Poundland to open in former Poundworld sites
Poundland, the Black Country-based budget store chain, has snapped up 20 former sites following the collapse of rival Poundworld and aims to open new stores next month, creating more than 400 jobs.
It follows a wave of closures at Poundland early last year after it shut down loss-making former 99p Store branches bought in a troubled takeover in 2015.
But the Willenhall-based retailer is back on the growth trail, opening former Poundworld stores in cities and towns which have not had a Poundland before.
More than 5,000 staff lost their jobs in the collapse of Poundworld earlier this summer, which saw the closure of 335 stores nationwide after attempts to find a buyer for the business failed.
In contrast, Poundland celebrated a record Christmas season and its sales of nearly £1.2 billion in the nine months to the end of June were up 1.7 per cent on a like-for-like basis. Now Poundland is finalising plans to open in up to 20 large former Poundworld stores and says it will offer its casual value fashion brand Pep&Co in eight of the new locations alongside its core general merchandise and food.
The stores will bring Poundland to town for the first time and also add new locations in a number of places where it already trades.
The first phase of openings will be in Edinburgh, Killingworth in Tyne & Wear, East Kilbride and Ayr.
Poundland says it expects to re-open the doors at most of the locations in October. It also says it expects the move will create over 400 jobs and has repeated its offer to all former Poundworld staff to get in touch for guaranteed interviews.
“We’re trading strongly and stores with a Pep&Co fashion store are a hit with customers,” said Poundland’s UK & Ireland managing director Barry Williams. “That’s why we’re keen to find larger sites that enable us to bring our widest ranges to more high streets across the country.”
“However, we can only do this if landlords really change their expectations about the total cost of occupation to reflect the new realities of UK retail,” he added.
Poundland attracts seven million shoppers each week to its 800 stores, 300 of which now includes its Pep&Co fashion brand.
The business was founded by former Willenhall market trade Steve Smith and his father and opened its first store in 1990. They sold up for £50 million a decade later and the company, with its headquarters in Willehall and a major warehouse depot at Bilston, is now owned by South African conglomerate Steinhoff following a £610m deal in 2016.
