Wilko products will return to high street this week – where you can find the brand in stores
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Wilko’s brand, website and intellectual property was bought by The Range last month
Wilko products are set to return to the high street this Friday, with The Range stocking the brand across its stores in the UK.
It comes after the historic retail chain Wilko closed its doors for the final time earlier this month, after collapsing into administration.
The Range, which bought the Wilko brand, website and intellectual property for £5million, will bring back the brand with Wilko bays selling branded home, garden, pet and lifestyle products in its 210 stores.
The company will also sell Wilko products online, after buying the wilko.com website.
Alex Simpkin, chief executive of The Range, said: “Wilko is a much-loved and trusted UK brand and it was important to us to allow it to live on.
“We noticed Wilko customers were really disappointed to see stores closed, especially when it seemed they would no longer be able to buy their favourite products.
“We have worked hard and at pace to ensure they still have access to their favourite lines by bringing them into our own stores and online at wilko.com within a matter of weeks.”
Mr Simpkin also said the retailer is “moving forwards with an aggressive growth strategy” with plans to open more stores in the near future.
A number of Wilko properties have already been reopened under new branding after Poundland owner Pepco agreed to buy up to 71 Wilko sites from administrators.
Poundland has opened 37 former Wilko locations within three weeks, with 19 more Wilko-to-Poundland conversions opening up in the next couple of weeks.
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Wilko products will be stocked on the high street again in The Range from this Friday
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So far, Poundland has offered job roles to more than 500 former Wilko workers.
This week, Poundland announced it intends to open or relocate 75 stores over the three months to the end of Decemberpen or relocate 75 stores over the three months to the end of December.
This will include the existing pipeline of new stores as well as the former Wilko stores it has already opened, or plans to open, as new Poundland stores.
Austin Cooke, Poundland’s managing director said: “To open 75 stores in the space of a single quarter is nothing short of a super-human effort from every member of the Poundland team.
"To each and every one of them I say ‘thank you’. “But we’re working at this pace because we’re on a mission –ambitious to grow, create jobs and serve new communities by opening shops customers and communities can be proud of.”