Up to 200 Boots stores ‘at risk of closing’

Up to 200 Boots stores could be closed under new plans by its parent company.

Walgreens Boots Alliance has put 200 stores up for review with the potential for closure in the next two years, Sky News has reported. An insider said it was likely that a "significant" number of stores would be shut down, according to the news outlet. They insisted, however, that no decision had yet been made. It comes after the group said last month that it was taking look at its retail outlets, "focusing on low-performing stores and opportunities for consolidation" in a bid to make savings. "We are being realistic about the future and that we will need to be agile to adapt to the changing landscape," April's statement further read. The source today said that some stores would be closed when their lease expires while some towns where there are more than one Boots outlet would see their stores amalgamated. Staff would be redistributed to other outlets "where possible", the report states. It is not clear whether these closures would affect Irish stores and jobs. The company first opened its doors here in 1996. There are now over 85 Boots stores across Ireland with around 1,638 employees, according to the Irish Times Top 1000 list. Last year Boots Ireland reported pre-tax profits of €21.55m for 2017; a decrease of 16 per cent. In the UK meanwhile, Boots is one of the country's biggest retailers, employing around 56,000 people. As consumers increasingly move online, a downward trend in high street shopping has been blamed for today's news.