Boots confirm store closures amid consolidation of estate
Boots has confirmed that approximately 300 of its stores across the UK will be closed in the next 12 months, but stressed it is in an effort to reduce the duplication of its store estate.
Having released its Q3 results, the retailer reported a very strong performance, with retail sales up over 13% and the ninth consecutive quarter of market share growth for Boots UK.
The retail performance was driven by a “very strong beauty performance” particularly in skincare, while healthcare also performed well and pharmacy sales at their “best level” in six quarters.
In a statement to NR, Boots said the company’s successful transformation plan has created a “strong and stable platform for growth”.
‘EVOLVING STORE ESTATE’
“This has included out store rejuvenation programme, which will now accelerate ongoing investment into our store estate,” said Boots.
“In addition to uplifting existing stores, over the next year Boots will continue to consolidate a number of stores in close proximity to each other.”
They said that evolving the store estate in this manner allows Boots to “concentrate its team members where they are needed” as well as focusing investment “more acutely in individual stores”, enabling the retailer to fulfil its ambition of “consistently delivering an excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up-to-date environment”.
While details of the affected stores aren’t being released at the moment, Boots will share further information on the planned closure in the coming months.
The pharmacy chain added that there were no proposed redundancies, with impacted team members being offered redeployment.
“This is part of ongoing reviews to ensure the company has the right stores and resources in the right locations that can be invested in significantly,” said Boots.
Following the closure of some 300 stores, Boots will still have 1900 stores across the UK.
CONTINUED COMMITMENT
Boots’ in-house brands were stand-out performers, with the launch of No7’s Future Renew range seeing one product sold every two seconds on launch day and over half a million customer transactions in the first four weeks.
Store footfall increased 6.9%, ahead of the national average of 2.8%, while digital sales increased more than 25% and the app growing 37.9% year-on-year, with some 6.2 million active users.
Seb James, Managing Director at 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 owned brands proving popular, including an exceptional No7 performance. I would like to thank al of our team members for their hard work in delivering these results.”
