Wilkinson’s

Oh our beloved Wilko, you palace of wonderment, you centre of all things necessary. My proximity to the Arndale Centre makes this place a hive of necessities when it comes to my regular shop.
I’ve loved Wilko the brand for years, way back from when I visited Southport at weekends to grabbing essentials for my university dorm down the road at the Salford Precinct establishment. This branch has to be my favourite thus far, and you can get everything here from homeware to electricals, cleaning products to confectionary and crisps… Everything for the home, full stop. I first discovered this place not long after it opened when Anyonita G led Bex T and I to its long-​awaited Arndale store, where we went mental over just about everything. A stack of garden stuff for the keenly green-​fingered, Pick n’ Mix, art supplies, tools, store-​cupboard foods, medicine cupboard madness, bathroom products, household things… and we hadn’t even been upstairs yet.
Upstairs! Just as big a floor as the one below and stacked to the rafters with crockery, electronics and just what I needed… paint. I went at those tester pots like a sweet-​tooth in a French Patisserie. Here were all the pastels I needed to paint my furniture. These generous pots, a quid a pop, buy you enough paint for a small side table and then some — I know, I’ve painted them since. Plus they stock that elusive blackboard paint and I’ve already made myself a chalkboard out of an old frame for my kitchen. Oh and a duck-​egg green silicon whisk (also available in baby pink and powder blue)? Yes please…
I’m more than impressed. It’s cheap, it’s cheerful and it’s got everything. Literally. EVERYTHING. Gosh are we lucky in Manchester!

My main experience of Wilkinson is at my smaller home branch in Lancashire. For practical stuff, such as new oven or fridge lightbulbs, or when I’ve needed a compact fluorescent of a particular (lower) wattage Wilko has always done me proud. I’ve seen Wilko named specifically in local Crime Prevention newsletters as the place to shop for padlocks for securing your outdoor shed — if it’s good enough for the police, it’s good enough for me.
After quite a lot of comparison shopping, I bought myself a 14 inch stainless steel saucepan at this flagship Wilko in the Arndale Centre. As it was a BBC TV Ready Steady Go cookery show item, I was wary that it might be a bit gimmicky. However, it turns out that this series of pans is a collaboration with top cookware brand Imperial, which makes sense. The pan design is up there with the best, with some great touches such as colander-​free draining and silicone grips on the handles. Of course, Wilko also stock their own brand of more affordable cookware, and offering both budget and premium options on hardware sums up the Wilko ethos. I won’t attempt a comprehensive review, and you can check out the Wilko Plus website for an overview of the extent of Wilko’s product range or read Anyonita’s review.
The Arndale branch includes what is basically a full garden centre to the rear of the ground floor. Mainly speaking from my experience in my smaller local Wilko, I’ve found the staff to be pleasant and helpful but a bit ‘your guess is as good as mine’ on product knowledge — this mega-​Wilko may well have staff with more specialist expertise, let’s see.
All in all, I feel this new Wilko megastore is a boon for central Manchester folk, particularly as it makes some practical necessaries more commonly sold at out-​of-​town shopping outlets easily available in the city centre.