Poundland founder to launch online rival

His new website, www.poundshop.com, is currently registering customers and is due to go live on Thursday.

It will offer a similar range of single-price goods to Poundland including toys, beauty products, stationery, tools, food, drink and home and garden items with a minimum spend of £23 per delivery and a delivery charge of £3.

A click and collect service to allow customers to pick up their purchases from shops and shopping centres near their home is also being considered,

Mr Smith, aged 51, who lives at Romsley, between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth, is also launching a new website for Wolves fans – wolvesdeals.co.uk – on Saturday.

He has bought the domain name Poundshop.com for what he describes as 'quite a bit of money' after regularly being asked when he was going to go back into the pound shop business.

Mr Smith, who is originally from Willenhall, does not expect to make a profit with Poundshop.com immediately but is convinced it will be a success.

"The first few years we didn't make any money at Poundland. It's a bit like this. I suppose I'm the one person who can make it work," he said.

"It's not an easy task but it is doable."

Mr Smith, himself a lifelong Wolves supporter, said that more than 5,000 people had signed up with wolvesdeals.co.uk ahead of its launch.

A team from the website will be at Molineux on Saturday for the game against Bradford City to tell fans about the discounts available from local businesses.

Those who sign up will get offers and discount codes on a range of items which are on sale across the region.

The site has been set up with Mr Smith's online TopTownDeals business.

"We are still looking for people to put deals on the website – anything from a mobile hairdresser to a multiple retailer.

"Through TopTownDeals people will be able to have their deals seen by up to 700,000 at present and soon by up to one million," said Mr Smith.

Local businesses who want to get involved in the project can contact wolvesdeals.co.uk through the website or call 01299 861496. "If local businesses have got a deal we are there to help them. Everyone loves a deal," he enthused.

Mr Smith said that Poundshop.com was an evolving business model and he was doing everything he could to meet the February 6 date, but said it might have to be put back if it was not finalised on time.

"We have has more than 16,000 people already registered on the website and we will be e-mailing them all to explain progress. Things are going very well and we will be up and running in the near future," he said.

Mr Smith is still looking for partners with ideas to join up with Poundshop.com to help it achieve success.

The new business will not have a central warehouse but will have partners with warehouses and in retail who will supply the items customers order online.

"People are continuing to come up with different ideas and we will be offering a lot more than the High Street pound shops can offer. For instance we plan to sell business cards and printed stationery and may also offer downloads of music and games," he added.

Idea

"It is amazing what you can get for £1, and the website will take it on to a different level and allow people without the time to ge into town to buy from a pound shop and have what they buy delivered to their home." Mr Smith started his first business, Steve's Discount Market, in Kings Square, West Bromwich when he was 16.

He started Poundland after getting the idea of a shop selling everything for £1 from an office in Sedgley with its first store opening in Burton Upon Trent in 1990.

The shop made £100,000 in its first 10 days and the business grew over the next dozen years to a chain of 50 stores until its sale to investment group Advent International.

Poundland now has more than 500 stores across the UK and employs more than 10,000.

It has its own website but does not currently sell online.