Closing dates have been confirmed for a number of Wilko stores in Swindon and Devizes after administrators failed to secure a deal from any suitor to buy the business.
Administrators at PwC had already confirmed the locations of 52 Wilko stores that will close next week – but now the administrators have announced a last-ditch attempt by the owner of HMV to strike a rescue deal for Wilko has failed, leaving thousands of jobs at troubled retailer Wilko to go with 124 more stores to shut between Sunday September 17th and Thursday September 21st – including Swindon’s two branches and also the branch in Devizes.
Administrators were in discussions with Doug Putman, of Putman Investments, over a deal to buy around 400 Wilko shops which was then reduced to 200 after cashflow concerns however talks have now collapsed with PwC now concentrating on talks with Poundland over a potential deal to save around 100 stores with other high street chains including The Range and Home Bargains also reportedly interested in buying the brand and possibly a small number of the remaining stores.
This follows the news that B&M announced would purchase 51 shops in a £13m deal, but the locations of those have not been confirmed.
52 stores were announced to be closing this week and any potential rescue deal now appears to have come too late for the two Swindon stores with closing dates announced.
Greenbridge will close on Tuesday 19th September with the Town Centre store closing a couple of days later on Thursday 21st September.
Nadine Houghton, national officer at the GMB union, said: “Wilko may have ceased genuinely being a family brand many years ago, but the staff kept the real family ethos of Wilko alive until the very end. It is the family that Wilko colleagues made for themselves that will be missed the most.”
The following stores will close on Tuesday 19 September:
Aberdare
Alfreton
Ashby
Barnstaple
Belper
Beverley
Blackheath
Brigg
Byker
Chepstow
Clifton Nottingham
Colindale
Devizes
Didcot
Earlestown
East Ham
Great Bridge
Greenbridge
Grimsby
Hessle Road – Hull
Jarrow
Kimberley
Leighton Buzzard
Long Eaton
Maesteg
Matlock
Middleton
Newton Abbot
Redcar
Ripley
Seaham
Sherwood
Stamford
Stevenage
Swanley
Tamworth
Wrexham
Wythenshawe
The following stores will close on Thursday 21 September:
Allestree
Andover
Bedford
Beeston
Bicester
Bloxwich
Bolton
Bordon
Bransholme
Bridgend
Bury
Carlton
Clacton-on-Sea
Cramlington
Crewe
Cwmbran
Cyfarthfa
Denton
Driffield
Droitwich
Edmonton Green
Farnborough
Fort Kinnaird
Fulham
Gateshead
Gorleston
Grays
Greenock
Havant
Hereford
Hillsborough
Holyhead
Newton Aycliffe
Northampton
Orton
Parc Trostre Llanelli
Penge
Peterlee
Pwllheli
Shrewsbury
Slough
Swindon
Tamworth Retail Park
Taunton
Walton-on-Thames
Wheatley Retail Park
Wigan
Wolverhampton
