With six stores open and five already turning a profit, The Range owner Chris Dawson has outlined plans to open 300 stores over the next five years.
Having bought the Wilko brand out of administration almost one year ago, self-made millionaire, Chris, had originally planned to run the discount retailer online only, the Retail Gazette has reported. However, following a nationwide campaign for the retailer to return to the high street, he adapted his plans, saying: “It would be an absolutely cardinal sin not to keep this brand alive.”
The retailer has taken a somewhat cautious approach to reopening the Wilko brand on the high street, with Dawson sharing that the team ‘purposefully held back’. The first set of openings have acted as a trial for the Wilko team to test new store concepts, with group chief digital and marketing officer, Ben Exall revealing the Poole opening marked the start of its rollout phase.
The team has been tweaking the product mix in store after and Dawson admits it didn’t have enough essentials in its first tranche of stores. The first three stores in Exeter, Plymouth and Luton boasted more branded products than ever before, a larger space dedicated to seasonal products, and a bulked out in-store home and DIY section.
Group chief digital and marketing officer Ben Exall, explained: “The first five stores are all about test and learn, trialling new things, asking customers for feedback. Customers told us they wanted more health and beauty and more cleaning, and that’s what this [Poole] store has got.”
To help with the retailer’s expansion across the UK, the business recently hired Matalan’s property director Antony Darbyshire to head up the rollout.
Dawson shared: “There’s a hell of a lot of stores in the pipeline,” adding that the team have hand-picked the locations and are “aware of what was good and bad for Wilko” previously.
Dawson says Wilko will target: “All the obvious ones in Liverpool, Manchester and all the big cities but [the store concept] will do the Loughboroughs in this world too”.
London will also see the return of Wilko, he promises, as Dawson shared the brand has “already got a massive internet presence there.”
To read the full interview on Retail Gazette, click here.
