High Street chain collapse sweepstake

[Martin Phillp]

Last day for my local store. I popped in 20 mins before closure and staff were already packing up stock to move to the neighbouring store which is itself closing on Wednesday and moved the remaining stock to the front of the store while closing the middle and rear of the shop.

Discount wise, they went up to 80% off in the final week in certain departments with 30% on household goods.

[thegeek]

North Shields is an odd store. It's the former Safeway in The Beacon Centre (covered town centre disguised as a mall).

The cafe had stayed the same since Safeway closed in about 1994 (when they put their focus on the larger Whitley Bay branch) and there are several small sublet units (cobbler etc) that are only accessible via the store.

The only access to the car park from within the centre is through the store too, which I suspect will lead to one of those sealed off with plastic barriers scenarios.

Darlington is apparently in a similar situation, and the store's closure has lead to the car park temporarily closing until the lifts can be locked out of use:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-66897703

[Zimba]

Darlington is apparently in a similar situation, and the store's closure has lead to the car park temporarily closing until the lifts can be locked out of use:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-66897703

Both ex. Presto stores. Darlington is different to North Shields though, the lifts are literally inside the shop so they're inaccessible completely. Assume the reason it's closed is there's kids who have access to lift keys lately and would be able to go down the lift shaft to get into the store.

[WillPS]

Darlington is apparently in a similar situation, and the store's closure has lead to the car park temporarily closing until the lifts can be locked out of use:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-66897703

Both ex. Presto stores. Darlington is different to North Shields though, the lifts are literally inside the shop so they're inaccessible completely. Assume the reason it's closed is there's kids who have access to lift keys lately and would be able to go down the lift shaft to get into the store.

You can permanently or temporarily seal lift doors, or if that's the only access to street level you can create a boxed in corridor to them. Needs resource to maintain and keep that corridor secure though.

[Zimba]

Darlington is apparently in a similar situation, and the store's closure has lead to the car park temporarily closing until the lifts can be locked out of use:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-66897703

Both ex. Presto stores. Darlington is different to North Shields though, the lifts are literally inside the shop so they're inaccessible completely. Assume the reason it's closed is there's kids who have access to lift keys lately and would be able to go down the lift shaft to get into the store.

You can permanently or temporarily seal lift doors, or if that's the only access to street level you can create a boxed in corridor to them. Needs resource to maintain and keep that corridor secure though.

Yeah that's the plan there, just shut for a week while they seal them shut, then the car park is stairs only.

Mind wouldn't be surprised to see the whole thing torn down before long. It's out of the way and the unit is outdated as an understatement. Can't see anyone wanting to open retail there and it's massive aswell. Probably could be said about a lot of (ex) Wilko stores tbh.

[Pete]

Darlington is apparently in a similar situation, and the store's closure has lead to the car park temporarily closing until the lifts can be locked out of use:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-66897703

Both ex. Presto stores. Darlington is different to North Shields though, the lifts are literally inside the shop so they're inaccessible completely. Assume the reason it's closed is there's kids who have access to lift keys lately and would be able to go down the lift shaft to get into the store.

Yeah with North Shields you can go back into the street, walk past Greggs, and go up the ramp. Less convenient but then I suppose that exit was designed for Presto trolleys to go straight into the car park. Probably the same distance as you'd walk to the bus / Metro.

[Zimba]

Darlington is apparently in a similar situation, and the store's closure has lead to the car park temporarily closing until the lifts can be locked out of use:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-66897703

Both ex. Presto stores. Darlington is different to North Shields though, the lifts are literally inside the shop so they're inaccessible completely. Assume the reason it's closed is there's kids who have access to lift keys lately and would be able to go down the lift shaft to get into the store.

Yeah with North Shields you can go back into the street, walk past Greggs, and go up the ramp. Less convenient but then I suppose that exit was designed for Presto trolleys to go straight into the car park. Probably the same distance as you'd walk to the bus / Metro.

Yeah totally, mind it'll be interesting to see if it'll have a trickle effect. Home Bargains, in particular, is stuck on a limb since they've moved the buses to the other side of town. I know there's planning permission to turn the Buzz Bingo near Silverlink into a discounter aswell which people are assuming is them aswell.

I can't remember the last time I went to the place and live about 5 mile away, ironically was at Silverlink today aswell. The parking charges really don't help either and that car park is a dump and was 10 year ago never mind now.

[Martin Phillp]

10 closed Wilko stores to reopen as Poundland this weekend.

Broad Street, Chell Road, Stafford , ST16 2DB
Unit A Pendle Rise Shopping Centre, Nelson , BB9 9SL
The Peel Centre, Great Portwood Street, Stockport , SK1 2HH
21-37 The Mall, Church Street, Eccles , M30 0EA
36-40 London Street, Southport , PR9 0TJ
Lord Street, Leigh , WN7 1AB
22/28 East Street, Barking , IG11 8EU
88-90 High Street, Maidenhead , SL6 1PT
2 -12 Bede Precinct, Viking Centre, Jarrow , NE32 3LN
Unit 2 The Broadway, Scunthorpe , DN16 2SN

[scottishtv]

Slightly off topic, but related. Here in Edinburgh, I noticed that the closed-down M&S Outlet shop at Meadowbank Retail Park has been taken over by Home Bargains. This will mean B&M, Home Bargains and Poundland are all directly next to each other in a row at this location.

[Zimba]

Must say the Wilko social media the past few days is damn right bizarre. Either someone is posting stuff which I assume hasn't been approved by The Range or I'm not sure what they're trying to do but it's a bit odd to be posting videos of staff closing the shops down. It's all in present tense though and in similar tone to the online shop reopening soon.

[WillPS]

I think it is the online team but I agree it feels very glib to me.