BOOTS has issued a major update on store closure plans after earlier announcing that 300 chemists would close permanently.
The health and beauty chain announced last year that it would close more than 300 locations as part of plans to grow its brand.
In a new update, Boots UK told The Sun that 253 stores have now closed under the plans.
However, it means a further 47 stores will close in the coming months.
While it did not release a full list of store closures for next year, it said most of the closings will take place when the lease on the affected store 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 has revealed higher sales across all its pharmacies and retail stores in the quarter to the end of May.
However, overall sales growth slowed to 1.6% as it was impacted by store closures last year.
Over the past year, Boots has closed around 253 stores to reduce its headcount to 1,900.
On Thursday, Walgreens parent company Boots Alliance (WBA) said it plans to close more of its underperforming US stores following a strategic review.
WBA is also cutting its earnings per share estimate for the financial year to August, amid a “challenging US retail environment”.
Total group revenue was 2.6% higher in the quarter to May to $36.4bn (£28.8bn) as its US business saw stronger pharmacy sales offset by a retail slump.
In the UK, like-for-like retail sales were up 6% year-on-year, with in-store sales higher due to a stronger presence in travel, cosmetics and flagship stores.
He pointed out that airport shops have performed particularly well after the recent renovation.
Meanwhile, digital sales rose 13.8% for the period as it benefited from investment in its own Boots an app that provides shoppers with personalized offers.
Boots it also posted stronger sales growth in its pharmacy arm, which posted a 5.8% increase amid increased demand for its healthcare services.
Travel and vaccination services saw high demand ahead of the summer holidays, the company said.
Sebastian James, Managing Director of Boots UK & Republic of Ireland, said: “This is another set of consistently strong results for Boots.
“I am pleased to see our positive momentum continue across the industry, with both retail and healthcare increasing sales and growing market shares for the 13th quarter in a row.
“We continue to focus on making exciting new brands and services available, while focusing on value and rewarding loyalty.
“We are committed to providing customers with a fantastic experience no matter how they shop with us.”
Why do merchants close shop?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many of Britain’s high streets and are often a symbol of city center decay.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are closing their doors.
In many cases, retailers are closing stores because they are no longer the money makers they once were due to the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising employee costs have made it even more expensive for stores to stay open. In some cases, retailers close shop and reopen a new store at the other end of the high street to reflect how the city has changed.
The problem is that when a big store closes, footfalls fall across the local high street, putting more stores at risk of closure.
Retail parks are becoming increasingly popular with shoppers looking for easy and free parking at a time when local authorities have increased parking charges in cities.
Many retailers, including Next and Marks & Spencer, are closing high street stores and instead taking larger stores to more efficient retail parks.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when he moved a tired store in Chesterfield to a large new store in a retail park half a mile away, his sales in the area increased by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores were closed when the retailer went bust, such as Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
Increasingly, when a chain goes out of business, a rival retailer or private equity firm acquires the intellectual property rights to own the brand and sell it online.
They may continue to open multiple stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely that many stores or in the same locations.
MORE ON CLOSING SHOES
Starting in 2019, Boots embarked on a major restructuring of the company called the Boots Transformation Plan.
At the time of its launch in 2019, the brand earmarked 200 stores for closure.
The closures lasted for eighteen months.
Many of the closings were because they were unprofitable, and two-thirds of them were within walking distance of each other, the chain said.
In 2020, Boots announced that 48 opticians were closing with the loss of 4,000 jobs.
Last July Boots announced further plans to close a further 300 stores.
The move aims to reduce the chain’s store portfolio from around 2,200 to just 1,900.
So far, 253 of these stores have closed, and another 47 stores will close later this year.
The pharmacy chain employs over 52,000 team members and said the closure will not result in any redundancies.
Parent company Boots, WBA’s quarterly financial report said earlier this week that it “plans to reduce its presence in up to 650 Boots stores”.
Since the launch of Boots’ transformation plan in 2019, 581 Boots stores have closed permanently.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom on the high street.
Several major retailers plan to increase the number of their stores.
Which retailers are opening new stores?
IT’S NOT all bad news on the high street as several retailers buck the trend and open stores.
- German discounter Aldi has announced that it will open 35 new stores in the UK this year. The opening is part of Aldi’s long-term aim to operate 1,500 stores in the UK.
- Asda is opening hundreds of convenience stores as it looks to compete with major players Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
- The parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woolen 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 said it wants to “eventually open 800 to 1,000 retail stores”.
- Primark is also opening new branches and investing in and renovating more than a dozen of its existing stores.
- Lidl is set to open hundreds of new stores across the UK.
- Screwfix is ​​set to open 40 new stores across the country as its owner, Kingfisher, looks to expand the DIY brand’s national presence.
- Superdrug plans to open 25 new branches in the coming months.
- Tesco has revealed plans to open a further 70 stores across the UK over the next year as part of a major expansion plan.
- WHSmith has focused on the travel side of its business and plans to open new locations at airports, train stations and hospitals.