Discount retailer to open in former Black Country Wilko branch
An empty former Wilko store is to be taken over by a fast-growing retail chain.
The former Wilko branch in Dudley market place – one of the collapsed chain's largest stores – is to become the latest branch of discount retailer One Beyond.
The new store is due to open on July 31.
The retailer has already taken over the former Wilko store in Coventry, and in October it revealed it was looking at the possibility of taking over 50 former Wilko branches.
It is not yet known whether the new retailer will occupy both floors of the 52,000 sq ft store, which had previously been used by Marks & Spencer.
The company has previously re-employed former Wilko workers when it has taken over the chain's branches.
The Barnsley-based company operates the One Below store in Wolverhampton's Mander Centre. It also has branches in the New Square shopping centre in West Bromwich and the Merry Hill centre.
It was formed in 2019 by Chris Edwards and his son Christopher Junior, who founded the now-defunct Poundworld chain.
Poundworld was bought by TPG Capital in 2015, but closed all its stores in 2018.
The company now has more than 120 stores across the country.
The One Below-branded stores initially sought to compete in the £1-and-under market, but the One Beyond brand will focus on items £1 and over.
The Dudley Wilko branch closed in September last year after the 93-year-old retailer was plunged into administration.
The Wilko brand was relaunched by Norton Group Holdings as an online retailer, with Wilko-branded products also on sale through The Range chain. The company also re-opened five of its former branches under the Wilko name.
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