Wilko's goes into Administration

[londonbridge]

I hope not. I can listen to music at home, I don’t need it while shopping, most of all Christmas music in November.

Was recently browsing in a Salvation Army shop which was already playing a Christmas tape.

 

[Russel]

I presume the wares on sale bear no resemblance to that of the former occupier ?.

My local Wilko has just reopened as a Poundland, if it wasn't for the signage, you'd think it was still Wilko, similar products, same shelving, same tills, same layout...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

My local Wilko has just reopened as a Poundland, if it wasn't for the signage, you'd think it was still Wilko, similar products, same shelving, same tills, same layout...

Indeed. And, of course, the absence of Wilko own-brand products.

 

[Citybreak1]

Plymouth billionaire wants to reopen 300 Wilko stores

Retail magnate says he could reopen hundreds of former Wilko stores while his The Range chain continues to grow

www.plymouthherald.co.uk

Plymouth billionaire Chris Dawson could reopen nearly 300 Wilko stores around the UK. The retail magnate said he is looking at locations where Wilko previously traded before..

 

[Mojo]

“Could” seems to be doing a fair bit of heavy lifting here. They still haven’t announced the locations of the two remaining shops they said would be opening before Christmas, let alone the opening dates.

 

[m79900]

“Could” seems to be doing a fair bit of heavy lifting here. They still haven’t announced the locations of the two remaining shops they said would be opening before Christmas, let alone the opening dates.

Open one in Wirksworth, its in need of a proper hardware store! It used to have a few, but they've all but closed down.

 

[lookapigeon]

“Could” seems to be doing a fair bit of heavy lifting here. They still haven’t announced the locations of the two remaining shops they said would be opening before Christmas, let alone the opening dates.

It's an optimistic view, but then again it's good PR for him to get people talking; practically speaking the shops will still have all of the fixtures in situ (the Wilkos I've seen anyway have had all the shelves etc still in place, and not dismantled or ripped out) so will likely only need small amounts of work doing (stock refilling, pos/signage, IT/telecoms, staffing, utilities) and be fairly turnkey.
He will also get to cherry pick the locations (and binning off the poorly located ones) and negotiate new terms with landlords - who no doubt would rather see the shop filled and getting a rent from a client than it lay empty.

 

[Peter Sarf]

@Citybreak1

Plymouth billionaire wants to reopen 300 Wilko stores

Retail magnate says he could reopen hundreds of former Wilko stores while his The Range chain continues to grow

www.plymouthherald.co.uk

Plymouth billionaire Chris Dawson could reopen nearly 300 Wilko stores around the UK. The retail magnate said he is looking at locations where Wilko previously traded before..

Bear in mind "The Range" own the rights to "Wilkos" so plenty of potential.

Open one in Wirksworth, its in need of a proper hardware store! It used to have a few, but they've all but closed down.

Can we have one in Croydon please ?.

It's an optimistic view, but then again it's good PR for him to get people talking; practically speaking the shops will still have all of the fixtures in situ (the Wilkos I've seen anyway have had all the shelves etc still in place, and not dismantled or ripped out) so will likely only need small amounts of work doing (stock refilling, pos/signage, IT/telecoms, staffing, utilities) and be fairly turnkey.
He will also get to cherry pick the locations (and binning off the poorly located ones) and negotiate new terms with landlords - who no doubt would rather see the shop filled and getting a rent from a client than it lay empty.

Rivals like Poundland seem to have snapped up all/many of the most attractive locations.

 

[Citybreak1]

I read the new changes will be paint mixing machines and grocery’s for first time and self service will return and the pick and mix. Owner wants same locations reopened too.

 

[ChrisC]

Rivals like Poundland seem to have snapped up all/many of the most attractive locations.

That certainly isn‘t the case in what was Wilko’s original heartland of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Most of the towns in these counties had large, often quite modern Wilko stores, which are now standing empty. Most of these are prime town centre sites and these include Chesterfield, Mansfield, Newark and even Nottingham City Centre. Hucknall, Arnold, Bulwell, Sutton in Ashfield are more Nottinghamshire towns which now have large empty Wilko shops in the town centre and there are dozens more around here.

 

[Citybreak1]

Lots of empty Debenhams ect so even if Poundland snapped up they could find wilko back trading same location. I wonder if the rivals regret buying these stores maybe depends how quick The Range can open. Poundland have done almost 60 reopening in a few weeks so possible to reach 300.

