be dismantled as Wilko becomes another addition to the list of shops in high street history amongst the cost of living crisis and online competition. The loss of Wilko and their high-street location in town centres will undoubtedly be felt by many across the country after almost 100 years in business.
