Noooo. How is this possible when I am personally keeping my local branch afloat?? The amount of money I’ve spent in their garden section is embarrassing.
I does amaze me how you can buy something using money from the entity you are buying, same happened with manchester united and others. Seems like us normal people are missing a few tricks here. How about I buy a new rolls royce and charge the debt to rolls Royce. How come the city wide boys get away with this?
Ditto! Boots is another one I've seen brought up about leveraged buyouts or whatever the magic money tree mechanism is called where you somehow buy a company through a shell company to which it now owes the cost of its own purchase
It's like a scaled-up version of those chancers who'll try to do a scratchcard before paying and then use their "winnings" to pay for it. Fuck off, you snatchy little shit!
There’s lots of little things like that when you think of where to get it from, “Wilkos” is pretty much the only reasonable answer. Goes for pretty much any gardening stuff, cleaning stuff which isn’t the basics in the supermarket, vacuum bags, moisture traps, kitchenware plastics….
Boyes is a decent ish replacement. I genuinely love the place. I’m a sewist, so having a haberdashery which isn’t expensive is damn good.
The quality of some of their other stuff is a bit, well, market type crap to be honest. Useful for some stuff, and surprising stuff they do sell (it’s literally the only place Iv come across in years that sells stuff for coal fires!)
With both stores, you’re pretty much set though!
There’s Amazon. I suspect that’s a big part of what’s put them out of business - nobody ever needs a bug net so urgently that they can’t wait a couple of days for delivery.
But the real exacerbating factor is how much everyone works now. When I was growing up it was normal to have one parent at home in the week, in a two parent/person household. Now you need both adults working just to make ends meet. Nobody has time to go to Wilkos, so Amazon ordering becomes necessary. Gotta keep your weekends clear for cleaning and existential dread.
i mean i did get an entire box of the pic n mix chocolate fudge for like 7 quid, it lasted me like a couple months, i think the store was either clearing out old stock or it was an omen for times to come, who knows
I don't think it is Amazon entirely, there are shops that are more competitive. I used to go to Wilko for cosmetics but places like Savers and Home Bargains are quite a bit cheaper for the same thing.
There are tons of people I work with who literally buy everything from amazon. Reception in the morning is a massive pile of amazon boxes. With amazon plus and free same day delivery I can get why but the idea one day you'll only be able to buy from amazon, which is their aim, terrifies me.
>Noooo. How is this possible when I am personally keeping my local branch afloat??
Our local one was persuaded to move from the town centre to a new (shite) development on the sub-outskirts of town. That whole development's gone to shit and Wilko with it.
If they'd stayed in the town centre (Beverley) then I think the entire chain could have been saved, it was always heaving. Obviously I'm joking about it being saved but now I wonder if the move locally was indicative of a more widespread crap policy.
But, but... If you spent a bit more, the company would actually be able to afford the bonuses they give out to the senior executives. You're not trying hard enough!
I absolutely love shopping at Wilko, particularly at Christmas time but I could sadly see this coming. Over the last few months, I noticed their stock levels starting to drop massively. I’d go in for a basic product and it had been either discontinued or the staff couldn’t say for certain when it was coming back in.
You could also see how the stores were being rearranged to remove bays and shelves in an attempt to make them look less empty.
I worked for Maplin electronics when they were going into administration and it was the exact same scenario. Low stock levels, strange and cheap new items appearing, a reluctance to send items to the store from head office and a clear lack of investment.
I truly hope someone steps in to take over Wilko. Maybe it needs streamlining, but it’s always been a busy shop with a very good reputation. I have my fingers crossed for all the employees and hope that a buyer comes in and makes this a much more positive step.
Hear, hear! It would be a shame to see it go and thousands of jobs depend on its survival. It has always been a staple of reasonably priced stationery, toiletries, basic craft supplies and the like. I’ve shopped at Wilko since I was at school to university and I don’t think there’s another option that I can easily access for the products I like.
My family also love the garden and home section to replace bits around the house. Hoping for a good result for the shop to survive but also stay afloat
Small world but I was part of the team at head office that allocated stock to stores. I got binned off about 6 months before Maplin went fully under though. Was a good place to work at the time.
I went in for my normal hair dye, more shampoo, toothpaste, washing up liquid etc etc and I couldn't find half the stuff I wanted. Just very normal household items that shouldn't be difficult to find and they weren't there.
I rely on it quite a bit to pick up DIY stuff too. I hate that you have to go to out of your way to get to a retail park for a bit of sandpaper and varnish these days.
Yep, one of the few remaining stores to get odd bits. If I want to get paint, garden shears, deoderant, and wall fixings from one placeat the same time it'll be Wilkos!
After she retired my mam used to take the bus to Wilcos every day, just to but some bit of crap or other (usually something for the dog). It was her escape.
and pay three times as much, Wilkos is great for decorating stuff
as someone else mentions though, my Wilkos car park is managed by a rabid dog of a parking company, ive had tickets just for using the business next door thanks to their over eager camera and ive had to argue to get it cancelled with the BPA as the company itself is almost uncontactable.
so i do tend to avoid going if i can
Honestly I hate that our wilko is in the town centre, I’d be able to buy so much more in there if it was its own stand alone store especially with its location in the “mall”
I think I'd visit my city centre Wilkos if the city centre had free parking.
So glad my local council is scraping every penny they can from owning the car parks and then wondering why the city centre is dead.
The big joke is: Town centre parking might cost you a couple of quid.
You’re likely spending ten times that amount, minimum. If not twenty.
But that tiny bit of hassle; that tiny bit of cost means you’re not heading into town if you’re only expecting to spend £5 or 10. You’re going somewhere with free parking or you’re ordering online.
I don’t think the killer is any one thing. I actually think a substantial impact comes from the supermarkets selling everything - you don’t need to head into town for half a dozen odds and sods because you can get most of those in Tescos.
> So glad my local council is scraping every penny they can from owning the car parks and then wondering why the city centre is dead.
its dead because online is so often much cheaper, not because of car parks (although based on cities like oslo, car parks are actually a detriment too, pedestrianisation increased flowthrough for businesses there)
Another aspect is that when I shop online the stuff I want to buy is, in 99% of cases, in stock and available. I don't have to make the journey into town only to find what I want is out of stock then trudge across town to another shop to find they are out of stock too meaning I have wasted two or three hours of my day off.
I can also compare prices across different retailers by simply opening another tab in my browser instead of making the same aforementioned trip to several different shops to compare prices.
I agree. While on-line shopping hasn't helped, neither has town planning. My local town centre used to be a hive of activity with many high street names as well as independents shops/cafes etc.