 

[Peter Sarf]

That certainly isn‘t the case in what was Wilko’s original heartland of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Most of the towns in these counties had large, often quite modern Wilko stores, which are now standing empty. Most of these are prime town centre sites and these include Chesterfield, Mansfield, Newark and even Nottingham City Centre. Hucknall, Arnold, Bulwell, Sutton in Ashfield are more Nottinghamshire towns which now have large empty Wilko shops in the town centre and there are dozens more around here.

Those will be the more established stores and I wold hope they would be a good place to re-start.

I read the new changes will be paint mixing machines and grocery’s for first time and self service will return and the pick and mix. Owner wants same locations reopened too.

I would have thought groceries was a dangerous digression. A move into perishable goods that The Range don't bother with afaikt.

 

[Citybreak1]

Those will be the more established stores and I wold hope they would be a good place to re-start.

I would have thought groceries was a dangerous digression. A move into perishable goods that The Range don't bother with afaikt.

True but most other discounters sell food

 

[Peter Sarf]

True but most other discounters sell food

Oh yes I suppose your correct. Plus I was thinking how the groceries suppliers have diverged into hardware and clothes - but that is an easier direction.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Those will be the more established stores and I wold hope they would be a good place to re-start.

I would have thought groceries was a dangerous digression. A move into perishable goods that The Range don't bother with afaikt.

I think the Range already have a very limited, er, range of long(ish) life food like crisps and chocolate

 

[Dai Corner]

I think the Range already have a very limited, er, range of long(ish) life food like crisps and chocolate

A decent stock of pet foods too, to suit everything from goldfish to dogs.

 

[m79900]

Oh yes I suppose your correct. Plus I was thinking how the groceries suppliers have diverged into hardware and clothes - but that is an easier direction.

To me, hardware stores branching into groceries makes perfect sense. It means they still supply the goods which people increasingly buy ont t'interweb, but remain profitable by virtue of the food business.

 

[Yew]

It would be interesting to see how Wilko would have fared if they had got on board the lunchtime meal-deal bandwagon. I could see it leading to lots of "well whilst I'm here anyway" purchases.

Similarly, I think I've been in a Wilkos with a Cafe, but I can't remember if if was one of the more upmarket Costa/Starbucks type cafes that you might see in a Next, or something more in the budget range.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

It would be interesting to see how Wilko would have fared if they had got on board the lunchtime meal-deal bandwagon. I could see it leading to lots of "well whilst I'm here anyway" purchases.

I'm not sure if it sold a "meal deal" but my local Wilko did sell sandwiches... they were *awful* - the absolute bottom of the barrel as far as pre-packed sandwiches go.

 

[Richardr]

Groceries though are one of the most competitive markets, and to have a small limited range in town and city centres where there are alternatives with a much larger range and low price seems to be a risk. If they are just selling top up or sandwiches then again there is plenty of competition.

 

[SuspectUsual]

To me, hardware stores branching into groceries makes perfect sense. It means they still supply the goods which people increasingly buy ont t'interweb, but remain profitable by virtue of the food business.

Yes, but the margin on food is a tiny fraction of the margin on non-food, and you lose stock to markdown and waste - that's fundamentally why the big supermarkets went into clothing, homewares etc etc in the first place. To work the other way round you have to sell a *lot* of food

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Looks like questions are to be asked of the business's former owners / auditors, in particular as regards an alleged shortfall in the firm's pension fund and also the circumstances under which dividend payments were made.

Wilko bosses and auditor to be quizzed by MPs over retailer’s collapse

Former CEO and chair of discount chain and EY representatives will face questions

www.ft.com

Extracts...

Wilko bosses and auditor to be quizzed by MPs over retailer’s collapse

Former CEO and chair of discount chain and EY representatives will face questions.

The former bosses and auditor of collapsed UK retail chain Wilko have been summoned to appear before MPs next week to explain why the 92-year-old company went bust.

The Commons’ business and trade committee has written to Wilko’s former chief executive and chair, and representatives at accountancy firm EY, to ask about the shortfall in Wilko’s pension fund and dividend payments it made “when it was heavily indebted”.

 

[Dai Corner]

Looks like questions are to be asked of the business's former owners / auditors, in particular as regards an alleged shortfall in the firm's pension fund and also the circumstances under which dividend payments were made.

