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A deal has been struck for the owners of Poundland to take over the leases of up to 71 Wilko stores.
The Pepco Group will rebrand the branches under the Poundland name, administrators PwC said.
In a statement, Poundland said it would give priority to Wilko workers when hiring new staff for the shops.
It comes after the discount homeware chain – owned by the founding Wilkinson family for decades – went into administration last month, putting 12,500 jobs at risk.
While the deal includes “up to” 71 Wilko outlets, a spokesman said the final total would depend on talks with the landlords of each site to agree lease terms.
Hopes that all of Wilko’s 400 branches could be saved were seemingly dashed earlier this week when a rescue deal involving the owner of HMV collapsed.
The development prompted PwC to announce on Monday evening that all Wilko stores will close down, with 9,100 employees made redundant, by early October.
Fellow discount retailer B&M has already signed a deal to snap up 51 Wilko stores, but it is unclear if staff at those branches will be kept on or rehired.
The 122 sites included in the agreements with Pepco and B&M employ more than 3,200 staff in total.
Joint administrator Edward Williams said: “Alongside the previously announced agreement with B&M, we’re confident this sale will create a platform for future employment opportunities for people including current Wilko team members at up to 122 locations.
“We will continue to engage with other retailers around any interest in other Wilko sites and are confident of completing a sale of the brand and intellectual property within the coming days.”
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A spokesman for Poundland said the stores in the deal were mostly in locations where it currently has a “limited presence”.
He added: “The…
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