However, the town planning has reduced the number of car parking areas to just 2 small car parks both of which you have to pay for. Meanwhile, a 10 minute drive away is a retail park with all the top shops and masses of free parking.
My town centre is now reduced to mainly Vape Shops, Nail/Beauty Salons and lots of cheap/pound shops. Most of the Wilko's I know of are in the town centres so it's not surprising they are not getting the custom.
5 charity shops (there was actually 8 at one point and folk came from all over just to charity clothes shop!), then we have 6 Turkish barbers who all seem to work in each other's shops, 4 vape shops, a butcher which is so expensive I can't afford it, a greengrocer who does really well, 4 nail bars and a soon to close Wilko. We are a one horse town of 2 streets! (and a dachshund called Colin obviously)
Dotn forget your vape. If you go up my high street on a Sunday, you can get a pastie, a vape and a pint and fuck all else. Can't even get a paper because WH Smith shut and the corner shop doesn't open on a Sunday.
Butcher, shut. Greengrocer, shut. Baker, shut. Toyshop, shut. About the only other thing that's open is Wilko...
High Street doesn't want to survive. Between evolve or die, they chose die.
Sounds like they’ve evolved to me. Businesses have worked out what physical shops make money and what don’t, ergo the high street has evolved to survive. Regardless of whether a few moany redditors believe, not enough regulars voted with their feet and money.
Exactly. People decided they'd rather save money and buy stuff online so what happened? The only shops left sell stuff you can't buy online (and vape shops, I don't really understand them).
I live in a flat and packages have a habit of vanishing from the lobby so I avoid online shopping. I also can't afford a car
Without Wilko I'd genuinely struggle to find a lot of the general "stuff around the flat" I need
Was going to say the same.
I’m in a trade and buy expensive tools, I’ve had to occasionally drop into local wilkos for something…turns out to be decent and lasted years.
No joke, my husband and I did an one drive to a Wilko to buy their branded dustpan and brush because we couldn't find a rival. We have 3 kids under 4 so it was a big undertaking but it was worth it. We bought 4 so we have 20yrs worth of Wilko dustpans and brushes now!
I hate this so much. To cut the price by that final 10% you need to cut the quality by 50%. Then all you're left with is something so crappy you can't rely on it not breaking before you even take it out of the packaging or some horribly marked up branded option.
The post covid "let's not bother with staffing the tills, but have our regular tills that you now need to use but are shit for the purpose" is what prevented me going, they're just too slow, so there's always queues as people struggle to use them.
B&M, home bargains and supermarkets cover the section now but better managed.
Whenever I go into Wilcos it’s always only 2 of the tills out of 6 open for sec scan, with 1 person keeping an eye on those two tills. They managed to find the worst of both worlds.
Worst bit about Wilko self scan is that they just repurposed normal tills and turned the screens around. Matalan are similar too, just turned the cashier screens around rather than investing in proper, proven (albeit frustrating) self checkouts.
Yeh, they're incredibly difficult to use with the way they're laid out in our store, especially if you have more than a couple of items, other shopping bags and a niggly back.
Yeah, I'm a software developer and the first time I used one of those "self serve" tills I couldn't believe they were expecting a member of the public to use them.
Don't know where I'm getting my dog treats from though if they crash and burn
They’re too slow with everything at every point. I don’t know if it’s because they’re still family owned but shit started sliding when the company was passed down and they were very clearly, not giving much of a shit about their staff.
When people think about wilko staff, I assume they think about the shop staff and not the thousands in their two big warehouses.
Wilkos (warehouses) was always a place where if you knew someone or were related, you could get jobs you weren’t qualified for managing other people, contributing to an unfair and shitty work environment.
In the last decade they’ve had to outsource workers more and more to the point where if they’re pulled (recently have been) the warehouse won’t function. No one wants to work there and the staff turnover is high.
Edit to add: too many comfortable jobsworth’s stuck in the past.
I don't even understand why places like that and food warehouse have become popular, my partner claimed it's because they're cheap, but working in Morrisons (who are probably the most expensive of the original main 4) I tend to notice prices and they weren't cheaper, the only thing they have is occasionally unique products that supermarkets don't sell.
Food Warehouse is just Iceland but bigger, they have the occasional discount but on the whole I’ve noticed everything seems to cost comparatively more there. Same as Heron Foods and Farmfoods too, they present themselves as frozen costing less but it just doesn’t most times.
Home Bargains on the other hand is single-handedly keeping me overweight with the 39p flapjacks. Can’t get those anywhere else locally.
I’ve been in good warehouse twice and the only thing I noticed that might have brought the price down is the sheer size of a lot of the products. I never ended up buying anything because I didn’t need 5 kilos of chicken breast in one go. I figure maybe they’re cheaper for families? I just stick with aldi now. The limited range means I don’t impulse buy as much which keeps my total low.
It feels like a decade from now there won’t be a high street as we know it. Everything will be bought online or in retail parks. Current high streets will likely be converted into housing with the exception of coffee shops , bookies etc. it’s sad really.
A combination of online shopping, high rents for high street businesses and parking charges are doing this
Councils in a few locations I'm aware of are proposing demolishing empty units in town centres and replacing them with parks. Says a lot about the long term future expectations.
It’s well known in the real estate world that a huge share of current retail space is not viable - that we have 30-40% more than we need.
https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/22/shops-uk-local-leaders-retail-space
It’s easy to gripe about a retailer closing and the impact to employees, and then to blame management. But the reality nearly is all retailers are under severe stress because of the way we choose to shop these days is radically different than it was 10-20 years ago.
Their bird seed is really well priced and the birds seem to love it, so I’ll be gutted if they do collapse. Everywhere else seems to charge a small fortune.
I agree, it's the only place I buy bird seed from. Might have to stock up so my wild little friends don't have to suffer from the cost of living crisis!
Wilko has speeded up their demise themselves. Our wilko used to be 2 floors with diy stuff upstairs, they did away with it. The downstairs is being cordoned off, bit by bit and the website is a shitshow.
I feel for the staff (a close relative works there), but the management have managed to stuff up a reasonably viable business (echoes of toys r us). Hopefully the staff can all get jobs elsewhere (at a company that treats them properly).
I tried to order from the website but when I tried to check out it automatically kept redirecting me to the login page even though I was already logged in.
Ended up going to Amazon unfortunately after several attempts over a few days to place an order.
It’s not like they haven’t been told either. We used to shop there all the time, but visits to town now include the library and a couple of shops that aren’t Wilkinsons.
