Wilkos confirms Darnall store WILL close and has final message for Sheffield customers

Speculation had been growing on social media that the high-street homeware store will be closing its Darnall site, much to the disappointment of its customers. 

Customers began tweeting the store to ask if the rumours were true, with one adding that '˜as a resident of Darnall and user of this shop it would be nice to know'. 

Initially, Wilko responded say they did not have any information at this time, but have now confirmed they will be shutting the store in March. 

A spokesperson from Wilko said: 'It was a very tough decision for us to close our Darnall store.

'We've loved serving our hard-working families in the area but sadly, we've made the decision to not renew our lease when it ends in a few months and close the store.

'We'd like to thank both our team and customers and, while we understand this news is disappointing, we hope customers will choose to visit one of our other nearby stores in the Sheffield region.

'We'll continue to offer great choice, value and quality until the last day of trading or continuously on wilko.com.'

Darnall residents have already raised concerns over the number of shops that have closed in the area including Morrisons and B&Q. 

Wilko currently have seven stores in Sheffield, including Haymarket, London Road, Hillsborough and Crystal Peaks. 

In March last year, they opened a new store in Meadowhall after taking over the old Sports Direct units at the shopping centre, generating 70 jobs. 

Anthony Houghton, Wilko retail director, said they were 'thrilled' to be in the shopping centre.

He said: "Meadowhall is one of the largest shopping centres in the UK and has been high on the list of locations for Wilko for some time, so we are thrilled to be taking up a new home here.

"The shopping centre attracts a diverse range of shoppers from miles around, including new homeowners and young families and I'm confident visitors will be impressed by the breadth of our ranges and the quality of our products."

Just three months later, Wilko opened another new store at St James Retail Park with the first 100 customers receiving a £5 gift card and goody bags. 

The retail park, on the former Norton College site, fully opened in July with the first store opening in April. 

The full list of retailers signed up for the new centre so far include Next, M&S Foodhall, Aldi, TK Maxx, Specsavers, HomeSense, Mountain Warehouse, ShoeZone, Card Factory, Greggs and Costa.