Wilko: Brand announces high street return as "stand-alone concept stores" set to open across UK in South East, Plymouth and Exeter before Christmas

Ahead of a national roll-out across England, Scotland, Wales and, for the first time, Northern Ireland, five stand-alone concept stores will open ahead of the festive period.

The new wilko stores will offer shoppers everything they need to get all their homes and garden jobs done - wilko-brand products that simply help alongside well-known brands.

The first two locations will be Plymouth and Exeter closely followed by two locations in the South-East and one in the North to be announced imminently.

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Following the recent re-launch of wilko.com and the announcement that wilko products are to be sold in The Range’s 200 stores, parent company CDS Superstores International which owns both The Range and wilko brands will reintroduce wilko stores across the UK starting pre-Christmas with a roll-out continuing throughout 2024.

CEO of CDS Superstores, trading as The Range and wilko, 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.”

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"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.

“Our 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.