Starting from a single hardware store in 1930, wilko’s now has hundreds of shops around the United Kingdom and received over two million website visits per week. In Bristol, there are three wilko’s stores which are on Queens Road, St Phillips Causeway and Union Street. The St Philip’s causeway store will be one of the first to close in the country, leaving the shop empty until further notice.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Starting from a single hardware store in 1930, Wilkos now has hundreds of shops around the United Kingdom
00:07 and received over 2 million website visits per week.
00:11 In Bristol, there are three Wilkos stores, which are on Queen's Road, St. Philip's Causeway and Union Street.
00:19 The St. Philip's Causeway store will be the first one to close in the country, leaving the shop empty until further notice.
00:27 And bad management, unfortunately. You've got to be so careful with the way you spend your money today.
00:39 Twice as careful as before, because you have to look for every saving, every item that you can save is worth looking into.
00:51 Well, it's not a major shop for me, but my wife really likes it. So, yes, a bit of a disappointment.
00:57 I don't really know what's gone wrong. It seems odd, because outwardly it seemed successful, but I imagine it's just the expenses and city centres that's problematic.
01:06 Sad, because I do use Wilkinsons, yeah. And it's, you know, it's a cliché, isn't it, but it's sort of replaced Woolworths,
01:14 and it's a shop you can rely on, you know, if you've got an odd thing you need.
01:20 On top of the store's closures, Wilko's distribution centre operation will wind down in September,
01:26 and a further 124 shops will close between September and September 24th.
01:33 Arrival store B&M has agreed to buy 51 Wilko's buildings in a £30m deal, but it is understood the stores will not be under the Wilko brand name.
01:43 Similarly, Poundland is understood to be interested in buying up to 70 Wilko stores and rebranding them for their Poundland brand.
01:52 Let's find out what the people of Bristol would like to see added to the High Street.
01:56 Well, I like the shops that are here already. Obviously, you know, the Greengrocer's great, and I use Amplifon and the Jewellers.
02:06 I live in Shirehampton, and there aren't these things there. But it's a shame about the banks, obviously. I'm sure everybody says that.
02:15 Well, that's a tricky one. I mean, yes, Wilko is great. We're lucky in Westbury-on-Trim that we've got Marie's down at the far end that sells that similar sort of things.
02:28 But more of that sort of store is really necessary, where you can buy things at affordable prices. So I'd say that. I suppose bookshops as well. We don't have enough bookshops.
02:41 Places that I called on, but very few. One is my bank.
02:48 The future for the Bristol Wilko's buildings is still unclear, with the possibility of a Poundland takeover of some of the sites.
02:58 Only time will tell what the impact of the closure of the Bristol branches of Wilko's will be.
Recommended
Bristol December 15 Headlines: Jack Wills announces closure of Bristol store
National World - LocalTV
Bristol’s shopping scene: What would locals like added to their high street?
National World - LocalTV