‘Best retailer in Britain’ to open new store at Monks Cross in York

A new store will open its doors at the Monks Cross Shopping Park in York this month.

Award-winning pet superstore Jollyes will open its York outlet at 10am on Friday (20 September).

It has taken over the unit vacated by Tui travel earlier this year.

The store is set to be officially opened by two special guests. Performing the red ribbon cutting will be Lord Mayor of York Cllr Margaret Wells.

And retired border force detector dog Pablo will bite through a string of sausages to declare the store open.

Pablo, aged seven, served in the border force on the Yorkshire coast for a number of years but ruptured a disc in his back requiring surgery while running, leading to his early retirement last Christmas.

Like many service animals his treatment is being supported in these later years by the National Federation of Retired Service Dogs (NFRSA) which Jollyes recently named as a key charity partner.

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The new Jollyes store in York will create 12 jobs. The team will be led by store manager James Wye who’s been promoted to the role after five years working for Jollyes in Selby.

Joining the York team are Aquilla Fisher who’s been promoted from supervisor to deputy manager after working for the firm for four years; and Tom Hurley will transfer from Doncaster store after eight years with the business.

YorkMix will be on hand to provide entertainment on the opening day.

And the fun will go into Saturday with an entertainer and pet theme gameshows on Saturday 21 September giving every customer the chance to spin Jollyes’ iconic ‘Wheel of Fur-tune’ to win prizes.

The York Jollyes will include a raw food frozen ‘shop-in-shop’, and a community pet clinic which will open later this year.

Store manager James said: “Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be working hard to get the store ready to welcome our special guests and customers for the first time.

“My whole team is looking forward to delivering the service, expertise – and above all prices – that Jollyes is becoming famous for right across the country.”

Jollyes has grown its store estate by 50 per cent in three years. It has had an remarkable first half of 2024 winning new investment to speed its growth; being named as the best retailer in Britain at the prestigious Retail Week awards for those under £250m turnover; and making the Sunday Times’ list for the first time as one of Britain’s best big companies to work for.

Jollyes in York will be its 106th store in the UK joining other stores around Yorkshire including Selby, Harrogate, Leeds and Wakefield.