BOOTS has issued a major update on its store closure plans after previously announcing that 300 chemists would shut for good.
The health and beauty chain announced last year that it would close more than 300 branches as part of plans to evolve its brand.
In a fresh update, Boots UK told The Sun that 253 stores have now shut as part of these plans.
However, it means that a further 47 shops are set to close in the coming months.
While it wouldn’t disclose a full list of store closures coming for the year ahead, it said that most closures will take place when an affected store’s lease expires.
It comes after Boots revealed a jump in sales for the latest quarter, as its parent firm cut profit forecasts and announced US store closures.
Boots UK revealed higher sales across its pharmacy and retail businesses over the quarter to the end of May.
However, total sales growth slowed to 1.6% as it was impacted by store closures over the past year.
Over the past year, Boots has shut around 253 shops to take its store estate down to 1,900 sites.
On Thursday, parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) said it plans to shut more of its underperforming US shops following a strategic review.
WBA also cuts its earning per share guidance for the financial year to August, amid a “challenging US retail environment”.
Overall group sales were 2.6% higher at 36.4 billion dollars (£28.8 billion) for the quarter to May, as its US business saw stronger pharmacy sales offset a retail slump.
In the UK, comparable retail sales grew by 6% year-on-year, with in-store sales higher on the back of stronger footfall in its travel, beauty and flagship shops.
It highlighted that airport stores performed particularly well following recent refurbishments.
Meanwhile, digital sales grew by 13.8% for the period, as it benefited from investment into its Boots app, providing shoppers with personal offers.
Boots also reported stronger sales growth in its pharmacy arm, which reported a 5.8% rise amid increased take up for its healthcare services.
Travel and vaccination services saw high demand ahead of the summer holiday, the company said.
Sebastian James, Boots UK and Republic of Ireland chief executive officer, said: “This is another set of consistently strong results for Boots.
“I am pleased to see our positive momentum continue across the whole business, with both retail and healthcare increasing sales and a 13th consecutive quarter of market share growth.
“We continue to focus on making exciting new brands and services accessible whilst focusing on value and rewarding loyalty.
“We are committed to delivering a fantastic experience for customers however they shop with us.”
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
MORE ON BOOTS CLOSURES
Since 2019, Boots has embarked on a major company restructure dubbed the Boots Transformation Plan.
At the time of its launch in 2019, the brand earmarked 200 stores for closure.
The closures took place over an eighteen-month period.
Many of the closures were because they were loss-making and two-thirds of them were within walking distance of each other, the chain said.
In 2020, Boots announced 48 opticians were closing with the loss of 4,000 jobs.
Last July, Boots announced further plans to shut 300 more stores.
The move is aimed to reduce the chain’s store portfolio from around 2,200 to just 1,900.
So far, 253 of these store closures have taken place and a further 47 shops will close later this year.
The pharmacy chain employs over 52,000 team members, and it has said that these closures will not lead to any redundancies.
Boots’ parent, WBA’s quarterly financial report, said earlier this week that it “plans to reduce its presence by up to 650 Boots stores”.
Since the launch of the Boots Transformation Plan in 2019, 581 Boots stores have closed for good.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom on the high street.
Several major retailers have plans to increase their store counts.
Which retailers are opening new stores?
IT’S not all bad news on the high street as several retailers are bucking the trend and opening shops.
- German discounter Aldi has announced it will open 35 new UK stores this year. The openings form part of Aldi’s long-term target of operating 1,500 stores in the UK.
- Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores as it looks to rival major players Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
- Purepay Retail Limited , the parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) and Peacocks, Purepay Retail Limited, has said it wants to open 100 new high street stores over the next 18 months.
- Home Bargains has said it wants to “eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open”.
- Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.
- Lidl is set to open hundreds of new stores across the UK.
- Screwfix is set to open 40 new stores nationwide as its owner, Kingfisher, seeks to expand the DIY brand’s national presence.
- Superdrug has plans to swing the shutters up on 25 new branches in the coming months.
- Tesco has revealed plans to open 70 more stores across the UK over the next year as part of major expansion plans.
- WHSmith has turned its focus to the travel side of its business, with plans to open new sites in airports, railway stations and hospitals.