Two big new stores are about to open their doors to customers in Wigan

Hobbycraft, the UK’s largest arts and crafts retailer, has taken over the site previously occupied by Poundstretcher and is due to open on Tuesday, October 24.

The new branch has created 14 jobs in the area, with experts in knitting, baking, art and crochet. The store will offer customers the retailers’ extensive range of crafting products from baking, home craft, papercraft, knitting, sewing, kids’ crafts and model making to accessories for weddings, celebrations and more.

Store manager Andrew Toth said: “We are really looking forward to opening the doors to our Wigan store and sharing our passion for arts and crafts with the local community.

"Over the last few years, we have seen more people than ever take up crafting and we want to encourage locals to come down to the new store and share their crafting experience. We look forward to providing Wigan customers with the ultimate retail experience, combined with fantastic crafting products at great prices.”

The Wigan store will offer customers a range of dedicated craft spaces, including craft workshops, a digital cutting area, and a haberdashery area. A number of free workshops are also planned for the weeks ahead.

A grand opening event will be held at the store on Saturday, October 28, starting at 9am, including free goody bags for the first 100 customers and free face painting with Snazaroo from opening until 1pm.

The new Wigan store will be open Monday to Friday 9.00am to 8.00pm, Saturday 9.00am to 6.00pm and Sunday 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Meanwhile Gamer X has taken over the old DW Sports retail shop on the first floor of Grand Arcade.

The brand new 25,000 sq ft leisure attraction will be launching before the end of this year.

The attraction will have a lot of activities and zones, from an exclusive toddler-dedicated area to a bounce/inflatable area, karting zone, arcades, and VR gaming, table tennis and more. There will also be an on-site cafe, party rooms, and an impressive laser maze.

Gamer X’s managing director Audry Mbaki said: “A lot of work has gone into this project to make it the ultimate leisure attraction that appeals to everyone. It’s overwhelming to see all the passion for it from people’s interaction on social media as well as customers visiting the site to check on our progress.”