of the retailer to take over large units in town centres left vacant by the relocation of big retail names to out of town locations, as Marks & Spencer had closed its Dudley store in 1990, in favour of a new store at the nearby Merry Hill Shopping Centre. The Dudley store was so successful that a £250,000 expansion to the upper level of the building (initially, only the ground floor was used) was completed three years after its opening. By then, Wilkinson was one of Britain's fastest growing retailers. In 2012, Wilkinson began rebranding its stores as Wilko, after its own brand products marketed under the Wilko name, and by 2014, most stores had been rebranded. One side of the Wilkinson family, Karin Swann, sold her 50 percent share of the business to the other side of the family in 2014, leaving Tony Wilkinson, his wife Christine and Lisa Wilkinson the sole owners of the company and Lisa Wilkinson the sole chairman. Swann wanted to pursue other business interests and the decision did not represent a falling-out of the family. In August 2017, Wilko began negotiations with GMB over their plan to remove over 4,000 positions. This was contrasted unfavourably with reports that Lisa Wilkinson had just received a £3m dividend. In March 2018, Wilko began to sell 285 of its own brand products in Dubai through ACE stores, marking the first time that Wilko has sold through another retailer. In June 2020, Warpaint London, a colour cosmetics company, signed a deal with Wilko to sell those items in UK shops. In January 2022, Wilko announced the closure of 15 stores with more expensive long leases. Warehouses and distribution The company's first warehouse and offices opened in 1938 in existing premises in Syston, Charnwood. Wilko's first purpose-built warehouse on Brighton Road, Leicester, opened in 1937. In 1970, the head office and warehouse were relocated to Carlton-in-Lindrick, Nottinghamshire, and a 'high-bay' stacking system was installed. Wilko's current main distribution centre (DC1) opened in 1995 and is located in Manton Wood, Worksop, Nottinghamshire. At the time of opening, it had the fastest sorting system in the UK. A second distribution centre (DC2) was opened in Magor, south Wales in 2000. The company awarded a five-year logistics contract to Wincanton plc in March 2017, replacing Canute Haulage Group after 29 years. In September 2019, the GMB union announced that its members would