The 93-year-old high street name collapsed into administration last year, but could new plans see wilko re-open in Rotherham?
Administrators said that Wilko was hit by “incredibly challenging” trading conditions, both throughout the pandemic and more recently as it has felt the impact of the cost of living crisis, resulting in increasing cashflow pressure and a deterioration in trading.
In September, The Range bought Wilko’s brand, website and intellectual property for £5m
Last week, The Range, on-behalf of “wilko” began the recruitment process for a number of roles, including store manager, assistant manager, retail assistants, warehouse and cleaning roles.
Wilko is planning to recruit up to 80 local team members per store, with new owner, CDS Superstores, pledging to prioritise interviews for ex-wilko employees.
Alex Simpkin, CEO of CDS Superstores, trading as The Range and wilko, 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.
“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.”
Those interested in roles at the store, can apply via the jobs page here.
