Wilko’s….

I’ll miss the garden department, they have a good range of stuff and it’s much cheaper than the garden centre. B&M is far too ‘trinket’ orientated for what I want, whereas Wilko sells the basics like plant pots in different sizes, plant supports, netting, ant killer etc. as well as plants and seeds.

I often use Wilco for my gardening stuff, those huge reusable garden refuse bags, plant stakes, seeds, and bulbs. Often there’s other stuff that goes in the trolly. Their washing and cleaning items are cheap and I have used their paint in the past, it’s very good.
Where I am there is a huge B&M, with a garden centre and parking outside. I still prefer Wilco. I’ll be sad to see it go.

Our local store has been on the slide for some time. I’ll be sad if it goes but I have been using it less and less due to shortage of stuff and difficulty parking nearby.

Someone told me a few years ago that someone new had taken over and wanted to turn it into a more up market store. Thankfully it didn’t happen. DH, who worked in sales and marketing, said that you often get someone join a company who makes sweeping changes, upsets everything and everybody and then they go off to do the same somewhere else. Wilkinson must be one of the few companies not to have been taken over by a larger concern. I often wonder, when I see one large company take over smaller ones, what happened to the monopolies commission. I do hope that Argos ( no idea who owns them these days) doesn’t go. When my iPad died during a bank holiday Argos was the only shop open that I could buy a replacement from. Our local Curries closed down and any purchases have to be made online: I really want to actually see a fridge etc in the flesh before I buy it. It’ll be interesting to see who takes Wilko’s over because the stores are often in prime locations. If it isn’t taken over as a going concern it will be another nail in the coffin of our dying high streets. I’d love to know what’s happening in the background.

There are quite a few cheaper stores in our local town, but we usually have a look in Wilko.
I found it annoying as they wanted everyone to use self-service, rather than pay with an assistant.
My dog's favourite chews are Wilko's own brand, he finds them a real treat. Also, their storage item range and range of plants are very good and reasonably priced.
It looks like the store will go the same way as Woolworths and BHS, which is a shame.

Woolworths are still big in Europe aren’t they?

Sainsbury's bought Argos in 2016, closed a lot of the standalone stores and integrated outlets into their supermarkets. The city centre store here was closed and integrated into the supermarket but there still a standalone store in an out-of-town retail park.

I dont hold out much hope for Wilko as an ongoing brand. I forgot to mention above that the finance and restructuring company Hilco also handled Homebase. Hilco bought Homebase for a nominal sum in 2018 after a disastrous spell under Australian group Wesfarmers. Last I heard, Hugh Osmond, who used to own Pizza Express, was interested in buying Homebase. The Homebase here closed earlier in the year and Wickes are moving in so maybe Osmond's bid came to nothing.

I don't know about Woolworth in France, Maybee but Woolworth Deutschland is big. Wiki ...

a chain of department stores in Germany and was a former subsidiary of the American F. W. Woolworth Company. As of 2022 the chain has more than 570 stores in Germany and 3 in Poland they are aiming to have over 1,000 in the medium term and over 5,000 across Europe in the long term. It was not part of the closure scheme that affected the British Woolworths Group stores.

I used to love Wilkinsons in my home town before it changed to Wilko. They were my go to shop for anything for the house. They had lovely paint and wallpaper, along with cushions, picture frames etc. We had some lovely china crockery from them.

We have only had a Wilko for a few years where I now live. I do think they are still good for gardening stuff. Their Christmas decorations are always good value.

However, they don't seem to have the range of items they had before. No wallpaper, no basic diy items. In fact half of the shop seems to be cleaning products and personal products (shampoo, make up etc) which doesn't seem to be the best use of space to me.

We also have a B&M and The Range. Wilko always seemed a cut above those two in terms of quality, especially kitchen stuff. We no longer have a Homebase, which I also loved.

Maybe the owners of Homebase will take it on.

We still have one Wilko, the other one in the next town, closed.
Wilko said one thing, landlord put out disclaimer denying what wilko had said. Fishy goings on.

It will be a sad day when and if Wilkos closes, it’s one of our towns biggest employers, as their distribution centre employs around 1200 people here. I think it might be down to competition from similar stores and town centres generally having less footfall.

Quite a few of the folks on our road work shifts there.

MayBee70

Woolworths are still big in Europe aren’t they?

Not that I know. Very posh in South Africa.

Caravansera- in our small market town, Argos was opposite Wilko, with Bon Marché a few doors down. So two closed, one to go- sad.

MayBee70

Woolworths are still big in Europe aren’t they?

Woolworths in Australia is a food supermarket and they still have Big W over there too.
Strange that they couldnt keep going in the UK as the Big W we used to go to was always busy.

I'll be sorry to see Wilko's go; the problem with ours is that there is no car park. Will they still be trading online, I wonder?

Just looked - Home Delivery temporarily unavailable but they are doing Click and Collect.

It’s a great pity Wilko is probably going - there are few stores these days offering such a range of practical household & gardening goods under one roof and at reasonable prices, although I think their range has reduced recently.

I have to travel quite a way to my nearest Wilko but it’s always worth the trip (& I always spend more than I intended to).

RIP to Wilko’s
Another nail in the coffin of High St shops.What will we be left with? More Costas and charity shops.

use them, or lose them - simple.

Plenty of people use Wilko.More down to management issues, I bet.

3dognight

It will be a sad day when and if Wilkos closes, it’s one of our towns biggest employers, as their distribution centre employs around 1200 people here. I think it might be down to competition from similar stores and town centres generally having less footfall.

Quite a few of the folks on our road work shifts there.

I hadn’t thought about their distribution centres closing as well.

Apparently, footfall dropped. More online buying, and people started using B&M and Home Bargains.

Use them or lose them.

A reminder of what happened with Woolworth in the UK which went out of business at the same time as MFI in 2008.

This struck me:

Woolworths has traditionally done more than 80% of its annual business in the six weeks before Christmas.

www.theguardian.com/business/2008/nov/27/woolworths-mfi-rescue-madelson

DiamondLily

Apparently, footfall dropped. More online buying, and people started using B&M and Home Bargains.

Use them or lose them.

Yes, those stores stocking rubbishy cheap goods from China have taken over and the High Street has all but disappeared.

I would really miss Wilkos for gardening stuff and lots of own brand stuff, paint etc. I was in store yesterday and bought a towel and a pillow and DH buys bird seed there often. Parking is easy as it’s part of an out of town complex on the outskirts of York. I had noticed some empty shelves and getting stuff delivered or even click and collect seemed well nigh impossible lately but I’d be really sorry to see them go. I’m not a massive fan of B&M and the like as I don’t think they do quality own brand stuff.

Looks like a case of financial mismanagement - its not that people don't want to shop there. Plus The Range and B&M are apparently doing just fine with a similar offering to Wilko. Both my nearest Wilkos are usually fairly busy, I only shop there once a month but have noticed the gaps on the shelves. I really hope someone rescues it, there isn't a Range or B&M anywhere near me.

I love Wilko - I guess we can still go on-line? I have just bought a garden bench from them. They sent me two by mistake. I returned one and then received an email from them saying I could keep the duplicate . Shame the email arrived one day too late 😩

I'm absolutely gutted! We've not long discovered Wilko paint, it's brilliant! We only ever used Farrow & Ball then a fellow F& B addict recommended Wilko & we haven't looked back. It's about one sixth of the price or even less when on offer, there's a great range of colours & it goes on really well. What will we do now???