‘Very sad’ cry shoppers ahead of last day of trading for handful of Boots branches – is your local shop affected?

BOOTS shoppers are are bidding goodbye to yet more branches of the health and beauty giant while still dealing with a wave of closures.

Boots is one of the many high street retailers closing their doors for good before March 31.

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Boots is closing a total of nine sites this month as part of wider plans to get rid of 300 sites.

This will see the retailer’s total shops reduced from 2,200 to 1,900.

The health and beauty chain has said where stores are closing there is an alternative shop less than three miles away.

Now Rainham, in Kent is set to close on March 20 while Castlecroft in Wolverhampton will shut on March 21.

On March 23 shoppers will say goodbye to the Rhos on Sea store, Wales.

North Kenton, Newcastle has recently closed, along with Welwyn Garden City and the East Parade store, Heworth, York.

The branch at Pool, Redruth, Cornwall closed at the start of the month.

Shoppers have reacted on social media to the news with dismay.

One user said: “I hardly ever go in Boots or town nowadays but it’s proper sad to see it end up like this!”

Another wrote: “High street pharmacies have lost so much business to the likes of Pharmacy 2U this isn’t a surprise at all. There will soon be nowhere to go to collect meds needed on the day, antibiotics etc.”

Since last year, more than 20 branches have closed, including in Leicester, York, Plymouth and Exeter.

Boots last closed more than 200 stores over 18 months in 2019.

This saw roughly eight per cent of Boots high street branches close.

Many of the stores shut because they were loss-making and two-thirds of them were within walking distance of each other.

In 2020, Boots announced 48 opticians were closing with the loss of 4,000 jobs.

They said the decision to close stores was not taken lightly.

Here is the full list of stores closing this year.

There were approximately 14 outlets lost every day in 2023, according to the latest research by the Local Data Company and accountancy firm PwC.  

Even more closed – 39 stores in total each day – but another 25 are estimated to open their doors for the first time, meaning fewer have been lost overall.

Companies collapsing into administration as more businesses shift to online have driven the losses, according to the research.

There a total of 14,081 store closures in 2023, an increase from 11,530 in 2022.

The rising cost of living means households have been much more careful with spending.

A change in shopping habits has seen more people heading online to buy.

At the same time, higher energy and premise costs have also put further pressure on retail businesses.

And it’s not just shops that are closing, pubs, cafes and restaurants are too.

Coffee fans also bidded goodbye to more branches of a major chain.

Costa Coffee, which has over 2,000 locations, said it was closing another two of its cafés.

The coffee giant said it would close its store on Chiswick High Road by February 6.

The nearest Costa Coffee for locals will now be King’s Street in Hammersmith.

However it doesn’t look like the town will be without its coffee hit for long, local media reports two new coffee shops are expected to open in Chiswick soon.

Meanwhile, Costa Coffee on Edinburgh’s Bruntsfield Place served its last latte on February 14.

The high street favourite has already shut the doors to dozens of its sites in recent months.

Costa says it regularly reviews its store estate across the UK to ensure it’s right for its communities and teams.

This can include the closing or renovation of existing stores, or the opening of new stores.

The following sites have already closed over the last year, although a couple will be returning to their local areas.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk