ilko has revealed the locations of its stores which will close for good next week, as the dramatic collapse of the high street chain takes shape.
Administrators at PwC announced earlier this month that all of the retailers 400 stores will close by early October, after a full rescue deal failed.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that 111 more stores will serve customers for a final time next week.
The chain officially began to lay staff off on September 12, as administrators confirmed all the group’s remaining shops, warehouse and support centre workers were set to lose their jobs.
Family-owned Wilko employed 12,500 staff and ran 400 shops before it hired administrators early last month after it came under pressure from weak consumer spending and debts to suppliers.
Billionaire owner of HMV Doug Putman said he had hoped to save a lot of stores and jobs, and was hoping to keep up to 300 Wilko shops open, but his bid has failed as rising costs complicated the deal.
B&M and Poundland have each made announcements confirming that they will save some stores and rebrand them under their own names. 71 Wilko shops will rebrand under Poundland, and 51 will become B&M stores.
Wilko CEO Mark Jackson said management had “left no stone unturned” in its efforts to preserve the business. He added: “But we must concede that, with regret, we’ve no choice but to take the difficult decision to enter into administration.”
Why is Wilko closing stores?
The firm was unable to secure emergency funding to save its 400 stores throughout the UK.
Wilko has struggled in the economic climate and last year borrowed £40 million to stay afloat, changed its leadership team, and sold a distribution centre.
It also struggled to pay suppliers and this led to shoppers noticing gaps on its shelves.
Last year, the owners of the brand took £3 million in dividends despite the business falling almost £37 million into the red before the injection of £40 million.
Wilko is continuing to trade while in administration but overall control is with the administrator rather than former management.
When is Wilko closing down?
Business leaders behind Poundland, Primark, and Home Bargains were all reportedly in the running for a takeover bid but this appears to have failed and time has run out.
As of now, no decisions have been officially announced and many remaining Wilko stores are still operating. Announcements on closures and job losses are expected imminently.
Which stores are closing?
The following stores will shut on Monday September 25:
- Altrincham, Greater Manchester
- Ashton, Greater Manchester
- Barry, WalesBridgwater, Somerset
- Cleveleys, Lancashire
- Cockermouth, Cumbria
- Crossgates, Leeds
- Darlington, County Durham
- Dartford, Kent
- Dereham, Norfolk
- Giltbrook, Nottingham
- Great Malvern, Worcestershire
- Haverfordwest, Wales
- Headingley, West Yorkshire
- High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
- Ilkeston, Derbyshire
- Killingworth, North Tyneside
- Lichfield, Staffordshire
- Louth, Lincolnshire
- Market Drayton, Shropshire
- Northfield, Birmingham
- Oakham, Rutland
- Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire
- Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- Ramsgate, Kent
- Skelmersdale, Lancashire
- Staines, Surrey
- Strood, Kent
- Stroud, Gloucestershire
- Thamesmead, Greater London
- Thetford, Norfolk
- Trowbridge, Wiltshire
- Walthamstow, Greater London
- Warrington, Lancashire
- Waterlooville, Hampshire
- Winton, Dorset
- Yiewsley, Greater London
The following stores will shut on Wednesday September 27:
- Acocks Green, Birmingham, West Midlands
- Alnwick, Northumberland
- Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales
- Armley, Leeds, West Yorkshire
- Arnison-Durham, Durham, County Durham
- Bedford, Bedfordshire
- Blyth, Northumberland
- Boston, Lincolnshire, East Midlands
- Brentwood, Essex
- Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
- Chester Le Street, County Durham
- Gillingham, Kent
- Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Greenwich, London
- Halesowen, Dudley, West Midlands
- Harlow, Essex
- Hartlepool, County Durham
- Kidderminster, Worcestershire
- Lewisham, London
- Longton, Stoke-on-Trent
- Meadowhall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
- Motherwell, North Lanarkshire
- Newark, Nottinghamshire
- Nuneaton, Warwickshire
- Rainham, London
- Runcorn, Cheshire
- Six Acre Shopping Centre, Sale, Greater Manchester
- Salford, Greater Manchester
- South Shields, Tyne and Wear
- Sutton-In-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire
- Thornaby, North Yorkshire
- Watford, Hertfordshire
- Wellington, Somerset
- Whitehaven, Cumbria
- Wigston, Leicestershire
- Worksop, Nottinghamshire
- Yeovil, Somerset
The following stores will shut on Friday September 29:
- Allenton, Derby, Derbyshire
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Bedminster, Bristol
- Biggleswade, Bedfordshire
- Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset
- Bull Ring, Birmingham, West Midlands
- Chippenham, Wiltshire
- Clowne, Derbyshire
- Corby, Northamptonshire
- Cowley, Oxfordshire
- Dudley, West Midlands
- Fareham, Hampshire
- Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
- Gravesend, Kent
- Hayes, Middlesex
- Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
- Hull, East Yorkshire
- Kenilworth, Warwickshire
- Kettering, Northamptonshire
- Kings Lynn, Norfolk
- Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
- Leek, Staffordshire
- Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
- Middlebrook, Bolton, Greater Manchester
- Mildenhall, Suffolk
- Newbury, Berkshire
- Northallerton, North Yorkshire
- Redditch, Worcestershire
- Redhill, Surrey
- Retford, Nottinghamshire
- Rugby, Warwickshire
- Rushden, Northamptonshire
- Spalding, Lincolnshire
- St Helens, Merseyside
- Syston, Leicestershire
- Wallasey, Merseyside
- Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
Wilko is continuing to trade and has not announced any redundancies after formally entering insolvency last week (Sam Russell/PA)
/ Sam Russell / PAHow many Wilko stores are in London?
There are at least 26 Wilko shops in London. These are:
- Kensington High Street
- Fulham
- Hammersmith
- Putney
- Tooting
- Lewisham
- Wood Green
- Stratford
- Acton
- Tottenham Hale
- Walthamstow
- Edmonton Green
- Barking
- Ilford
- East Ham
- Greenwich
- Thamesmead
- Colindale
- Wembley
- Wimbledon
- Penge
- Sutton
- New Malden
- Kingston
- Bromley
- Bexleyheath
These are the London stores set to shut next week:
- Thamesmead, Greater London
- Walthamstow, Greater London
- Yiewsley, Greater London
- Greenwich, London
- Lewisham, London
- Rainham, London