Wilko has offloaded its distribution centre in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, to DHL for £48m in a sale and leaseback deal.
The business refinancing will let the homes and garden retailer improve its proposition and customer experience across its 402 stores and online, according to Wilko.
It said day-to-day operations at the warehouse would remain unchanged.
“It also means Wilko can concentrate its efforts on doing what it does best – supplying hard-working families with great-value products, easily accessible either online or in store,” the company said.
Wilko CEO Jerome Saint-Marc added: “It’s standard business practice to constantly review how we manage our finances. This property deal with DHL represents long-term stability for us and our team members and is the right response to the current market conditions and our priorities.
“We’re making smart choices to trade as a business and allow us to continue to invest in our long-term transformational strategy. Wilko remains family-owned and continues to focus on helping hard-working families to be the best they can be, delivering great-value products to our customers.”
Wilko’s latest full-year accounts, for the 12 months ended 30 January 2021, showed sales fell 7.3% to £1.4bn as lockdowns hit high street footfall.
The business said in January this year up to 15 stores would close in 2022 unless landlords agreed to more favourable terms. The business had 414 stores at the time.
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