WILKINSON STORE IN EARLESTOWN RECEIVES TOYTASTIC MAKEOVER

The Wilkinson store, situated on Market Street, Earlestown, will relaunch its revamped store on Thursday 17th November at 9am, with help from special guests, The Mayor of St Helens, Councillor Tom Hargreaves, and representatives from Claire House childrens hospice.

The store, which will be closed on Wednesday 16th November, will unveil its eagerly anticipated makeover, featuring an improved layout, new product ranges and a brighter, more modern shopping experience, during a festive and toytastic themed celebration.

On the morning of reopening, The Mayor of St Helens, Councillor Tom Hargreaves, will join Wilkinsons chief executive, Stuart Mitchell and store manager, Janet Gregory, in a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially re-launch the store.

As part of Wilkinsons commitment to supporting local charities, Claire House hospices area fundraiser, Tony Langan and mascot, Claire Bear, will attend the store following the ribbon cutting. Tony and Claire Bear will be presented with a cheque donation and a selection of toys from the fantastic Wilko Toy range, to take back to the children at the hospice.

With Christmas just around the corner, to get early bird shoppers in the festive spirit, the first 100 customers through the doors will receive a free bag of Wilko Christmas treats from the Xmas Confectionery range. Staff members will also be hosting a raffle throughout day, to raise money for Wilkinsons charity of the year, Age UK - one lucky customer will win a Party Season Pamper Hamper jam packed full of beauty products, to coincide with the launch of the Get Gorgeous and Gift & Going Out ranges.

As part of the stores ongoing promise to engage with the local community, children from Wargrave C of E Primary School will join staff at 10am to present them with a collage of images, created to reflect their Christmas present wish list. The wonderfully colourful designs will then be displayed in store, and as a thank you for their hard work, the school will be presented with a Wilkinsons gift card, to be used to purchase arts & crafts products.

Janet said: Were extremely excited about the makeover and are looking forward to showing it off to all our guests as well as our loyal customers.

I have no doubt that everyone will be impressed with the new look and feel. The store team has worked tirelessly to ensure everything is perfect for the re-launch. Its a great chance for the local community to visit the store and take a look at the wide product range we have to offer.

The celebrations will continue on Saturday 19th November when a toy soldier on stilts will be bringing all the fun of play time to the store, entertaining children and adults alike, welcoming shoppers and posing for photographs - a face painter will also be transforming children into toy characters from 10am until 4pm.

On Saturday 26th November, shoppers will be in for another treat when Greenalls Brass Band will be performing Christmas tunes outside the store from 10am until 1pm, helping to get everyone in the festive spirit.

A family owned firm after 80 years of trading, JK Wilkinson opened his first store, situated on Charnwood Street, Leicester, in 1930. The companys portfolio has expanded significantly over the eight decades that have followed, and there are currently 362 stores across the UK, including 10 in Scotland.

Serving over 178 million customers each year, and selling over 25,000 product lines, including health & beauty, gardening equipment, cleaning products and homewares both in store and online at WilkinsonPlus, Wilkinsons is dedicated to providing its customers with high quality products, choice and first class, friendly service.

Wilkinsons is committed to Britains high streets and prides itself on being a community focused retailer, actively supporting of local charities, community groups and care organisations, as well as its national charity of the year, Age UK.