Poundland boss welcomes positivity on High St and reports strong trading at the new-look Wilko stores
Poundland's boss said there was 'plenty of positivity' on the High Street as he hailed strong trading at dozens of former Wilko stores snapped up by the budget retailer.
Managing director Austin Cooke said that while 'times are tough', there has been a 'great' response from customers to the newly opened stores.
Poundland agreed to buy up to 71 former Wilko sites in September after its rival discount retailer went into administration.
Wilko's death caused 400 stores to close this summer and 12,000 jobs were lost.
The former bosses have been criticized for poor leadership, including a failure to capitalize on demand for affordable goods amid the cost of living crisis. But Cooke said: 'There is still a lot of positivity on the High Street.'
Rebranded: Poundland agreed to buy up to 71 former Wilko sites in September after its rival discount retailer went into administration
The head of Poundland added: 'You can't deny that these are tough times for many and the cost of living situation is having an impact, but it only gives us more reason to deliver excellent value.'
His company has so far opened 64 former Wilko stores under the Poundland brand.
And more than a thousand former Wilko employees have been hired.
Cooke said there had been a 'great' response from the retailer's customers.
He added: “Every time we open a new store we see that. People are very happy that we are opening in their city.
“We saw an opportunity there to accelerate openings and are very happy with how things went.”
Poundland has also opened a further 23 stores in addition to those it bought from Wilko's administrators in the past two months and plans more openings in 2024.
The estate has grown to more than 800 stores across Britain during an ambitious expansion.