A girl can never wear too much pink, or have too much wine (apparantly!) :o) Jo
A girl can never wear too much pink, or have too much wine (apparantly!) :o) Jo
Member since:22.03.2004
Reviews:65
Members who trust:37
Wilkinson’s (or Wilko’s as it was previously known) is as tempting for shoppers as a shiny piece of jewellery is to a magpie. Very. For those of you who don’t know it, Wilkinson’s is bit like that shop in Open all Hours (you know with a very young David Jason) it really does sell everything (unfortunately the customer service is often on a par with Ronnie Barker’s!)
My first experience of Wilkinson’s came about as we were in the process of buying a house, and subsequently needed things to put in it. Important things such as glasses, cutlery, cooking implements and stuff like that. Now I used to be quite snobby about Wilko’s, but now I go in there with great regularity, handily I have to walk past one on the way back to my car each and every day and can often be seen snatching up the bargains.
A little bit of research has taught me that Wilkinson’s has been gracing this planet since 1930, when the first store opened in Leicester. There are now over 220 stores throughout England and Wales with about 20 new stores opening every year.
Both the stores that I have been to are classed as ‘Large’ stores so there may be some differences between these and smaller stores. You can
check the size of your local store on the Wilkinson’s website (www.wilkos.co.uk) in addition to studying practically the whole range of items sold in store.
The shops I go to are in Shrewsbury and Wellington (Telford). Neither store has its own dedicated parking, although there is somewhere to park your car fairly near at both sites (good job too, some of the things they sell are quite heavy!). You’ll have to pay for the delight of going shopping in Shrewsbury, but if you don’t go on Market Day, it will cost you nothing to park in Wellington’s Market Car Park.
On entering the shop you will notice that the décor leaves a bit (oh ok, a lot) to be desired. Both of the shops I go to look a bit tired, they are most definitely greying around the gills. However DO NOT let this put you off. Wilkinson’s stores sell everything you may ever need, and some things that you won’t. Some of my recent purchases have included (sorry for the list here):
Nail Polish Picture Frame Art Print Tomato Plant Food Fence Paint Emulsion Glasses Cups Toothpaste Tampax Dr Pepper Baking Tins Paracetemol And so on and so forth.
There are a variety of different departments and these stores also have a soft furnishings department that I am yet to try out, as well as a section for bike accessories, electrical bits and bobs, pet food, gardening, stationery and furniture (mostly of the garden variety). In terms of quality, nothing that I have ever bought from Wilkinson’s has broken yet. All of the ‘ovenproof’ things have been into and subsequently come out of the oven without so much as a crack, the glasses have not yet been smashed, headaches have been eradicated thanks to the paracetemol and the Dr Pepper tasted like, well, Dr Pepper!
All is not sunshine and roses however. We picked up a couple of tester pots from Wilkinson’s for the spare room. On inspection of the colours (both Wilko’s and more reputable brands) we decided that we liked the Wilko’s paint best. We went back and bought 1 pot of White emulsion at £4.49 and 2 pots of “Sunburst” Matt Emulsion for £7.99. After trying the paint on the wall it was quite noticeable that the 2 colours, i.e. the tester pot and actual paint, were a couple of tones apart. Even after a couple of coats and sufficient drying time. Suffice to say that was not satisfactory so off we toddled back to Wilkinson’s. On hearing the problem and having seen the reciept, both pots of paint and the tester pot were refunded.
Both the white emulsion and the fence paint have been used with a pleasing result though.
The moral of this story is not to trust Wilko’s tester pots (and before you ask they did have the same colour on the label).
The Wilko’s Experience.
Shopping at Wilkinson’s can be a bit off putting, sometimes I wonder if there ought to be a “Mind Your Knuckles” sign on the door for some of the customers and that is one of the factors that may put people off from shopping at this otherwise truly cheap store. I guess you always have to allow for the wierd factor, but so many, in one place, is that really possible or is Wilkinson’s a Wierdo Magnet? (I know I shop there too, but I already know that my knuckles drag on the floor when I walk. Does this make me a better Wierdo?).
Wilkinson’s is also not the most shopper friendly store. There appears to be no logic in the placing of goods but things from the same departments are generally found in the same area.
I would definitely recommend that you go to Wilkinson’s to shop for general household things. I always find something in this shop that I didn’t think I needed but have to have. If you have never been you are really missing out on snatching up some real bargains.
Unfortunately Wilkinson's loses a star due to the fact tht the queues are often long and the staff on the tills may not be the friendliest you have ever come across
Most definitely worth a visit.
And yes they do sell plastic carpet protectors.
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Jun 14th, 2004
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