Wilko announces date it will close in Portsmouth following collapse of historic retailer

The hardware and furnishings retailer tumbled into administration last month after it came under pressure from weak consumer spending and debts to suppliers.

READ NOW: Family tributes to girl

The retailer will shut its final 111 stores in early October as part of the final phase of closures, administrators for PwC said.

The Wilko brand will not disappear entirely from the UK high street after The Range agreed to buy Wilko’s brand, website and intellectual property, with plans to sell the acquired brand in its stores.

Wilko was originally founded by James Kemsey Wilkinson in Leicester in 1930 and employed 12,500 workers before its collapse.

It will shut the doors of its last remaining stores on Sunday October 8. However, many stores will be closing their doors for the final time on Tuesday October 3 – Portsmouth’s Arundel Street store included.