Pharmacy chain Boots is closing hundreds of branches as part of the company’s plan to save £618 million.
The mass closures were announced in June 2023 and since then Boots has closed a total of 253 stores, with 47 expected to close after the summer.
However, the health and beauty retailer explained that shoppers have an alternative store less than three miles away. They also assured that Boots employees who are closing branches will be offered jobs elsewhere.
Boots recently said: “Developing retail space in this way will enable Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed and focus investment more acutely on individual stores with the aim of consistently providing excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up-to-date environment.”
Tim Wentworth, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, commented: “We continue to face a difficult operating environment, including continued pressures on US consumers and the impact of recent market dynamics that have eroded pharmacy margins.”
Fashion retailer Next has also been affected by the closures, which confirmed that its branch in the Grosvenor Centre, Northampton town centre, closed on August 10.
Marks and Spencer recently announced that its store in Redhill, Surrey, will close its doors permanently on August 17 as part of a major restructure of the brand.
WHSmith has confirmed that its Stanley Square branch in Cheshire will close on Saturday 14 September, while supermarket Tesco will close in Chippenham, Wiltshire, on 15 August.
Another brand to be affected by the closures is DIY giant Wickes, which will lose its Moore Street branch in Sheffield on August 16.