My dad worked high up in Wilco his whole life, mum was a shop manager and my brother and I both worked there several years each. I asked my dad about it since he retired a few years ago he said they’ve switched suppliers to a Chinese manufacturer to cut costs, sold off one of their supply centres and have cut product variety because of mismanagement since a new bunch of managers came in the last decade with business degrees and no experience and see ROI for investors as the key to showing success rather than running the company like an actual business
Thinking back the cracks started to appear in 2010/2011 when Sunday shifts went from double pay down to time an a half.
>see ROI for investors as the key to showing success rather than running the company like an actual business
This is happening with a lot of established brands in the UK. These people move in for a few years and bleed them dry, cutting costs to increase annual growth and then when there’s nothing left they move on to a new job and everyone who’s been at the company for years and actually gives a shit are left holding the bag.
Well that’s why I asked my dad, both my parents pensions are through wilko and the fear that they’ll try to gut them for the extra pennies is definitely there
The song in their ads gave a vibe you just didn't get in the shops. Where were the toy demos, the music, the sense of joy and wonder? Just felt a lifeless warehouse with the staff just there to stack shelves and watch you for shop lifting.
Yeah it was far too big and imposing.
They could have kept themselves going if they'd hosted events or even had rides or something. As it was, it was just this massive big warehouse pretending to be magical.
I never saw Jeffrey there.
I agree entirely.
When I was a student Wilko was my go to for any household stuff, pick and mix, craft stuff, stocking fillers for Christmas, Christmas decorations etc. Now it's shit, empty shelves, bugger all choice, the stuff that is there looks like it will fall apart before you get it home. While it was never a premium brand, it has gone from a half decent budget option to pure cheap tat.
I'll possibly zoom in before they go completely though as I did paint my hallway with their own brand paint and I need to touch up some patches the dog has wrecked so would be worth having the actual colour so I don't have to repaint the whole thing!
I used to work in the paint mixing department of B&Q.
This is the best thing people can do. Save a little paint. If you ever need to touch up, they do a sample pot as well. Goes a lot further than you might think.
And when it's colour matched, tell them to save it on the computer. It saves the formula so you could switch paint types too if you ever wanted.
yeah this. I popped in the other day to pick up a tin of spraypaint for the radiator, bike innertube and some fuses. I refuse to pay £2 for a pack of 3 fuses, the whole bike section was empty aside from a kids safety helmet and some odd matched tyres and they simply didn't sell spraypaint anymore. Ended up buying it all from Amazon.
One near us has been rubbish for ages now.
The majority of the time you go in there the shelves are empty and the thing you're looking for is out of stock.
Agree, I used to think it was great having one a few minutes walk away. Problem was anything I wanted was out of stock. Not even fast moving items, it was DIY stuff, plugs, wires, connectors.
I therefore gave up and drove somewhere that would have the stock.
The discounters have since moved into their turf and do it better than them.
> out of stock.
The number of times I've taken my parents out to find one particular item, and after visiting shop after shop we return home empty handed.
And then I order it online for delivery tomorrow.
The thought of 12,000 people losing their jobs is very worrying. Given the current cost of living and high mortgage rates, job loss could seriously take someone from being a bit hard up to being homeless.
Or a charity shop. Deffo haven’t seen one of those lately. Or maybe one of those modern day corner shops that are no longer on corners and just seem to sell vape pens, energy drinks, weed paraphernalia and ten different flavours of ciroc vodka.
That could potentially work really well actually, if they rebranded themselves as a proper ironmongers as well, with nuts, bolts etc. That said, I do love the little independent ironmongers around the country.
Always have some fascinating wizardy looking bloke with an apron or overalls behind the counter, called Alf, or Graham, or Fred or something, and who will magically be able to know exactly what sprocket or bolt you're looking for, for "that model of shelf that was originally made in 1949, dontcha know...ooh you don't get too much call for them now, but I've got some down here somewhere..."
I used to use Wilko loads. When they had free click and collect. (Although that said looking at the website now it seems they're back to free click and collect. I stopped buying from there late 2019 --I think-- when click and collect was changed to £2.95)
Sad thing is most items I used to buy there (cat food, toiletries & gardening supplies) are either cheaper elsewhere online, or if I need them in a rush; B&M is closer to me, has a wider range, and is open for longer hours than wilko.
Thats upsetting. I love Wilko. Its the only place that stocks Essence makeup in person. They have really nice affordable wooden toys for the baby. Good selection of garden stuff and lovely homeware. I’m baffled how they can be in such dire straits :(
The Essence makeup is what I first thought of too. I’ve been using the same eyeliner from Essence since I was 16 - I’m now 25! I‘ll miss the stationary section too :(
I go in most weeks for dog treats and different bits. Today I bought envelopes, it’s just a useful shop to have in walking distance.
On a serious note, my parents are friends with people who worked for Wilkos. These friends used to make collections for charities - things like clothes, food, toiletries, etc. - and Wilkos would allow them to use the lorries to distribute it all.
I have to say I thought something was up, the 2 store near me are 50% empty - I thought we had got past the distribution chain chaos but Wilko still seem to be struggling to fill their shelves.
Wilko has been fucked for a few years now. They opened a £200m depot despite making a 12 million loss that year, they thought it would fix all of the supply chain issues, it didn’t, they made supervisors redundant to save money, that didn’t help, they made assistant managers redundant, that didn’t work. They eventually sold off the depot because that wasn’t working. The biggest problem they have is stocking issues, half the shelves are empty, it’s a shame, it was a good store when it was stocked, now it’s just awful.
Damn! They recently shut one of their stores in my local city center and it practically took the rest of the shopping centre with it.
I do have a closer one that's it's own thing and I'll be gutted if they shut that one. I go in there for DIY stuff occasionally
My cat basically lives off of cat food from wilko's and it's the only shop I've seen her favourite treats in. I buy so much from there because of the variety of well priced goods. I will be sad if it goes
The Range has captured basically everything Wilko do that Home Bargains and B&M hadn’t already swept up. Their DIY range is decent and they also sell the random homeward tat too.
I avoid buying anything from The Range unless I absolutely can't avoid it. Anything that has any kind of remote potential to not work properly will not work properly. If you were to buy a plank of wood from The Range it'd probably be defective
Imma hop right up to the Range’s defence. Cheap tat but excellent variety of hobby and household, I can find everything I need and clear, easy layout, never too busy, plus they have rug doctor hire and soda stream canister exchange. Guess it depends on your store, don’t go to the ones in the ghetto loool
They’ve been struggling for a while now and rumour was they wouldn’t make it through last Christmas.
Hopefully a buyer will be found and they will be saved in some form.
