A BARROW discount store is due to reopen after the business was bought out of administration.

JTF Mega Discount Warehouse closed earlier in the year as the company collapsed.

Some 30 jobs were said to have been supported at the store, in Ashburner Way.

But it looks set to reopen after JTF was purchased by Poundstretcher’s owner.

Barrow’s store has been named in reports of JTF branches due to reopen in the next few weeks.

And the store’s managers have been advertising job vacancies via social media.

Poundstretcher co-owner and chief executive Aziz Tayub said the chain had acquired the leases of 10 JTF stores, which would soon reopen

“The aim is to have 24,000 different product lines on sale, as well as online under the JTF brand,” he said.

“We will have good prices compared to their old prices, and a good range of products and more being added on a daily basis. It was not a lack of customers, but a lack of stock that affected the business.

“Some of the Poundstretcher stock will go into the stores but there’s a big range that we’ve started bringing in already for them.”.

Explaining the closure of its stores, a spokesman for JTF Mega Discount Warehouses said earlier this year: “JTF Mega Discount Warehouses has issued a notice of intention to appoint an administrator, protecting the business for 14 days while it endeavours to secure a buyer.

“The difficult decision comes after months of funding discussions and lobbying with local and national Government to save the 40-year-old British retailer and protect the 500 people employed across its stores, warehouses and Head Office.

“JTF was rescued from going into administration by its current owner in early January, 2020. New leadership took immediate steps to drastically reduce the business’s overheads by circa £2.5m per annum and tackle £7m of debt which was successfully achieved, returning the business to profitability and achieving £1m net profit in four months.

“The impact of the global pandemic which followed presented unforeseen and significant challenges for the retailer.

“The management team fought hard to secure the funding needed to survive the pandemic, securing support from many MPs, lobbying the Government and exploring a great deal of funding options to no avail.”

The company opened its Barrow branch in August 2020, drawing crowds that included overnight campers.