Wilko’s new boss has revealed plans to open up to 300 new shops following the historic Nottinghamshire retailer’s collapse.
The owner of The Range, Chris Dawson, which acquired the wilko brand, website and its intellectual property, announced that deals are underway to reopen 50 closed wilko stores, while speaking to PlymouthLive.
These are currently “with the lawyers,” and come in addition to three which will open in the next two weeks, but there are plans for around 300 in total, primarily opening where they were before.
The plans were shared while Dawson and CEO Alex Simpkin visited the Plymouth wilko outlet.
Simpkin told PlymouthLive that while wilko had 406 stores, “we don’t see that, our intelligence says we will do just under 300.” He noted that they do not know how long this will take.
The news comes after ex-wilko boss Lisa Wilkinson, granddaughter of the founder of wilko, was put in front of MPs, with accusations that the business collapsed due to family greed.
She noted feeling “devastated” and placed some blame on the impact of last year’s mini budget, which increased the interest rate on a loan wilko was trying to secure with Macquarie, making it infeasible. Staying open during the pandemic was further noted as one of the company’s biggest mistakes.
Lisa Wilkinson added that the business had in the end failed due to running out of cash.
