WILKO is set to shut its first shops this week as it prepares to close all of its 400 stores for goods.
The 90-year-old retailer will close 52 branches across tomorrow and Thursday after failing to secure a deal to rescue the stores.
ReutersWilko is set to close more stores tomorrow as it prepares to close all of its 400 stores[/caption]
Administrators from PwC said last week the closures will lead to 1,016 redundancies.
Wilko was dealt a further blow this morning after HMV owner Doug Putman confirmed he has failed in a bid to strike a deal to buy around 200 stores.
A source later told The Sun that all of the high street retailer’s stores will close by early October.
It means redundancies now look likely for all 12,500 staff at Wilko.
The GMB union said on that Wilko’s warehouses in Worksop and Newport are now both due to close on Friday, September 15.
It added that a further 124 stores are due to close next week, with these set to shut between September 19 and September 21.
The failure to secure a deal means that remaining offers on the table are only likely to purchase a number of Wilko stores, and are not expected to include workers.
PwC has already agreed a roughly £13 million deal to sell up to 51 Wilko stores to rival B&M.
But the name Wilko could still live on as rival discounter The Range is in talks to take on the Wilko brand.
A deal would not include any shop locations, it’s understood, but could see the Wilko name used online or for certain products, though details are still being finalised.
Meanwhile, Poundland is also working out a deal to take on around 70 locations, sources say, but they would not stay as Wilko stores.
Below is a full list of Wilko shops that will close tomorrow:
Acton, LondonAldershot, HampshireBarking, LondonBishop Auckland, County DurhamBletchley, Milton KeynesBrownhills, WalsallCamberley, SurreyCardiff Bay Retail ParkFalmouth, CornwallHarpurhey, ManchesterIrvine, North AyrshireLiverpool Edge LaneLlandudno, WalesLowestoft, SuffolkMorley, LeedsNelson, LancashirePort Talbot, WalesPutney, LondonStafford, StaffordshireTunbridge Wells, KentWakefield, 121 KirkgateWeston-super-Mare, SomersetWestwood Cross Retail Park, Broadstairs, KentWinsford, Cheshire
Plus the following Wilko shops will close on Thursday, September 14:
Ashford, KentAvonmeads, BristolBanbury, OxfordshireBarrow-in-Furness, CumbriaBasildon, EssexBelle Vale, LiverpoolBurnley, LancashireClydebank, GlasgowCortonwood, BarnsleyDagenham, EssexDewsbury, West YorkshireEccles, Greater ManchesterFolkestone, KentGreat Yarmouth, NorfolkHammersmith, LondonHuddersfield, West YorkshireMorriston, SwanseaNew Malden, South-west LondonNorth Shields, Tyne and WearQueen Street, CardiffRhyl, WalesSouthampton West QuaySt Austell, CornwallStockport, Greater ManchesterTruro, CornwallUttoxeter, StaffordshireWalsallWoking, Surrey
Wilko tumbled into administration early last month after it came under pressure from weak consumer spending and debts to suppliers.
Chief executive officer, Mark Jackson, said that the company had “left no stone unturned” in a bid to save the chain.
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