Wilko bosses and auditor to be quizzed by MPs over retailer’s collapse

Former CEO and chair of discount chain and EY representatives will face questions

www.ft.com

Extracts...

The Committee is taking oral evidence from the former Chair and CEO right now. Watch and listen at the following link

Parliamentlive.tv

Business and Trade Committee

parliamentlive.tv

 

[Citybreak1]

Looks like questions are to be asked of the business's former owners / auditors, in particular as regards an alleged shortfall in the firm's pension fund and also the circumstances under which dividend payments were made.

Wilko bosses and auditor to be quizzed by MPs over retailer’s collapse

Former CEO and chair of discount chain and EY representatives will face questions

www.ft.com

Extracts...

So the mini budget was to blame

 

[Mojo]

So the mini budget was to blame

That does appear to be the line Wilkinson seems to want people to believe… If you’re a business being kept alive in the first place by an unusually low interest rate then I would suspect that there are more issues at hand than just an increase to the interest rate, which most likely would have happened anyway as a result of economic policies, particularly those enacted to facilitate lockdowns.

 

[Dai Corner]

That does appear to be the line Wilkinson seems to want people to believe… If you’re a business being kept alive in the first place by an unusually low interest rate then I would suspect that there are more issues at hand than just an increase to the interest rate, which most likely would have happened anyway as a result of economic policies, particularly those enacted to facilitate lockdowns.

Two things I didn't know about came up in this morning's hearing.

Wilkinson's lost £40m in foreign exchange dealings after paying for stock from the far east in US dollars and £60m on a project to modernise their warehouse operations which went badly wrong.

 

[SuspectUsual]

£60m on a project to modernise their warehouse operations which went badly wrong

I've been waiting for that to get mentioned. It was glossed over at the hearing today but was an absolute disaster on the ground, despite the change consultants (still!) having a website raving about how great their part was in it all

Wilko Optimus: the Logistics of Successful Change — Enthuse Comms

Wilko described our work as "the best change management and communications ever seen on a transformation programme". Find out why in this case study.

www.enthuse-comms.co.uk

(Link is to the comms consultants' case study on the work they did for Wilko)

 

[JD2168]

It would be interesting to see how Wilko would have fared if they had got on board the lunchtime meal-deal bandwagon. I could see it leading to lots of "well whilst I'm here anyway" purchases.

Similarly, I think I've been in a Wilkos with a Cafe, but I can't remember if if was one of the more upmarket Costa/Starbucks type cafes that you might see in a Next, or something more in the budget range.

Sheffield Centre Wilko’s had a Cafe upstairs, was run by Mazarellas staff & never really reopened after COVID, it was only busy around Lunchtime & closed up mid-afternoon. The area was turned into a warehouse. The sandwiches in store were supplied by Greencore & usually did well with the office staff trade but again after COVID the trade never really recovered. The Fridge was empty after about February with a claim of a new range coming but it never did.

The Wilko warehouse that caused the problems was DC2 at Magyr in Wales near the M5. It got to a point where some stores did not receive a delivery for the best part of a fortnight due to the issues. DC2 mainly served Wales & the South of England. The rest including Scotland & Isle of Man came through DC1. As Wilko went into administration the DC1 changes at Worksop were just finishing.

The main part I noticed was that it took one of the panel to get Lisa Wilkinson to say sorry, something that should have happened a lot earlier.

 

[Citybreak1]

Stores back open yesterday.

Some comments online Daily Mail think it’s actually selling Range products under Wilko name. How ignorant as it’s actually full of Wilko branded products and The Range now sell Wilko branded items.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Stores back open yesterday.

Some comments online Daily Mail think it’s actually selling Range products under Wilko name. How ignorant as it’s actually full of Wilko branded products and The Range now sell Wilko branded items.

I suppose the question is :-
Is it any old products branded as "Wilko" or
Is it "Wilko" branded products that Wilko formerly sold and that are still made by the same manufacturers ?.

My belief is that it is fully original Wilko products.

But nothing to say some of the original "The Range" branded products were exactly the same as the original "Wilko" branded product anyway. So some who never knew the Wilko range (no pun intended) might not think of it the way many ex Wilko customers would.

However I think there may be some genuinely non original Wilko products appearing over time - it makes sense as the product range portfolio evolves. I think I read that the Range will be doing mixed-to-order paints under the "Wilko" brand. I am not aware that Wilko used to do that but I cannot be sure as I did not have the privilege of a local Wilko store !.