Wilko was a privately owned, value-led mixed goods retailer with some 400 UK stores and annual sales of around £1.3bn in the year to January 2022 (FY2021).
The business collapsed into administration in August 2023, however, with the stores and online business being sold piecemeal to other value retailers from September.
The Range completed a £5m deal in late 2023 with the acquisition of the Wilko website and IP from administrators.
The Wilko site was relaunched under The Range’s ownership in October the same year, with over 100,000 lines now live on site.
As of April 2024, there were five Wilko stores across the UK with its new owner planning an “aggressive rollout” of the brand through 2024. Chief executive Chris Dawson was reported to be considering upwards of 300 stores in the long-term, with around 50 opening per year.
Wilko re-launched its click-and-collect capability the same month, with customers able to have orders delivered to its stores or 200 collection points via The Range.
In March 2024, Wilko launched a new tool hire service dubbed ‘Wilkohire’.
Wilko commenced a trial in its St Albans and Rotherham stores from May 2024 to range Iceland products in a new frozen foods area. Wilko owner CDS Superstores commented “Our new stores in Rotherham and St Albans have a much larger food offer including the introduction of some Iceland product. There are natural synergies between the Wilko and Iceland customer bases, so this trial feels like a great opportunity to test new and exciting formats.”
Originally trading as Wilkinson Hardware Stores, the retailer had completed a multichannel restructuring of the business and rebranded it as Wilko in 2014. But having struggled with fulfilment costs, the retailer had to scale back on some of its multichannel ambitions and only started accelerating the rollout of click and collect again from late 2022.
In October 2022 Wilko drafted in advisory experts Teneo as it sought to cut costs and shore up its balance sheet in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
Upping ecommerce capabilities from 2024
Wilko looks set to launch its products on Amazon’s UK webstore from mid-October 2024, with a number of its products listed on the retailers site and a “coming soon” message on its store front.
The retailer is rapidly rebuilding its under its new owners.
A partnership with rapid delivery partner Deliveroo was announced the same month, with an initial 10 locations across the UK, offering customers a range of 3,000 products. The retailer plans to roll out to 50 locations by the end of the year.
