retail founded 1930 headquarters worksop united kingdom number of locations 387 2016 1 key people lisa wilkinson director sean toal chief operating officer 2 products basic groceries consumer goods diy stationery pet supplies revenue 1 501 million 2014 3 operating income 67 million 2014 owner tony wilkinson and lisa wilkinson 100 % 4 website www.wilko.com wilko retail ltd. formerly wilkinson hardware stores is a british high street chain which sells homewares and household goods . founded in 1930 as wilkinson cash stores by james kemsey wilkinson in leicester the company has remained largely in the hands of the founding family . 5 when tony wilkinson the son of the founder retired as chairman after 45 years in june 2005 he was replaced by his niece karin swann and his daughter lisa wilkinson . 6 in 2014 karin swann sold her family s 50 % holding in the business to lisa wilkinson . 4 contents 1 product range 2 stores and distribution 3 marketing 4 financial success 5 partnerships 6 references 7 external links product range edit the wilko product range concentrates on household essentials including homewares textiles diy cleaning products health and beauty lines stationery confectionery pet products and kitchen and bathroom goods . a large proportion of the range is made up of own label products sold under the wilko brand although like other retailers wilko has started to use private label brands . stores and distribution edit 2015 logo 2016 a high street wilko using the 2009 2014 logo 2010 a high street wilko store using the 1977 2009 logo 2007 the first wilkinson store was opened in leicester in 1930 increasing to a total of nine branches by 1940 ; the beaconsfield store can be seen in the background in the 1945 film brief encounter . by the end of the 1980s wilkinson had a total of 78 stores increasing to over 150 by the time of the founder s death in 1997 . 7 wilkinson opened their first scottish outlet in castle douglas on 23 january 2009 in a store formerly occupied by the co operative group . 8 stores were subsequently opened in scotland that same year in motherwell on 17 july in irvine in november and in clydebank on 2 december . during 2010 the stores planned for scotland to open were hamilton kilmarnock greenock and livingston . wilkinson has a trend of taking over redundant former stores rather than building new ones particularly in the west midlands ; notable examples include the former kwik save store in great bridge may 2008 9 the former safeway store in halesowen november 2006 10 and the former marks & spencer store in dudley july 1991 . the opening of a store in dudley was an example of a trend of the retailer to take over large units in town centres left vacant by the relocation of big retail names to out of town locations as marks & spencer had closed its dudley store during 1990 in favour of a new store at the nearby merry hill shopping centre . the dudley store was so successful that a 250 000 expansion to the upper level of the building initially only the ground floor was used was completed three years after its opening . by this stage wilkinson was one of britain s fastest growing retailers . 11 in 2012 wilkinson began rebranding its stores as wilko after its own brand products marketed under the wilko name and by 2014 most stores were rebranded . 12 13 14 the wilko national distribution centre is situated on the outskirts of worksop in close proximity to the a1 . marketing edit wilkinson s advertising is concentrated in the press such as through inserts included with local newspapers . advertising emphasises value for money with in store promotion encouraging customers to purchase more than one item when they visit the store . a revamped version of the wilkinson brand was unveiled in december 2008 . designed by jupiter creative 15 the brand was showcased in new format stores in thornaby northallerton which replaced a former woolworths store sheffield leicester newton aycliffe & walton on thames as well as the castle douglas motherwell & clydebank stores in scotland . financial success edit turnover for the year ending february 2013 was in excess of 1.5 b. 3 year ending turnover m trading profit m operating profit m 1 february 2013 3 1 530 27.6 25.3 2 february 2012 3 1 565 23.0 19.3 28 january 2011 16 1 559 57.7 60.8 29 january 2010 17 1 556 65.4 62.9 31 january 2009 17 18 1 449 32.2 31.6 1 february 2008 19 1 364 88 50.3 2 february 2007 20 21 1 246 85 48.4 27 january 2006 22 1 135 25.7 1 january 2005 23 1 116 54.3 1 january 2004 24 1 045 56.5 31 january 2003 25 922 44.7 2 february 2002 26 817 36.6 partnerships edit wilkinson products are also supplied to manx retailer shoprite . references edit holmes david 29 february 2016 . wilko opens bigger chester store on march 3 . the chester chronicle . retrieved 5 march 2016 . brooks beth . co operative group food coo sean toal to join wilkinson . the grocer . retrieved 21 october 2014 . a b c d wilkinson annual report 2012 a b ruddick graham 2 august 2014 . wilkinson family split after 84 years in retail . the telegraph . retrieved 5 march 2016 . ruddick graham 7 july 2015 . wilkinson family net 63m by selling stake in retail empire . the telegraph . retrieved 5 march 2016 . rich list 2013 no. 16 tony wilkinson 480m . birmingham post . 3 june 2013 . retrieved 5 march 2016 . http corporate.wilko.com stories ourhistory.php wilkinson to open first store in scotland news retail week hundreds seek wilkinson jobs express & star new wilko s brings 60 jobs express & star wilkinson hardware stores ltd. company profile information business description history background information on wilkinson hardware stores ltd wilko annual review 2012 pdf . wilko corporate . retrieved 31 october 2014 . holland tiffany 22 april 2014 . wilkinson rebrands store estate to wilko matching new strapline . retail week . retrieved 31 october 2014 . lanyon daniel 16 march 2013 . wilkinson rebrand to wilko gathers pace . the grocer . retrieved 31 october 2014 . the home of family value a new look brand unveiled for wilkinson . jupiter creative . 12 december 2008 . retrieved 8 february 2009 . wilkinson annual report 2011 a b wilkinson annual report 2010 wilkinson retail analysis 2009 . igd . 4 september 2009 . retrieved 5 april 2010 . wilkinson reports robust sales growth . igd retail analysis . 5 august 2008 . retrieved 27 december 2008 . wilkinson reveals strong profit growth . igd . 29 june 2007 . retrieved 5 april 2010 . fasttrack 100 2007 . retrieved 21 october 2014 . fasttrack 100 2006 fasttrack 100 2005 fasttrack 100 2004 fasttrack 100 2003 fasttrack 100 2002 external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wilko retailer & oldid 742805716 categories british companies established in 1930retail companies established in 19301930 establishments in the united kingdomcompanies based in nottinghamshirehome improvement companies of the united kingdomretail companies of the united kingdomdiscount stores of the united kingdomhidden categories use dmy dates from march 2014use british english from october 2013 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages polski edit links this page was last modified on 5 october 2016 at 22 22 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization 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