WATCH: Poundland back home for shop 600
Poundland has opened its 600th store in Bilston – the town where the concept for the £1-for-everything chain was born.
The Church Road shop was officially opened a little after 9.30am yesterday, with the company's CEO, Jim McCarthy, cutting a ribbon to allow the queueing shoppers to charge through the turquoise doors.
It was very much a party atmosphere as shoppers, who queued for more than a hour before the official opening time, were treated to a DJ, while the Honey Monster and a Walkers Crisp packet danced for the crowd's entertainment.
Vouchers worth £10 were offered to the first shoppers while walking billboards advertising the grand opening roamed the streets of Bilston.
Inside, the shelves were full, boasting a full array of Poundland stock from selfie–sticks and a back-to-school range to crisps and fizzy drinks.
Mr McCarthy has been at the helm of the bargain retailer for nine years after joining in 2006. He opened the chain's 500th store and has seen it break the billion pound barrier for sales.
He said: "I'm absolutely delighted to get to 600 stores.
"It's absolutely appropriate that we've opened it in Bilston in the heart of the Midlands, it's where we started back in 1990.
"To be able to bring the Poundland shopping experience and its amazing value to Bilston and to have such a tremendous reaction, with
the shoppers queueing into the markets, is terrific.
"The customers are great, they love value, they appreciated Poundland and we love them
to bits. I am absolutely delighted, it's wonderful."
Poundland originated as a market stall in Bilston before founders Keith and Steve Smith opened the chain's first shop in 1990.
But now, 25 years later and after reaching the 600-store landmark, Mr McCarthy is determined to not let the Black Country-born chain rest on its laurels, insisting he wants it to reach an 'iconic' 1,000 branches.
He said: "Oh yes, absolutely. We still want to reach 1,000 stores. Independent researcher Javelin say that there are 1,400 stores that we could occupy in the UK but we say 1,000 as we like to under-promise and over-deliver whenever we can.
"Of course, as you know, we have an agreed bid in for 99p stores with their 251 stores. Growth is what Poundland is about and its built off the back of amazing value each day around that single price point of £1.
"We've kept true to that for 25 years and we shall continue to do so.
"A thousand stores is an iconic number and at 60 stores a year that's several years of growth left yet. But I think we'll probably end up with more than that. If we acquire the 99p stores with their 251, they've got some growth as well. In our thousand we have allowed for growth with other retailers so that would probably take us up to a total target of 1,350-1,400."
Comparisons between Poundland and Woolworths are inevitable as the former replaced the latter as the UK's go-to bargain store.
But Mr McCarthy played down the importance of being on course to surpass the 850 or so shops that Woolworths had open at any one time in the UK.
He said: "Woolworths I was very fond of of course, but we intend to stay around slightly longer. I think the truth really on this one is that we don't really look at anybody else and try and surpass their number of stores we just focus on a thousand stores and if that means we have more than Woolworths, if that means we have more than other retailers, well then that's great.
"I think it's the customers who decide how many you have because if you're successful and they're buying products from you and they're voting with their wallets and purses then you can keep opening stores and pleasing people.
"And it's our attention to keep on doing just that."
