Boots, the pharmacy and beauty retailer, is set to close 300 stores in the UK and an additional 150 Walgreens branches in the U.S. over the next year. The strategic move is part of a broader effort by Walgreens Boots Alliance, the parent company of Boots, to optimize its store locations.
 
James Kehoe, executive vice-president and global chief financial officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance, confirmed the closures during an earnings call with analysts on Tuesday.
 
“As you have seen, we are accelerating our portfolio optimization to further simplify the business,” he said.

Streamlining Operations

The move will see the number of stores across the country fall from 2,200 to 1,900.
 
The retailer currently employs more than 52,000 team members. Thousands of jobs will be affected, but Boots says it hopes there will be no redundancies with all staff offered redeployment to nearby shops.
 
Most closing Boots sites are located within 5 km of another, with customers largely remaining within a 10-minute drive of an outlet. Across the UK 1,900 branches will be left.
 
This decision follows a series of store closures that Boots implemented earlier this year. Also, over the course of 18 months, starting in 2019, the company shut down over 200 stores throughout the country.
 
Surprisingly, the latest announcement comes despite a substantial 13.4% increase in sales during the three months ending in May, compared to the same period in 2022.

More Boots News

Earlier this year, Walgreens Boots Alliance faced mounting pressure to break up its business and sell or float Boots.