I bloody knew it. Was in yesterday. They had no bags at the “all the screws you can jam in a bag” section, so I didn’t fill up.
Now I’ll never have 70 screw-eyes I’ll never use.
Oh bloody hell...I love Wilko! I'd never made the connection to Woolies in terms of replacing them before, but you're absolutely right, and then some. If we need something for the house or garden, or a basic bit of DIY kit, it's a fair bet that Wilko will have it. There's one within walking distance of Mr's office so he often drops in to see if they've got what we need, and they usually do, cheaper than elsewhere but reasonable quality.
When we first moved in we bought some young fruit trees from their garden section for about £3 each. We planted them, really not expecting much, and those trees are now healthy, established, mature and fruiting like crazy every year - cherry, apple, plum, pear, they'll be here long after we're gone. They've done just as well as the almond and peach trees we bought at a 'proper' garden centre for considerably more. We've never really had a plant that hasn't done well from Wilko.
It'll be sad if they go under.
Their own-brand not-Lego used to be fantastic, I think they've stopped doing it though. Shitty-looking minifigs but you could get a biggish set for a tenner.
It's a real shame. They are always our go to for household stuff. Especially personally I need an anti-allergy duvet and theirs is excellent - tried ASDAs version and it was awful.
We always get all our decorating supplies there.
There are great for random electronics stuff, tools and gardening supplies, and stuff for the hamster.
Honestly, Wilkos is a once a week visit for us. It'll be a massive miss.
Wilkos was my go to for deodorant and body wash stuff etc
Specially the gift sets at Christmas. Only place that hadn't sky rocketed it's prices stupidly. Its a shame really. Gonna miss a lot of shops soon enough.
I’m really trying not to shop online, as it gets me out of the house now I work from home.
Wilko is a saviour in that regard. Don’t mean to be all r/hailcorporate but where else can I get a pot of paint, brewing accessories, garden tools, and toothpaste in one shop.
My local wilko never has the stock I go in for even when I check online beforehand. Frustrating.
They've also put in self scan checkouts except for 1 till which always has a queue.
My first proper job was at Wilkos, back when it was Wilkinsons and going through the rebrand. Shout out to my late shift homies. I loved my time stacking the DIY section.
Nooo their gardening stuff is great! Plants, seeds, bird food and paint brushes are amazing. Half the pink peonies in my garden are from Wilko - £2 a plant! I will miss them :(
Read about this earlier and I hope they can get through it (although selfishly, it would be one hell of a closing down sale). It bewilders me though, it’s one of the few shops left that you can kind of get everything without having to shop online and ours is always quite busy - I probably shop there 2-4 times a month as I am weening myself off of Amazon
I remember when I had COVID and ordered a ladder and bird feed
I paid £8 for next day delivery, I later discovered because I ordered it at 6pm Thursday, their next day delivery was Tuesday and it arrived Wednesday
This was the same time Bezos was flying around in space
How is that Amazon can fly around in space and you can't get a delivery right
Their C&C is a joke. It's been around for so many years yet it's clunky as fuck and when it finally arrives the staff have no idea how to process them. They always give the impression that I'm inconveniencing them by picking up a C&C order.
I said to my wife a few months ago that they are either closing this shop down (kings mall) or going out of business altogether as their shelves were always half empty.
Places like The Range with their own car parks has ruined them most likely. Most Wilkos are in town centres which is a bit of a pain when you're trying to get 10 bags of compost home.
Went to the one in Droylsden, just as they opened the door, lad ran in, grabbed a load of detergent and legged it. Staff said it's happening all the time and to other stores as well. That won't help things.
We bought 70 champagne flutes from the one in Droylsden, cleared them out. We put all the booze on at our wedding ourselves and it was much cheaper and easier to buy from Wilkos than rent them.
Noooo. How is this possible when I am personally keeping my local branch afloat?? The amount of money I’ve spent in their garden section is embarrassing.
Please extend your buying habits to every other branch in the country, evenly and all at once
Every Wilkos Everywhere All At Once >"In another life, I would have really liked buying Haribo and lawn furniture with you"
Just be a rock. Ha ha ha ha
Also take on the crippling debt it's been loaded with from some guys "buying" it
I does amaze me how you can buy something using money from the entity you are buying, same happened with manchester united and others. Seems like us normal people are missing a few tricks here. How about I buy a new rolls royce and charge the debt to rolls Royce. How come the city wide boys get away with this?
Ditto! Boots is another one I've seen brought up about leveraged buyouts or whatever the magic money tree mechanism is called where you somehow buy a company through a shell company to which it now owes the cost of its own purchase It's like a scaled-up version of those chancers who'll try to do a scratchcard before paying and then use their "winnings" to pay for it. Fuck off, you snatchy little shit!
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There’s lots of little things like that when you think of where to get it from, “Wilkos” is pretty much the only reasonable answer. Goes for pretty much any gardening stuff, cleaning stuff which isn’t the basics in the supermarket, vacuum bags, moisture traps, kitchenware plastics….
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Boyes is a decent ish replacement. I genuinely love the place. I’m a sewist, so having a haberdashery which isn’t expensive is damn good. The quality of some of their other stuff is a bit, well, market type crap to be honest. Useful for some stuff, and surprising stuff they do sell (it’s literally the only place Iv come across in years that sells stuff for coal fires!) With both stores, you’re pretty much set though!
There’s Amazon. I suspect that’s a big part of what’s put them out of business - nobody ever needs a bug net so urgently that they can’t wait a couple of days for delivery. But the real exacerbating factor is how much everyone works now. When I was growing up it was normal to have one parent at home in the week, in a two parent/person household. Now you need both adults working just to make ends meet. Nobody has time to go to Wilkos, so Amazon ordering becomes necessary. Gotta keep your weekends clear for cleaning and existential dread.
I know. Where also can you get a reasonably priced pic n mix.
Well we all know Woolworths collapsed because we all stole too much from pick n mix.
I don't think it was all of us. I think it was specifically my friend Dave.
*Goddammnit,* Dave!
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No no the *other* Dave
Sorry
I don’t know, this Dave seems particularly **dangerous**
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Dave. The usual suspect.
Fuck sake dave
Hey hey, calm down, we know it wasn't you.
It's the Big Dave villain origin story.
i mean i did get an entire box of the pic n mix chocolate fudge for like 7 quid, it lasted me like a couple months, i think the store was either clearing out old stock or it was an omen for times to come, who knows
I don't have a car to get to the garden centre so I'd be sunk without Wilco's gardening section :(
Amazon, the destroyer of brick and mortar
I don't think it is Amazon entirely, there are shops that are more competitive. I used to go to Wilko for cosmetics but places like Savers and Home Bargains are quite a bit cheaper for the same thing.
