BOOTS is set to close down a town pharmacy – and shoppers are all saying the same thing.
The shop in Northdown Road, in Margate, Kent, will shut for good on January 20.
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Boots previously announced it would be pulling the shutters down on 300 shops over the next year, following a string of closures already in 2023.
Locals in Kent took to Facebook once the news of the closure was announced – and they’re all saying the same thing.
One person said: “Surprised boots has managed to last this long tbh. Haven’t been in one for years.”
Another added: “Pharmacy aside though, Boots is too expensive.
“It’s done what many others did before it and priced itself out of its own market, and is having to reduce as a result.
“The things they sell are cheaper pretty much everywhere else!”
A third local wrote: “Surprised boots has managed to last this long tbh. Haven’t been in one for years.”
How many stores is Boots closing and why?
Boots confirmed that three of its stores closed in spring 2023.
While its store in Holywell, Flintshire closed on August 26. The cosmetics and pharmacy chain said the closures were pre-planned.
It then closed another shop at the beginning of June. Recently Boots announced it will close 300 shops across the country over the next year.
Since then it exclusively revealed to The Sun the exact locations of eight stores that have been confirmed for closure.
A spokesperson for Boots said: “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.”
In August another two closures were revealed in Coventry and Prudhoe. Boots said it regularly reviews locations “to make sure they are where our customers need us most”.
They said the decision to close stores was not taken lightly.
Where are the closures happening?
Here is the full list of stores closing by the end of the year:
- 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
- Gorleston, Great Yarmouth – November
- High Row, Darlington – November 3
- Mudge Way, Plymouth – November 18
- Mount Pleasant, Exeter – November 18
- Front Street, Prudhoe – no date
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
Boots said in all cases there is an alternative store less than three miles away.
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 job. Meanwhile, we have rounded-up the chains that are shutting up shop that could be near you.
