Wilko brand set to be bought by The Range as carve up continues
The Range is poised to buy the brand and intellectual property of Wilko, as the collapsed high street store continues to be carved up by competitors.
The budget friendly homeware retailer intends to sell Wilko-branded goods in its some 200 stores across the UK and also keep its website, but it will not keep any of its stores or employee roles.
According to reports first published in Sky News, the deal will be worth around £5m.
It follows news yesterday that Poundland owner Pepco would buy 71 of its stores, after B&M bought 51 of its sites in a £13m deal.
None of the 12,500 job roles were saved in the process, though Wilko’s administrators, PwC, said they were confident both sales would create a “platform” for future employment opportunities.
Earlier this week, all hopes for the rescue for Wilko were crushed after a deal with HMV owner Doug Putman fell through due to over concerns about the costs of the retailer’s infrastructure.
Formerly known as Wilkinson Cash Stores, Wilko arrived on the high street in 1930, launched by James Kemsey Wilkinson and his fiancee Mary Cooper in Leicester.
But a cocktail of dwindling demand for physical stores and competition in the discount market appeared to tip Wilko into administration.
Even when a squeeze on the public’s finances forced shoppers back to the high street in search of cheaper goods, they seemed to favour rivals B&M and Poundland.
PwC and The Range were contacted for comment.