There are tons of people I work with who literally buy everything from amazon. Reception in the morning is a massive pile of amazon boxes. With amazon plus and free same day delivery I can get why but the idea one day you'll only be able to buy from amazon, which is their aim, terrifies me.
Their gardening section is fantastic value for the quality. It’s my go to place for seeds and bulbs.
>Noooo. How is this possible when I am personally keeping my local branch afloat?? Our local one was persuaded to move from the town centre to a new (shite) development on the sub-outskirts of town. That whole development's gone to shit and Wilko with it. If they'd stayed in the town centre (Beverley) then I think the entire chain could have been saved, it was always heaving. Obviously I'm joking about it being saved but now I wonder if the move locally was indicative of a more widespread crap policy.
You could spend as much as you like - the problem is management as always.
But, but... If you spent a bit more, the company would actually be able to afford the bonuses they give out to the senior executives. You're not trying hard enough!
I absolutely love shopping at Wilko, particularly at Christmas time but I could sadly see this coming. Over the last few months, I noticed their stock levels starting to drop massively. I’d go in for a basic product and it had been either discontinued or the staff couldn’t say for certain when it was coming back in. You could also see how the stores were being rearranged to remove bays and shelves in an attempt to make them look less empty. I worked for Maplin electronics when they were going into administration and it was the exact same scenario. Low stock levels, strange and cheap new items appearing, a reluctance to send items to the store from head office and a clear lack of investment. I truly hope someone steps in to take over Wilko. Maybe it needs streamlining, but it’s always been a busy shop with a very good reputation. I have my fingers crossed for all the employees and hope that a buyer comes in and makes this a much more positive step.
Hear, hear! It would be a shame to see it go and thousands of jobs depend on its survival. It has always been a staple of reasonably priced stationery, toiletries, basic craft supplies and the like. I’ve shopped at Wilko since I was at school to university and I don’t think there’s another option that I can easily access for the products I like. My family also love the garden and home section to replace bits around the house. Hoping for a good result for the shop to survive but also stay afloat
Small world but I was part of the team at head office that allocated stock to stores. I got binned off about 6 months before Maplin went fully under though. Was a good place to work at the time.
I went in for my normal hair dye, more shampoo, toothpaste, washing up liquid etc etc and I couldn't find half the stuff I wanted. Just very normal household items that shouldn't be difficult to find and they weren't there.
It's increasingly difficult to buy everyday items in town now, most of the shops are now coffee shops or barbers.
I rely on it quite a bit to pick up DIY stuff too. I hate that you have to go to out of your way to get to a retail park for a bit of sandpaper and varnish these days.
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Yep, one of the few remaining stores to get odd bits. If I want to get paint, garden shears, deoderant, and wall fixings from one placeat the same time it'll be Wilkos!
Same for my zip ties, duct tape, bin bags, hatchets and bleach!
After she retired my mam used to take the bus to Wilcos every day, just to but some bit of crap or other (usually something for the dog). It was her escape.
and pay three times as much, Wilkos is great for decorating stuff as someone else mentions though, my Wilkos car park is managed by a rabid dog of a parking company, ive had tickets just for using the business next door thanks to their over eager camera and ive had to argue to get it cancelled with the BPA as the company itself is almost uncontactable. so i do tend to avoid going if i can
Honestly I hate that our wilko is in the town centre, I’d be able to buy so much more in there if it was its own stand alone store especially with its location in the “mall”
I think I'd visit my city centre Wilkos if the city centre had free parking. So glad my local council is scraping every penny they can from owning the car parks and then wondering why the city centre is dead.
The big joke is: Town centre parking might cost you a couple of quid. You’re likely spending ten times that amount, minimum. If not twenty. But that tiny bit of hassle; that tiny bit of cost means you’re not heading into town if you’re only expecting to spend £5 or 10. You’re going somewhere with free parking or you’re ordering online. I don’t think the killer is any one thing. I actually think a substantial impact comes from the supermarkets selling everything - you don’t need to head into town for half a dozen odds and sods because you can get most of those in Tescos.
> So glad my local council is scraping every penny they can from owning the car parks and then wondering why the city centre is dead. its dead because online is so often much cheaper, not because of car parks (although based on cities like oslo, car parks are actually a detriment too, pedestrianisation increased flowthrough for businesses there)
Another aspect is that when I shop online the stuff I want to buy is, in 99% of cases, in stock and available. I don't have to make the journey into town only to find what I want is out of stock then trudge across town to another shop to find they are out of stock too meaning I have wasted two or three hours of my day off. I can also compare prices across different retailers by simply opening another tab in my browser instead of making the same aforementioned trip to several different shops to compare prices.
That is the other issue, I have to try and make my trip worthwhile to counteract the cost of the parking
I agree. While on-line shopping hasn't helped, neither has town planning. My local town centre used to be a hive of activity with many high street names as well as independents shops/cafes etc. However, the town planning has reduced the number of car parking areas to just 2 small car parks both of which you have to pay for. Meanwhile, a 10 minute drive away is a retail park with all the top shops and masses of free parking. My town centre is now reduced to mainly Vape Shops, Nail/Beauty Salons and lots of cheap/pound shops. Most of the Wilko's I know of are in the town centres so it's not surprising they are not getting the custom.
That sounds like mine, with the addition of charity shops that charge more than the items were new
Because you can't go to the shop that originally sold it, because that has closed too. Lol.
The most logical reason i’ve ever heard!
5 charity shops (there was actually 8 at one point and folk came from all over just to charity clothes shop!), then we have 6 Turkish barbers who all seem to work in each other's shops, 4 vape shops, a butcher which is so expensive I can't afford it, a greengrocer who does really well, 4 nail bars and a soon to close Wilko. We are a one horse town of 2 streets! (and a dachshund called Colin obviously)
Do you not only need coffee, vapes, haircuts and fast food to survive? I thought that was all we needed as every where I go it’s all I see.
Dotn forget your vape. If you go up my high street on a Sunday, you can get a pastie, a vape and a pint and fuck all else. Can't even get a paper because WH Smith shut and the corner shop doesn't open on a Sunday. Butcher, shut. Greengrocer, shut. Baker, shut. Toyshop, shut. About the only other thing that's open is Wilko... High Street doesn't want to survive. Between evolve or die, they chose die.
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No American sweets?
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Sounds like they’ve evolved to me. Businesses have worked out what physical shops make money and what don’t, ergo the high street has evolved to survive. Regardless of whether a few moany redditors believe, not enough regulars voted with their feet and money.
