The new shop is promising 'breathtaking' prices

The former Littlewoods store in Stevenage town centre which has stood empty for years is to reopen as a discount shop this month.

The former Littlewoods on Queensway, which has been unoccupied since 2005, will open its doors again on January 22 as Discount UK. The shop will sell household goods, medicine and sweets, with bosses promising to beat big brand supermarket prices.

Forty jobs have been created at the store, which may rise to 50, a spokesman for the company which also owns Poundworld said.

He added: “It is a clean, modern, multi-price store. Prices will take your breath away.”

Yolanda Rugg, Herts Chamber of Commerce area director, said the news was very welcome.

“It’s great to see this store getting filled. As well as showing a long-term commitment it also encourages other businesses to enter the area. The other side is the jobs created. It all helps improve the image - we don’t want empty shops, it’s much better to have a retailer in there.”

The store is one of the first Discount UK shops to open in the country. More are planned over the next two years.

“We are absolutely leaping along. We are in the right retail climate,” the spokesman said.

The former Woolworths store in Hitchin, which has stood empty since the company folded in 2008, still has no takers.

A move by PoundWorld, which last year advertised on its website for staff at the store, fell through. Company operations director Mark Ward said this week the company had no plans to move in.