The high street it set to lose one of its biggest retailers as it takes another blow. Boots is set to close 300 of its stores across Britain over the next year.
The decision has been made to reduce the chain store numbers from 2,200 to 1,900. It is yet to be announced which locations will be affected.
But, it is said to be shops that are close in proximity to one another. Boots has posted stronger sales over the last quarter and announced that the store closures will not mean redundancies and workers will be redeployed to other sites.
A spokesperson for Boots said: “Evolving the store estate in this way allows Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed and focus investment more acutely in individual stores, with the ambition of consistently delivering an excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up-to-date environment.”
The retailer revealed on Tuesday that people shopping online was significantly up and people were preferring Boots’ own-brand labels – driving up sales over the last quarter.
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Walgreens Boots Alliance, the chain’s US owner, revealed that the net quarterly profit had more than halved as demand for COVID vaccines and testing declined.
Boots said the three months until the end of May had seen profits rise by 13.4% when compared to the same period last year. This was driven by online shoppers.
Boots’ own ‘everyday essentials’ brand saw a growth of 40% as more of the label’s products were sold. Households seem to be feeling the pinch and opting for their own brand due to the current climate.
Seb James, managing director of Boots UK and ROI, said: “Our focus on offering our customers the best in healthcare and beauty, together with a continued commitment to great value, has been well received, and it is lovely to see more people choosing to shop with Boots.
“It is particularly pleasing to see our own brands proving popular, including an exceptional No7 performance.”
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Feature Image Credit: Photo © Lewis Clarke (cc-by-sa/2.0)