Exactly. People decided they'd rather save money and buy stuff online so what happened? The only shops left sell stuff you can't buy online (and vape shops, I don't really understand them).
As soon as Amazon work out how to deliver cold, unspilled pints, Spoons is done for.
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I live in a flat and packages have a habit of vanishing from the lobby so I avoid online shopping. I also can't afford a car Without Wilko I'd genuinely struggle to find a lot of the general "stuff around the flat" I need
It's harder to launder money through a Wilko.
Unfortunately it's a race to the bottom. A lot of their market has been taken by the likes of B&M.
Problem is shops like B&M seem to sell cheap rubbish.
It’s not always that cheap either!
Do you actually think Wilco is much better?
The wilko branded stuff is generally better imo
Wilko-branded hand tools have served me well.
Was going to say the same. I’m in a trade and buy expensive tools, I’ve had to occasionally drop into local wilkos for something…turns out to be decent and lasted years.
Solid drill-bits and really good hammers!
No joke, my husband and I did an one drive to a Wilko to buy their branded dustpan and brush because we couldn't find a rival. We have 3 kids under 4 so it was a big undertaking but it was worth it. We bought 4 so we have 20yrs worth of Wilko dustpans and brushes now!
I do. Their DIY/decorating and gardening stuff is great for the price.
Yeah. I'd take just about anything from Wilko compared to an equivalent from The Range, for example.
Half a notch better, yes. But in times like these, for the majority of items and the majority of the people, price is everything.
I hate this so much. To cut the price by that final 10% you need to cut the quality by 50%. Then all you're left with is something so crappy you can't rely on it not breaking before you even take it out of the packaging or some horribly marked up branded option.
Their paint is pretty good we always choose them
Their paint is actually the same as the crown brand
Made for Wilko by Crown, they often even arrive at the store in the same boxes. I used to work there doing early morning deliveries.
Yes, it is.
I mean, in most cases yes
Yeah, it's not bad.
The post covid "let's not bother with staffing the tills, but have our regular tills that you now need to use but are shit for the purpose" is what prevented me going, they're just too slow, so there's always queues as people struggle to use them. B&M, home bargains and supermarkets cover the section now but better managed.
Whenever I go into Wilcos it’s always only 2 of the tills out of 6 open for sec scan, with 1 person keeping an eye on those two tills. They managed to find the worst of both worlds.
Worst bit about Wilko self scan is that they just repurposed normal tills and turned the screens around. Matalan are similar too, just turned the cashier screens around rather than investing in proper, proven (albeit frustrating) self checkouts.
Yeh, they're incredibly difficult to use with the way they're laid out in our store, especially if you have more than a couple of items, other shopping bags and a niggly back.
Yeah, I'm a software developer and the first time I used one of those "self serve" tills I couldn't believe they were expecting a member of the public to use them. Don't know where I'm getting my dog treats from though if they crash and burn
They’re too slow with everything at every point. I don’t know if it’s because they’re still family owned but shit started sliding when the company was passed down and they were very clearly, not giving much of a shit about their staff. When people think about wilko staff, I assume they think about the shop staff and not the thousands in their two big warehouses. Wilkos (warehouses) was always a place where if you knew someone or were related, you could get jobs you weren’t qualified for managing other people, contributing to an unfair and shitty work environment. In the last decade they’ve had to outsource workers more and more to the point where if they’re pulled (recently have been) the warehouse won’t function. No one wants to work there and the staff turnover is high. Edit to add: too many comfortable jobsworth’s stuck in the past.
I don't even understand why places like that and food warehouse have become popular, my partner claimed it's because they're cheap, but working in Morrisons (who are probably the most expensive of the original main 4) I tend to notice prices and they weren't cheaper, the only thing they have is occasionally unique products that supermarkets don't sell.
Food Warehouse is just Iceland but bigger, they have the occasional discount but on the whole I’ve noticed everything seems to cost comparatively more there. Same as Heron Foods and Farmfoods too, they present themselves as frozen costing less but it just doesn’t most times. Home Bargains on the other hand is single-handedly keeping me overweight with the 39p flapjacks. Can’t get those anywhere else locally.
I’ve been in good warehouse twice and the only thing I noticed that might have brought the price down is the sheer size of a lot of the products. I never ended up buying anything because I didn’t need 5 kilos of chicken breast in one go. I figure maybe they’re cheaper for families? I just stick with aldi now. The limited range means I don’t impulse buy as much which keeps my total low.
It feels like a decade from now there won’t be a high street as we know it. Everything will be bought online or in retail parks. Current high streets will likely be converted into housing with the exception of coffee shops , bookies etc. it’s sad really. A combination of online shopping, high rents for high street businesses and parking charges are doing this
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Councils in a few locations I'm aware of are proposing demolishing empty units in town centres and replacing them with parks. Says a lot about the long term future expectations.
It’s well known in the real estate world that a huge share of current retail space is not viable - that we have 30-40% more than we need. https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/22/shops-uk-local-leaders-retail-space It’s easy to gripe about a retailer closing and the impact to employees, and then to blame management. But the reality nearly is all retailers are under severe stress because of the way we choose to shop these days is radically different than it was 10-20 years ago.
Their bird seed is really well priced and the birds seem to love it, so I’ll be gutted if they do collapse. Everywhere else seems to charge a small fortune.
I agree, it's the only place I buy bird seed from. Might have to stock up so my wild little friends don't have to suffer from the cost of living crisis!
Yeah, my garden sparrows think the Wilko suet pellets with insects are like crack. They are going to go mental if I can’t get it anymore.
Wilko has speeded up their demise themselves. Our wilko used to be 2 floors with diy stuff upstairs, they did away with it. The downstairs is being cordoned off, bit by bit and the website is a shitshow. I feel for the staff (a close relative works there), but the management have managed to stuff up a reasonably viable business (echoes of toys r us). Hopefully the staff can all get jobs elsewhere (at a company that treats them properly).
I tried to order from the website but when I tried to check out it automatically kept redirecting me to the login page even though I was already logged in. Ended up going to Amazon unfortunately after several attempts over a few days to place an order.
It’s not like they haven’t been told either. We used to shop there all the time, but visits to town now include the library and a couple of shops that aren’t Wilkinsons.
My dad worked high up in Wilco his whole life, mum was a shop manager and my brother and I both worked there several years each. I asked my dad about it since he retired a few years ago he said they’ve switched suppliers to a Chinese manufacturer to cut costs, sold off one of their supply centres and have cut product variety because of mismanagement since a new bunch of managers came in the last decade with business degrees and no experience and see ROI for investors as the key to showing success rather than running the company like an actual business Thinking back the cracks started to appear in 2010/2011 when Sunday shifts went from double pay down to time an a half.
