“Come in and say goodbye!” Spalding Wilko staff prepare for an emotional final day of trading

Staff at town centre store will be saying an emotional goodbye today, as it closes its doors for the final time.

The Spalding branch of Wilko has cultivated a ‘family feel’ for employees, who have also made friendships with regular customers.

But as the national retailer continues to close its remaining stores across the country, today (Thursday) will be the final day of trading for the town branch.

“It’s very much a family feel. The staff and everyone are great here and it’s going to be really, really sad to think you’re not going to be working with them anymore,” said supervisor Mel Vickovic.

Mel has been with the company 18 years, while current employees have between 33 and eight years of service on their CVs.

“We’ve made some good friendships over the years,” she continued.

“It’s been very tough. We’ve had a lot of tears this week. They’re very sad, a lot of the staff have been here a long time.

“It’s been a big wrench for them, they've now got to go and get new jobs. Many of us thought we’d probably be working here for the rest of our careers, but unfortunately, that's what we’ve got to do.”

Staff will get together for a meal and drinks this evening to share some laughs and look back at their time with the company, supported by one generous customer who donated £150 towards the bill.

But first there is a day of trading, and an opportunity to say farewell to customers.

“I’d love people to come in and say goodbye,” Mel added.

“We’ve still got some really good bargains on at the minute, not a great deal left but everything has got to go.

“If customers want to come in and speak to the staff and say thank you that’d be great.”

Emotional thank-yous and memories have been left by members on a large wall of paper set up in the Holland Market branch.

‘Thank you for lovely customer service’, ‘you were the best shop and I am very sad’ and ‘thank you for all the wonderful years you all have spent working here’ were among the messages written on the wall, which had to be extended.

“We’ve had some lovely things written on there, some of the customers have been tearful and cant believe we’re going,” Mel added.