Boots is to close 300 shops in the year ahead despite a 13.4% rise in quarterly turnover fuelled by high sales of sunscreen during the UK’s hot spell.
The high street chemist, which is owned by the US group Walgreens Boots Alliance, said it was “evolving the store estate” by shutting branches that were close to each other in order to direct staff to where they were needed and “focus investment more acutely in individual stores”.
Thousands of jobs will be affected, but it is understood Boots hopes there will be no redundancies with all staff offered redeployment to nearby shops.
The latest closures at the business, which has about 2,200 outlets, come on top of about 200 in recent years as it attempts to improve profitability amid rising costs and tough competition on the high street.
Sales have also shifted online, with trade via its website up more than 25% in the three months to the end of May to represent over 14% of sales.
Sales of own-label health and beauty products are also rising as households look for ways to save money. The Everyday essentials range did particularly well with 40% growth in the period, Boots own-brand suncare range, Soltan, rose 19% year on year.
The managing director of Boots in the UK and Ireland, Seb James, said: “It is particularly pleasing to see our owned brands proving popular, including an exceptional No7 performance. I would like to thank all of our team members for their hard work in delivering these results.”
Boots had a difficult time during the pandemic, when the number of visitors to its high street outlets slumped as a result of government restrictions.
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The group was able to keep its stores open because it was deemed an essential retailer, but its customers chose to buy online or rein in spending on items such as cosmetics and hair care given restrictions on socialising.
It bounced back in the year to 31 August, making a pre-tax profit of £137m across its three entities that file accounts at Companies House, up from £44.5m a year before. Sales rose by just under 10% to nearly £7.8bn.
Profits were partly helped by the closure of 44 underperforming stores during the year.
Walgreens abandoned a hoped-for £5bn sale of Britain’s biggest chemist a year ago, blaming global financial market conditions that meant potential buyers were struggling to borrow money to finance a deal.
Recent reports, however, have suggested that the Walgreens boss, Stefano Pessina, might be considering putting Boots back up for sale, potentially leading to the latest round of cost cutting.