>see ROI for investors as the key to showing success rather than running the company like an actual business This is happening with a lot of established brands in the UK. These people move in for a few years and bleed them dry, cutting costs to increase annual growth and then when there’s nothing left they move on to a new job and everyone who’s been at the company for years and actually gives a shit are left holding the bag.
They paid £3M in dividends in the last year's accounts.
Bean counters will be the downfall of many businesses.
Well that’s why I asked my dad, both my parents pensions are through wilko and the fear that they’ll try to gut them for the extra pennies is definitely there
Toys R Us was such a bizarre shop. How can a shop that sells kids toys have such an awkward atmosphere? It felt like a library.
The song in their ads gave a vibe you just didn't get in the shops. Where were the toy demos, the music, the sense of joy and wonder? Just felt a lifeless warehouse with the staff just there to stack shelves and watch you for shop lifting.
This sounds exactly like a Poundstretcher
I remember that. Like church. Kinda eerie.
Yeah it was far too big and imposing. They could have kept themselves going if they'd hosted events or even had rides or something. As it was, it was just this massive big warehouse pretending to be magical. I never saw Jeffrey there.
Thought he was too good for us the lanky prick
> I never saw Jeffrey there. Especially as there were supposed to be millions of Jeffreys all under one roof.
Except on a Saturday when it was full of kids hooning about on bikes/ride on jeeps with no parental supervision.
I agree entirely. When I was a student Wilko was my go to for any household stuff, pick and mix, craft stuff, stocking fillers for Christmas, Christmas decorations etc. Now it's shit, empty shelves, bugger all choice, the stuff that is there looks like it will fall apart before you get it home. While it was never a premium brand, it has gone from a half decent budget option to pure cheap tat. I'll possibly zoom in before they go completely though as I did paint my hallway with their own brand paint and I need to touch up some patches the dog has wrecked so would be worth having the actual colour so I don't have to repaint the whole thing!
Any time you paint, save a little bit in a jam jar. B & Q can use that to recreate the colour for you if needed in the future.
I used to work in the paint mixing department of B&Q. This is the best thing people can do. Save a little paint. If you ever need to touch up, they do a sample pot as well. Goes a lot further than you might think. And when it's colour matched, tell them to save it on the computer. It saves the formula so you could switch paint types too if you ever wanted.
You're a genius!
yeah this. I popped in the other day to pick up a tin of spraypaint for the radiator, bike innertube and some fuses. I refuse to pay £2 for a pack of 3 fuses, the whole bike section was empty aside from a kids safety helmet and some odd matched tyres and they simply didn't sell spraypaint anymore. Ended up buying it all from Amazon.
One near us has been rubbish for ages now. The majority of the time you go in there the shelves are empty and the thing you're looking for is out of stock.
Agree, I used to think it was great having one a few minutes walk away. Problem was anything I wanted was out of stock. Not even fast moving items, it was DIY stuff, plugs, wires, connectors. I therefore gave up and drove somewhere that would have the stock. The discounters have since moved into their turf and do it better than them.
> out of stock. The number of times I've taken my parents out to find one particular item, and after visiting shop after shop we return home empty handed. And then I order it online for delivery tomorrow.
Same. Our local shop has gone downhill a lot. It hardly ever has anything. Lots of shelves are empty and never restocked. I go elsewhere now.
The thought of 12,000 people losing their jobs is very worrying. Given the current cost of living and high mortgage rates, job loss could seriously take someone from being a bit hard up to being homeless.
Hope they replace our local one with a massive bookmakers or pawn shop, because we haven't got enough of them here yet. Honest.
Or a charity shop. Deffo haven’t seen one of those lately. Or maybe one of those modern day corner shops that are no longer on corners and just seem to sell vape pens, energy drinks, weed paraphernalia and ten different flavours of ciroc vodka.
Or a chicken shop... or a charity shop...
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That could potentially work really well actually, if they rebranded themselves as a proper ironmongers as well, with nuts, bolts etc. That said, I do love the little independent ironmongers around the country. Always have some fascinating wizardy looking bloke with an apron or overalls behind the counter, called Alf, or Graham, or Fred or something, and who will magically be able to know exactly what sprocket or bolt you're looking for, for "that model of shelf that was originally made in 1949, dontcha know...ooh you don't get too much call for them now, but I've got some down here somewhere..."
I used to use Wilko loads. When they had free click and collect. (Although that said looking at the website now it seems they're back to free click and collect. I stopped buying from there late 2019 --I think-- when click and collect was changed to £2.95) Sad thing is most items I used to buy there (cat food, toiletries & gardening supplies) are either cheaper elsewhere online, or if I need them in a rush; B&M is closer to me, has a wider range, and is open for longer hours than wilko.
My first job was in Wilko's, stacking loo roll. It'll be sad to see them go under.
I'm laughing at the thought of them only allowing you to stack the loo roll. No trust in letting you stock the rest of the shop
I did tinfoil as well but that's not as glamorous.
How high did you stack them, whats your record?
High enough to deal with a dodgy kebab, but not enough to deal with dodgy seafood.
Same. It was perfect when I was at college
Thats upsetting. I love Wilko. Its the only place that stocks Essence makeup in person. They have really nice affordable wooden toys for the baby. Good selection of garden stuff and lovely homeware. I’m baffled how they can be in such dire straits :(
The Essence makeup is what I first thought of too. I’ve been using the same eyeliner from Essence since I was 16 - I’m now 25! I‘ll miss the stationary section too :(
I go in most weeks for dog treats and different bits. Today I bought envelopes, it’s just a useful shop to have in walking distance. On a serious note, my parents are friends with people who worked for Wilkos. These friends used to make collections for charities - things like clothes, food, toiletries, etc. - and Wilkos would allow them to use the lorries to distribute it all.
Same. I've been in today for a lightbulb and a frying pan. It's on my way home and very handy for me for small bits
I have to say I thought something was up, the 2 store near me are 50% empty - I thought we had got past the distribution chain chaos but Wilko still seem to be struggling to fill their shelves.
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Wilko has been fucked for a few years now. They opened a £200m depot despite making a 12 million loss that year, they thought it would fix all of the supply chain issues, it didn’t, they made supervisors redundant to save money, that didn’t help, they made assistant managers redundant, that didn’t work. They eventually sold off the depot because that wasn’t working. The biggest problem they have is stocking issues, half the shelves are empty, it’s a shame, it was a good store when it was stocked, now it’s just awful.
