Wilko to make dramatic return to the High Street
The owner of discount retail chain The Range is set to revive the Wilko brand on the High Street.
CDS Superstores will launch five stand-alone “concept stores” before Christmas. The first two locations will be Plymouth and Exeter, followed by two locations in the South-East and one in the North to be announced shortly.
The move comes after the collapse of Worksop-headquartered Wilko. Parts of the business was sold off to various buyers, including CDS, which says the roll-out of Wilko stores will continue throughout 2024.
CEO of CDS Superstores, Alex Simpkin, said: “For the majority of its 93 years, Wilko was an incredibly successful business that gave its customers exactly what they needed to get their home and garden jobs sorted. It was their advanced own-brand capabilities that encouraged us to invest in the brand and wilko.com and we’re excited to now be selling wilko products online once more and across our 200 stores network.
“The public reaction to the loss of wilko stores was undeniable. It’s clear that there’s a huge love for wilko and we’ve seen an encouraging demand for the return of its own-brand products. That’s why we’ve taken the decision to reintroduce wilko back to many of the high streets and communities that it used to so proudly serve.
“The team from Wilko that joined us through the acquisition has shown true resilience, they’ve set to work to integrate the best parts of wilko into The Range’s operational systems. We’re expanding that team every day with new wilko hires and can’t wait to extend that back out to local communities.
“We’ll endeavour to give ex-Wilko employees priority as a part of the recruitment process for the new stores.”
The CDS Superstores property team is encouraging landlords across the UK to open “productive” conversations if they’re interested in being considered for the Wilko roll-out programme.
