All 400 branches of collapsed retailer Wilko will close by early October with the “likely” loss of all 12,500 jobs at the chain, according to the GMB.
The union said it was informed of the development by administrators PwC on Monday morning.
The GMB said it meant it was “likely” that all of Wilko’s staff would now be made redundant.
It comes after Sky News revealed earlier that a rescue deal involving the owner of HMV had collapsed.
Read more: Full list of Wilko stores set to close this week
PwC declined to comment.
Wilko – owned by the founding Wilkinson family for decades – collapsed into administration last month.
Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, described it as the “death knell” for the discount homeware brand.
She said: “Wilko was far more than a brand, a retailer or the products it sold, it was the thousands of loyal team members now facing an uncertain future.
Read more from business:
BMW to make new electric Mini in Oxford with taxpayer funding
Insolvency firms face crackdown in government shake-up
Crisis-hit CBI faces new cash crunch amid talks with rival
“Wilko may have ceased genuinely being a family brand many years ago, but the staff kept the real family ethos of Wilko alive until the very end. It is the family that Wilko colleagues made for themselves that will be missed the most.”
She added: “This isn’t a tragedy without cause. Wilko should have thrived in a bargain retail sector that is otherwise strong, but it was run into the ground by the business owners…. No worker caused the downfall of Wilko.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Last week: GMB on Wilko job losses
Meanwhile, GMB boss Gary Smith told Sky News that Wilko would cost the taxpayer “tens and tens of millions of pounds” – and that a quarter of the Wilko workers won’t get redundancy pay.
He added that the law prioritises creditors over job protection, which has led to this situation. Due to the lack of proper consultation and the resulting redundancies, he said “the taxpayer is going to pick up the bill” for costs related to redundancy payments, failure to consult, and potential notice pay, amounting to tens of millions of pounds.
B&M European Value Retail has already agreed to buy 51 Wilko stores which are set to be rebranded. It is unclear if the discount chain will keep on or rehire any of the Wilko staff at the branches.
A retail executive close to the situation said PwC was also seeking to strike an agreement with the owner of Poundland to offload another 100 Wilko outlets.
The 93-year-old chain, which was founded in 1930 in Leicester, collapsed after being hit hard by inflationary pressures, competition from rival retailers and supply chain challenges.
PwC previously announced around 1,600 redundancies at Wilko and confirmed that 52 stores would shut this week after it failed to find a buyer for them.
The following stores will close on Tuesday 12 September:
Acton
Aldershot
Barking
Bishop Auckland
Bletchley FF
Brownhills
Camberley
Cardiff Bay Retail Park
Falmouth
Harpurhey
Irvine
Liverpool Edge Lane
Llandudno
Lowestoft
Morley
Nelson
Port Talbot
Putney
Stafford
Tunbridge Wells
Wakefield
Weston-super-Mare
Westwood Cross
Winsford
The following stores will close on Thursday 14 September:
Ashford
Avonmeads
Banbury
Barrow in Furness
Basildon
Belle Vale
Burnley (Relocation)
Clydebank
Cortonwood
Dagenham
Dewsbury
Eccles
Folkestone
Great Yarmouth
Hammersmith
Huddersfield
Morriston
New Malden
North Shields
Queen Street Cardiff
Rhyl
Southampton-West Quay
St Austell
Stockport
Truro
Uttoxeter
Walsall
Woking