BOOTS is set to close more shops within days and shoppers “can’t understand why”.
It comes after the pharmacy chain previously announced it would be pulling the shutters down on 300 shops over the next year.
Getty Images – GettyBoots is closing another two stores this week[/caption]
The closures are part of wider plans that will see the retailer’s total shops reduced from 2,200 to 1,900.
When the plans were announced in June, Boots had not confirmed which stores were set to shut.
It reported that they would be from sites with multiple shops in one area.
But over time, the healthy and beauty chain has revealed which shops would be closing for good.
Two more branches will be closing for good on Friday, October 13 in:
Glastonbury – October 13Uppingham Road, Leicester – October 13
Shoppers have posted on social media reacting to the closure in Leicester,
One person said on Facebook: “I can’t understand why this one is closing.
“It’s handy and convenient for patients coming out of the doctors to collect their prescription, especially the elderly. Lovely staff as well.”
Another said: “When I lived in Netherhall I used this pharmacy a lot.
“It was so convenient for me with the doctors next door.
“The staff were all so helpful and the pharmacy was well organized.”
It comes after Boots closed in two other locations last week in:
Windhill Road, Wakefield – October 6Upper Warrengate, Wakefield – October 7
Other stores that have already closed in 2023 include:
Salford Shopping Centre, Greater Manchester – February 2023Church Street, Malvern – March 11The Port Arcades Shopping Centre, Ellesmere – March 11King William Street, London – June 2Heathside Road, Woking – end of JulyUEA campus – end of JulyHamlet Court Road, Westcliff – August 1Holywell, Flintshire (Wales) – August 26
Boots said in all cases there is an alternative store less than three miles away.
The Sun has previously revealed the locations of other Boots closures before the end of the year in:
Guildford Road, Woking – end of OctoberKings Square, York – October 28Warminster – October 28Gorleston, Great Yarmouth – NovemberHigh Row, Darlington – November 3Mudge Way, Plymouth – November 18Mount Pleasant, Exeter – November 18Front Street, Prudhoe – no date
Affected team members have been offered opportunities in other stores in the local area.
Boots closed more than 200 stores over an eighteen-month period starting 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.