Poundland will trial online deliveries as part of huge investment to revamp its High Street stores and roll out new frozen food and clothes ranges
- Budget retailer says its investing millions as part of company’s ‘biggest ever transformation’ in its history and has dubbed the investment Project Diamond
- The plans will involve adding chilled and frozen food aisles to 60 new stores
- They will also be trialling a new online delivery service from early next year
Poundland is to trial an online delivery service and refurbish a raft of high street stores as part of the ‘biggest transformation in its history’.
The discount chain said that customers will see refreshed stores and extended choice as a result of the multimillion-pound investment plan.
The transformation plan will also see it pilot a poundland.co.uk home delivery service early next year from its new distribution site in Cannock.
The company said the exact details of the online service are still being worked out but that details will be made public as soon as they are available.
Poundland have announced plans to invest millions into their high street stores and will trial an online delivery service next year to boost economy after the impacts of coronavirus
Poundland said the revamp of stores will see it develop larger ‘destination’ sites where it will offer the fullest range of products including food, homeware, health and beauty and clothing.
It said it will also split its store estate into ‘convenience’ stores for customers to quickly purchase products and ‘core’ stores which will offer a wider variety of products on high streets.
The transformation plan, dubbed Project Diamond, will also see it open new stores in the UK and Ireland.
The company has announced they will be bringing branches to new towns such as Ingoldmells in Lincolnshire and expand in existing towns such as Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham.
Poundland will also accelerate the roll-out of chilled and frozen food to 60 stores by September, with plans to extend this to more sites later in the year.
About 28 Poundland stores already offer chilled and frozen food products, including in Gateshead, Leeds and Blackburn but the company are continuing to expand this service with stores in Greenwich Retail Park and Uxbridge high street due for upgrades this week.
The company will also open six more Pep&Co fashion concessions within Poundland stores, bringing the clothing brand to 310 locations.
These stores will open at branches in Sutton Coldfield Princess Alice Retail Park, Kings Lynn Retail Park, Peterborough Retail Park, Peterborough Hereward Cross centre and Cortonwood shopping park in Barnsley
An additional branch will be launched in August by Shirley Parkgate shopping centre near Solihull.
The chain said it’s also looking to introduce a clearer pricing structure, with items varying from £1 to £5.
Three new stores in Ireland, known as Dealz, will also open on Thursday in Rathfarnham, Buncrana and Clonakilty.
Barry Williams, Poundland managing director, said: ‘We’re stepping up to support high streets after the impact of the coronavirus by being customer-focused, people-led and tech-enabled.
‘This is the biggest transformation in our history as we look to secure our future for another 30 years.’