The owner of discount retailer Poundland will take over the leases of up to 71 of Wilko’s 400 stores after the chain’s collapse.
The Pepco Group will rebrand the branches under the Poundland name.
It comes after Wilko went into administration last month, putting 12,500 jobs at risk.
Hopes that many branches of the discount homeware retailer could be saved were seemingly dashed earlier this week when a rescue deal involving the owner of HMV collapsed.
Wilko started closing its branches on Tuesday, with 28 more scheduled to shut tomorrow before the rest cease trading by early next month.
Poundland managing director Barry Williams said: “In the coming weeks we will work quickly with landlords so we can open these stores as Poundlands with the new ranges that have been pivotal to our recent development.
“And once that process is complete, we will ensure a significant number of the Wilko colleagues will join our Poundland team.”
While the deal includes “up to” 71 Wilko outlets, a Poundland spokesman said the final total would depend on talks with the landlords of each site to agree lease terms.
Will your local Wilko become a Poundland? Here’s the full list:
• Aberdare, Wales
• Alfreton, Derbyshire
• Alnwick, Northumberland
• Altrincham, Greater Manchester
• Ammanford, Carmarthenshire
• Ashby, North Lincolnshire
• Barking, London
• Bedminster, Somerset
• Beeston, Nottinghamshire
• Bicester, Oxfordshire
• Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire
• Bletchley, Milton Keynes
• Bolton, Greater Manchester
Image:
Poundland taking over 71 Wilko stores
• Brentwood, Essex
• Brigg, North Lincolnshire
• Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
• Chepstow, Wales
• Coalville, Leicestershire
• Cramlington, Northumberland
• Droitwich, Worcestershire
• Eccles, Greater Manchester
• Edmonton Green, Greater London
• Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
• Ferndown, Dorset
• Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
• Grays, Essex
• Greenock, Inverclyde
• Grimsby, North Lincolnshire
• Havant, Hampshire
• Hayes, Middlesex
• Headingley, West Yorkshire
• Hessle Road – Hull, East Yorkshire
• Hillsborough, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
• Hitchin, Hertfordshire
• Jarrow, South Tyneside
• Killingworth, North Tyneside
• Kimberley, Nottingham
• Lee Circle, Leicester, East Midlands
• Leek, Staffordshire
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Lichfield, Staffordshire
• Maidenhead, Berkshire
• Matlock, Derbyshire
• Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
• Nelson, Lancashire
• Northallerton, North Yorkshire
• Orton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
• Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire
• Peterlee, County Durham
• Pontefract, West Yorkshire
• Pontypool, Wales
• Redhill, Surrey
• Redruth, Cornwall
• Ripley, Derbyshire
• Rugeley, Staffordshire
• Sale, Greater Manchester
• Seaham, County Durham
• Selly Oak, Birmingham, West Midlands
• Shrewsbury Darwin Centre, Shropshire
• South Shields, South Tyneside
• Southport, Lancashire
• Stafford, Staffordshire
• Stamford, Lincolnshire
• Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Thornaby, North Yorkshire
• Wellington, Shropshire
• Wembley, London
• West Ealing, London
• Wombwell, South Yorkshire
• Worcester, Worcestershire
• Worksop, Nottinghamshire
The takeover follows the news last week that fellow discount retailer B&M had snapped up 51 other Wilko stores.
The locations of the branches obtained by B&M are yet to be revealed because they are subject to a confidentiality agreement, administrators PwC said.
