Wilko returning to high streets - full list of shops including next confirmed store opening

Wilko is set to continue its return to UK high streets and shopping centres as the latest new store opening has been confirmed. The Range bought the Wilko brand in October last year after the retailer shut its 400 UK shops after tumbling into administration, with almost all of the firm’s 12,500 workers being made redundant.

Administrators sold off up to 71 stores to become Poundland shops, and up to 51 stores which returned under the name of rival discounter, B&M. The Range parent company, CDS Superstores, bought the Wilko brand for £5 million as part of the process and relaunched the Wilko.com website and started selling products under the Wilko brand in its own shops.

At the time, new owner, Chris Dawson, said he intends to open Wilko stores, targeting “shopping centres and very busy high streets”. “I would say 30 to 40 in the first year,” Dawson told Retail Gazette. “Then it’ll be the same, if not more, the following years till we fill the place up.”

He said the retailer had several stores “up and down the country” lined up and that he believed Wilko could grow to up to 300 shops. “There is not a place for 400 anymore because the world’s changed since then, but I think full saturation would be 300 in the UK,” he said.

In December last year, Wilko returned with two new shops - in Plymouth and Exeter - and the next branch to open will be in Luton next week. The relaunched stores stock the Wilko’s traditional homeware and garden products, plus a 20%-wider range.

Alex Simpkin, chief executive officer of CDS, said: “The customer reaction to the new stores opening today has been fantastic and proves we’re doing the right thing in returning this much-loved retailer to UK high streets.”

The company said about three-quarter of previous Wilko staff were hired for the new Plymouth store, while about a third at the Exeter location were former Wilko workers. As well as opening new stores, CDS said it aims to take the brand to Northern Ireland for the first time next year.

Wilko stores reopening

So far five bricks and mortar Wilko stores have reopened. These are:

• Plymouth, Armada Centre, Mayflower Street
• Exeter, Guildhall Shopping Centre
• Luton, Arndale Centre 
• St Albans, The Maltings Shopping Centre
• Rotherham, Parkgate Shopping Park 

The next store to be added to the list has now also had the opening date confirmed. A shop in the Dolphin Centre in Poole, Dorset is set to open its doors on Friday, August 16. It will cover 23,500 square feet and include an Iceland concession. The first 50 shoppers on opening day will receive goody bags.