Shoppers pour in as Hucknall's The Range store officially opens its doors

County councillor Keith Girling (Con) officially cut the ribbon to declare the store open at 9am and a large crowd of shoppers was soon heading through the doors to see what the new store had to offer.

The popular home and garden retailer has moved into the old Wilko site on Central Walk and shoppers were keen to see what it was all about with a large queue forming back to Piggins Croft car park more than an hour before the official opening time.

At the front of that queue was local woman Jackie Steeples – who has been outside the doors waiting since 5.52am that morning.

She said: “I was up early, I’m not the school run any more and my daughter told me there would be something for the person who was first in the queue so I got my fold-up chair from the shed at 5am and then came down to the store.”

“It’s great that Hucknall is getting The Range because we all miss Wilko so why not replace with a shop that we all need – it’s a win-win for us.”

As the first in line, Jackie received a special goody bag worth £125, while the next 49 in the queue also got smaller goody bags.

Coun Girling said: “It’s amazing to see this store finally open, there’s a real buzz about the place and people are excited.

"It’s vitally important for a town like Hucknall that brands like The Range come here because they wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think they had the customer base and now other big names will see that The Range has come here and will think they should be coming here too.”

As well as Coun Girling, Hucknall councillors John Wilmott, Lee Waters, Trevor Locke and Gordon Mann from Ashfield Council, also attended the opening.

Coun Wilmott said: “It’s so important that we get the best for Hucknall and this store opening proves that we mean business.”

Coun Waters added: “This was a red-letter day for us and are delighted to welcome The Range to Hucknall and the jobs and prosperity it will bring.”

The new store is currently employing 63 people and manager Nick Collins said he was ‘proud to see the new store open’.

He said: "I really didn’t expect to see the huge queue outside but that just made me feel even more buzzing.

"This store is something different, we’ve got a bit of everything and we’re not just bringing money into the town but creating jobs too.”

Graham Smith, area manager for The Range, added: “I’m so proud, everyone’s worked so hard to get this store ready and it’s fantastic to see the number of people who’ve come out to support us.

"The history and success of Wilko in Hucknall made it a no-brainer for us to want to come to the town, we looked at it and we knew we wanted to get into Hucknall and the proof is in the pudding of the number of people who have come to the first day of trading – I’m absolutely gobsmasked and thrilled with just how many people have come to support our new store.”