Rarely since the collapse of Woolworths in 2008 has news of the demise of a retailer triggered such groans of disappointment among friends and colleagues.
Wilko, which warned this week it could soon be forced to appoint administrators, may be scruffy, poorly stocked at times and incredibly badly lit, but it is undoubtedly much loved.
Intuitively a cost-of-living crisis should be a golden time for a discount retailer but not for family-owned Wilko, Its market is one of the most competitive in retailing with the likes of Poundland, Home Bargains and perhaps most aggressively of all B&M muscling in on its patch.
Wilko is still owned by the founding Wilkinson family and that might well be part of its charm — but also a large element of its downfall.
The retailer simply did not have the financial firepower of its faster-growing and more muscular rivals to secure the deals with suppliers to match the even more heavily discounted homeware prices of its competitors. That Wilko’s 400-plus locations are mainly situated on High Street sites may also have been an issue with B&M and others preferring big box stores on edge-of-town retail parks that bargain hunting shoppers can easily drive to.
Many shoppers feel it would be a great shame if Wilko does disappear from our High Streets as Woolworths eventually did.
But no brand, however charming and loved, is guaranteed eternal life.
When it comes to discount retailing... it’s tough at the bottom
