A MAJOR health and beauty chain is closing multiple shops this week following a string closures.
Boots will be pulling down the shutters for the final time on three branches on Saturday.
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The closures come as part of wider plans that will see the retailer’s total shops reduced from 2,200 to 1,900.
Boots had not confirmed which stores will shut when it first unveiled these plans back in June.
Since then, more than a dozen shops have closed across the country.
Stores have shut in Manchester, London and Woking while more are earmarked for closure in December and the New Year.
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The Mount Pleasant branch in Exeter will be shutting up shop on November 18.
While another site in Mudge Way, Plymouth will also close on the same day.
The Boots shop in Kirkby Ashfield is shutting on Saturday as well.
The health and beauty chain has said where stores are closing there is an alternative shop less than three miles away.
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It’s also closing 150 of its US branches as part of plans to consolidate its portfolio.
In June, in its quarterly results, 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.”
Here’s the full list of Boots sites set to shut in the coming months:
- Gorleston, Great Yarmouth – November
- Mudge Way, Plymouth – November 18
- Mount Pleasant, Exeter – November 18
- Kirkby Ashfield – November 18
- Cambridge Road, Stanstead – January 6
- Margate, Kent – January 20
- Wood Street, Swindon – February 9
- Front Street, Prudhoe – no date
A spokesperson for Boots previously told The Sun: “We can confirm that the stores listed are part of the Boots store consolidation programme previously announced.
“All team members from these stores will be offered alternative roles.”
The stores that have already closed in 2023 are as follows:
- Salford Shopping Centre, Greater Manchester – February 2023
- Church Street, Malvern – March 11
- The Port Arcades Shopping Centre, Ellesmere – March 11
- King William Street, London – June 2
- Heathside Road, Woking – end of July
- UEA campus – end of July
- Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff – August 1
- Holywell, Flintshire (Wales) – August 26
- Windhill Road, Wakefield – October 6
- Upper Warrengate, Wakefield – October 7
- Glastonbury – October 13
- Uppingham Road, Leicester – October 13
- Guildford Road, Woking – end of October
- Kings Square, York – October 28
- Warminster – October 28
Affected team members have been offered opportunities in other stores in the local area.
Boots last closed more than 200 stores over 18 months in 2019.
Boots isn’t the only pharmacy chain to shut locations, earlier this year Lloyds closed all of its sites within Sainsbury’s stores.
It has struggled with losses for several years and shut 76 stores in 2022.
Retailers have been feeling the pinch since the pandemic while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to soaring inflation.
High energy costs and a shift to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
Brick and mortar stores have also seen a lack of footfall due to consumer habits switching to online shopping.
Cineworld, Clarks, M&S and Tesco are also closing a handful of stores before the end of the year.
Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) this summer found the UK had lost 6,000 stores over a five-year period.
While a raft of stores are set to close, shoppers have reason to be cheerful as other retailers are actually expanding this year.
The Sun recently revealed discount retailer Costco is expanding in the UK and is planning to open 14 more warehouses over the next two years.
Wilko shops are set to return to the UK high street after the chain collapsed earlier this year.
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Meanwhile, a beloved jewellers is set to close its doors next month after 188 years in business.
Plus, a shoe shop chain with more than 300 branches is set to close another high street store.
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