Wilko is continuing its national store roll out across the country, with a new store set to open at the Maltings in St Albans. 

The retail chain closed the last of its Hertfordshire chains - including St Albans and Stevenage - back in October, but the brand was bought by The Range owners CDS Superstores. 

Launch dates for the St Albans and Rotherham stores will be in spring 2024, with exact timings to be announced at a later date, alongside news of further store openings.  

According to Wilko, there’s been an "incredible reaction" to the recently launched new concept stores in Plymouth, Exeter and Luton, with the stores showing "early signs of strong trading". 

A spokesperson added: "The newly enabled wilko.com has given the brand the confidence to push on with plans to physically reintroduce Wilko back into the communities it previously served."

CEO of CDS Superstores - trading as The Range and Wilko - Alex Simpkin said: “The initial reaction to the new concept stores has been even better than we’d hoped. We’ve seen queues of both returning and new customers at the store launches and the feedback is giving us the confidence we need to continue with our store opening plans.

“We’re in advanced negotiations with a number of landlords and are continuing to review all options as a part of our roll-out plan.  Any interested agents or landlords should get in touch.

“We’ll continue to endeavour to give ex-Wilko employees priority as a part of the recruitment process for the new stores.”

The CDS Superstores property team is encouraging landlords across the UK to get in touch if they’re interested in being considered for the Wilko roll-out programme.