I went to Wilko's administration sale - it was so sad I could have cried

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

I'm sure there aren't many people who haven't shopped at Wilko at some point. For some it's an occasional trip for cleaning products, for others it's their go-to for everything from toasters to wallpaper - and its pick & mix is legendary in itself.

Its collapse has therefore come as quite a surprise to high street shoppers who, quite frankly, simply never saw it coming. But the future of the company's 400 stores now hangs in the balance, with 12,000 jobs at risk and redundancies under way. Join our FREE Manchester Family WhatsApp group by clicking here My visit to Bolton's Middlebrook branch this week painted a very bleak picture of a once thriving firm going under.

A bunch of skeletons hanging near the doorway is perhaps not the best omen, but if anything it symbolised what people most fear - yet another death on the high street.

The majority of shelves had been stripped bare by shoppers, the bigger the discount the scarcer the stock. The 'administration sale', managed by PwC, has seen up to 50% off Christmas decorations, 30% off gardening and stationery, 20% off kitchenware and home accessories and 10% off pet care.