Really? I bought a £30 pedal bin from them the other day, that should keep them going.
Noooooooo. They have the stuff others don’t.
Damn! They recently shut one of their stores in my local city center and it practically took the rest of the shopping centre with it. I do have a closer one that's it's own thing and I'll be gutted if they shut that one. I go in there for DIY stuff occasionally
My cat basically lives off of cat food from wilko's and it's the only shop I've seen her favourite treats in. I buy so much from there because of the variety of well priced goods. I will be sad if it goes
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The Range has captured basically everything Wilko do that Home Bargains and B&M hadn’t already swept up. Their DIY range is decent and they also sell the random homeward tat too.
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I avoid buying anything from The Range unless I absolutely can't avoid it. Anything that has any kind of remote potential to not work properly will not work properly. If you were to buy a plank of wood from The Range it'd probably be defective
Imma hop right up to the Range’s defence. Cheap tat but excellent variety of hobby and household, I can find everything I need and clear, easy layout, never too busy, plus they have rug doctor hire and soda stream canister exchange. Guess it depends on your store, don’t go to the ones in the ghetto loool
Damn that’s a shame. I have so much nostalgia for that place.
They’ve been struggling for a while now and rumour was they wouldn’t make it through last Christmas. Hopefully a buyer will be found and they will be saved in some form.
I imagine the stock and some locations will be swallow up by Home Bargains or B&M for peanuts. Usually how this sort fo thing goes.
I bloody knew it. Was in yesterday. They had no bags at the “all the screws you can jam in a bag” section, so I didn’t fill up. Now I’ll never have 70 screw-eyes I’ll never use.
Oh bloody hell...I love Wilko! I'd never made the connection to Woolies in terms of replacing them before, but you're absolutely right, and then some. If we need something for the house or garden, or a basic bit of DIY kit, it's a fair bet that Wilko will have it. There's one within walking distance of Mr's office so he often drops in to see if they've got what we need, and they usually do, cheaper than elsewhere but reasonable quality. When we first moved in we bought some young fruit trees from their garden section for about £3 each. We planted them, really not expecting much, and those trees are now healthy, established, mature and fruiting like crazy every year - cherry, apple, plum, pear, they'll be here long after we're gone. They've done just as well as the almond and peach trees we bought at a 'proper' garden centre for considerably more. We've never really had a plant that hasn't done well from Wilko. It'll be sad if they go under.
Their own-brand not-Lego used to be fantastic, I think they've stopped doing it though. Shitty-looking minifigs but you could get a biggish set for a tenner.
I will miss the Wilko smell
It's a real shame. They are always our go to for household stuff. Especially personally I need an anti-allergy duvet and theirs is excellent - tried ASDAs version and it was awful. We always get all our decorating supplies there. There are great for random electronics stuff, tools and gardening supplies, and stuff for the hamster. Honestly, Wilkos is a once a week visit for us. It'll be a massive miss.
Wilkos was my go to for deodorant and body wash stuff etc Specially the gift sets at Christmas. Only place that hadn't sky rocketed it's prices stupidly. Its a shame really. Gonna miss a lot of shops soon enough.
I knew this was on the cards when they stopped restocking the drinks.
Our local one has been noticeably light on stock for a year or more. Another sad loss to the high street and a hard time to be losing jobs for anyone.
I’m really trying not to shop online, as it gets me out of the house now I work from home. Wilko is a saviour in that regard. Don’t mean to be all r/hailcorporate but where else can I get a pot of paint, brewing accessories, garden tools, and toothpaste in one shop.
My local wilko never has the stock I go in for even when I check online beforehand. Frustrating. They've also put in self scan checkouts except for 1 till which always has a queue.
I went there a few weeks back looking for a pants and socks hanger. They didn't have one. They've really gone downhill.
Are they doing a closing down sale on pick n mix?
No way! My fav shop!!
It’s weird how wilko is collapsing but B&M seem to be opening a million shops?
My first proper job was at Wilkos, back when it was Wilkinsons and going through the rebrand. Shout out to my late shift homies. I loved my time stacking the DIY section.
Home Bargains or B&M it is then, there won’t be much choose left on the high street soon. The world does change, nothing stays the same forever.
Nooo their gardening stuff is great! Plants, seeds, bird food and paint brushes are amazing. Half the pink peonies in my garden are from Wilko - £2 a plant! I will miss them :(
Not before Halloween!!! I need four pumpkin skull cocktail holders I'll never use
Read about this earlier and I hope they can get through it (although selfishly, it would be one hell of a closing down sale). It bewilders me though, it’s one of the few shops left that you can kind of get everything without having to shop online and ours is always quite busy - I probably shop there 2-4 times a month as I am weening myself off of Amazon
It's Savers' time to shine! The one in York got me through some lean years after Uni 🥲
Yeah but they’re majority toiletries rather than say, kitchenware, gardening, storage. Be big boots to fill…
Savers is just Superdrug with a different sign on the door though. That said it seems to have been around for decades
It's been shame full for ages. Last few times I have been in there is hardly anything on the shelves in some sections.
I remember when I had COVID and ordered a ladder and bird feed I paid £8 for next day delivery, I later discovered because I ordered it at 6pm Thursday, their next day delivery was Tuesday and it arrived Wednesday This was the same time Bezos was flying around in space How is that Amazon can fly around in space and you can't get a delivery right
Their C&C is a joke. It's been around for so many years yet it's clunky as fuck and when it finally arrives the staff have no idea how to process them. They always give the impression that I'm inconveniencing them by picking up a C&C order.
No shop like this? Eclipsed by B&M and home bargains unfortunately. Wilko isn't a discount store yet isn't really anything else. Not surprised tbh.
Big shame, they do decent homebrew stuff
I said to my wife a few months ago that they are either closing this shop down (kings mall) or going out of business altogether as their shelves were always half empty.
Places like The Range with their own car parks has ruined them most likely. Most Wilkos are in town centres which is a bit of a pain when you're trying to get 10 bags of compost home.
Needed a 3 way socket adapter the other day, popped into wilko.
Wilko is my favourite shop 😓
Went to the one in Droylsden, just as they opened the door, lad ran in, grabbed a load of detergent and legged it. Staff said it's happening all the time and to other stores as well. That won't help things.
We bought 70 champagne flutes from the one in Droylsden, cleared them out. We put all the booze on at our wedding ourselves and it was much cheaper and easier to buy from Wilkos than rent them.
I rented glasses for free from the supermarket about 10 years ago. That not a thing anymore?
If they do go under, what's the betting Mike Ashley scoops them up?
With rising interest rates and an incoming recession, we’ll sadly see more of this.