TOWN centre shoppers have expressed their disappointment at Wilko’s likely departure from the high street as shelves have started to clear in St Helens.
Administrators have confirmed that Earlestown Wilko will close on Tuesday, September 19, and although no information has been given on St Helens’ Cotham Street store, the shop seems to be preparing for the worst with many bare shelves and ‘everything must go’ signs.
With no confirmation on a closure date in St Helens, many people were still using the Cotham Street store this afternoon (Tuesday, September 12) and purchasing some bargain deals while they still can.
It has been announced today that the owners of Poundland to take over the leases of up to 71 Wilko stores.
However, these stores will rebrand under the Poundland name and St Helens and Earlestown has not been confirmed on the list to be saved
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One family who were shopping in St Helens this afternoon said that it is “devastating” that the discount store may soon leave the high street, while Nancy, another shopper, said that she is “gutted” as there aren’t many other shops that she would use in the town centre.
Adding that it is a “real shame” for the staff that may lose their jobs, Nancy said that she “doesn’t know where [she] will shop now”.
Kevin, another shopper, said that it would be a “tragedy” to see Wilko leave the high street as it is a convenient discount store after getting off the bus. As Kevin doesn’t have a car, he said it would be more of a struggle to get to retail parks with more retail offerings.
Karen, a town centre worker at the top end of town, said that she will miss the store as she uses it almost daily for “day to day items”. She said she will probably shop out of the town centre if Wilko leaves the high street.
Martin and Bev had similar feelings to the other shoppers, but admitted that they probably hadn’t used the discount store as much as they should have.
As Wilko looks likely to become the latest casualty of the high street, the couple said that they have “seen the decline of the town centre in front of [their] eyes” in St Helens, accelerated with the rise of online shopping and retail parks.
Although no closure has been confirmed in St Helens, it looks like the end of the road for Wilko as numerous takeover bids have failed after its administration was announced in early August.
The GMB Union, which represents more than 3,000 Wilko staff, revealed that all of Wilko’s 400 stores are likely to close by early October following a meeting with the retailer’s administrators yesterday (Monday, September 11).
While it was revealed that B&M bought 51 stores from Wilko last week, this was purely for the sites locations and not the management of staff.
Other discount chains are also reported to be looking into purchasing some part of the business.
Zelf Hussain, joint administrator, says: “Despite the significant and intensive efforts of both ourselves and Putman Investments - the remaining party interested in buying a significant part of the business as a going concern - a transaction could not be progressed due to the inability to reduce central infrastructure costs quickly enough to make a deal commercially viable
“The dedication shown by all team members during this period has been hugely humbling and we are grateful for the patience and understanding they have shown.
"As with those who have already been given notice of redundancy, we will guide and support those team members impacted over the coming weeks through the redundancy claims process. We also continue to collaborate closely with relevant agencies and engage with any potential employers to help facilitate a quick return into new employment for those impacted.
“We continue to work with potential buyers for different parts of the business and are confident of completing transactions in the coming days.”
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