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Tag: Boots

  • Boots Thailand Expands With Mega Store In One Bangkok Mall, Reinforcing Wellness Commitment

    Boots Thailand Expands With Mega Store In One Bangkok Mall, Reinforcing Wellness Commitment

    Boots Thailand has recently unveiled one of its largest outlets yet located at the bustling One Bangkok mall. The aim is to expand its network further across the nation.

    Expansive Features and Focus on Wellness

    The newly opened concept store, situated on the B1 floor within The Storeys zone, is a haven for health and beauty enthusiasts. Equipped with a pharmacy, a dedicated vitamin section, derma skincare, beauty corners, and a range of exclusive brands, the store promises a comprehensive shopping experience.

    Boots Thailand’s impressive network currently includes over 260 stores throughout the country, offering a broad selection of health and beauty products to its visitors. The company’s core mission is to cater to the wellness needs of the community, and it consistently strives to keep its customers at the forefront of its services.

    Unrivalled Customer Care and Unique Products

    A spokesperson for Boots Retail Thailand confirmed the company’s commitment to providing the finest customer and patient care. They highlighted Boots as the top choice for pharmacy and healthcare needs and stated that they offer innovative products exclusively.

    Boots was established in 1849 in the UK, starting as a pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer. Now, it is part of the esteemed global enterprise Walgreens Boots Alliance. In July, the Alliance made a definitive agreement to transition into a private entity, facilitated by Sycamore Partners. Apart from the UK, Boots currently operates stores in numerous markets, such as Ireland, Norway, the Middle East, and Indonesia.

    Questions & Answers

    Q: What does the new Boots Thailand store offer?
    A: The new store is equipped with a pharmacy, vitamin section, derma skincare, beauty corners, and showcases recent and exclusive brands.

    Q: What is the primary aim of Boots Thailand?
    A: Boots Thailand aims to cater to everyone’s wellness needs, with a strong emphasis on customer-centric services.

    Q: Who is the parent company of Boots Retail?
    A: Boots Retail is a part of the global enterprise Walgreens Boots Alliance.

  • Boots store of the future opens in London

    Boots store of the future opens in London

    Boots has launched its new format store in Covent Garden, foreshadowing expected upgrades in its international operations.

    The new format’s “Beauty and Wellness Halls” will introduce more than 300 brands, as well as innovative experiences and access to expert advice. They also feature Instagram points and two beauty studios.

    Covent Garden is now also home to Boots’ biggest-ever wellness range, with 32 new brands including Beauty Kitchen and Equi. There is a rehydration point for refilling water bottles and an Innocent bar for customers to pick up snacks, as well as express pickup lanes, extra advice and consultation spaces in the pharmacy section.

    This new opening has created 130 new jobs within the 28,524sqft store. No single-use plastic bags are being used on the premises; they have been replaced with unbleached paper bags in line with the firm’s commitment to reduce plastic use globally by more than 1000 tonnes this year.

    “Our new Covent Garden store starts a journey of reinventing Boots for the future,” said Boots UK and ROI MD Sebastian James.

    “The store is full of exciting beauty brands, ideas for living well and services to help you get better, all with the great care that Boots colleagues give. We will learn what people love and want from this shop and this will help us shape a blueprint for our whole 2500 store estate.”

  • Boots Chain Closing Down 200 Stores

    Boots Chain Closing Down 200 Stores

    The Boots chain of health & beauty stores is looking to cull as many as 200 outlets in its home UK market as its US parent embarks on a strategic review.

    Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) says the Boots business saw profits fall 20 percent to £398 million for the year to August 31. Sales slipped 0.8 percent to £6.7 billion during the period.

    Many of the Boots chain stores would close when their current leases expire. Others which are performing badly, would be shuttered more quickly, especially in smaller towns where there are two stores operating yet one would suffice.

    WBA will review the future of 2500 stores worldwide, including about 200 in the UK, which is equivalent to about 10 percent of Boots’ local network.

    Patrick O’Brien, UK retail-research director at GlobalData, said the Boots closures are overdue.

    “It has taken Boots a long time to address the midmarket squeeze that has wrought so much damage to major multichannel retailers in other sectors such as food, fashion and department stores. Shoppers have been trading down to discounters, and trading up to higher-end retailers for more expensive treats and gifts,” he said.

    “Like Tesco and M&S it has actually been in this predicament for years, but unlike them, it has done little to address the issue until very recently, and now we have to wonder if Boots has left it too late to halt its market share decline.”

    O’Brien said a long-term lack of investment in stores has become more noticeable to shoppers.

    “Its dated approach also extends to pricing, where multi-buy promotions and a generous loyalty scheme have made its shelf edge prices uncompetitive with discounters such as Aldi, Lidl and Savers, who have all been eating into its market share in health & beauty,” he concluded.

  • Gianvito Rossi Opens Its First SEA Flagship Store in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands

    Gianvito Rossi Opens Its First SEA Flagship Store in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands

    The boutique is a further step in the collaboration between Gianvito Rossi and Milan based architect, Patricia Urquiola. The three backlit logos attract attention towards Gianvito Rossi’s refined world whilst the grand shop window, purposefully designed bilaterally, is the perfect showcase for the designer’s elegant collections.

    As each Gianvito Rossi store retains its unique flavour and individual characteristics, a single undercurrent unites each location reflecting the valued codes of the brand: elegance, feminity, and modernity, as well as impeccable quality and craftsmanship.

    Gianvito Rossi is now open to the public and is located at B1-86/87, Galleria Level, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

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  • Walgreens investment in GuoDa is finally happening

    Walgreens investment in GuoDa is finally happening

    Walgreens Boots Alliance has finally achieved regulatory approvals for its Chinese pharmacy acquisition – more than six months after announcing the deal.

    The US-headquartered drugstore giant has bought a 40 per cent stake in Sinopharm Holding GuoDa Drugstores Co, better known as simply GuoDa, which it describes as a leading retail pharmacy chain in China. It will invest about US$416 million in capital to acquire the stake.

    “We believe GuoDa holds a strong position in the sector, and as a global pharmacy-led health and beauty enterprise, we are well positioned to support its further growth ambition,” said Walgreen Boots executive vice chairman and CEO Stefano Pessina.

    “We are delighted that we have received regulatory approvals and our investment agreement has now been completed.”

    Walgreen Boots believes it can build the GuoDa business by sharing its international best practices and pharmacy expertise.

    “We believe there is great potential in working together to play a transforming role in the evolving Chinese retail pharmacy market.”

    Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Shanghai, GuoDa operates more than 3800 retail pharmacies across around 70 cities, and employs close to 20,000 people.

    Both Walgreen Boots and GuoDa believe recent healthcare reform undertaken by the Chinese government present “unprecedented opportunities” to expand the business nationwide.

    Last December, at the time he announced the planned investment, Pessina said after a 10-year presence of Walgreen Boots in China, it was an exciting opportunity to invest in the nation’s retail pharmacy sector.

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  • Boots’ owner accused of hiking medication prices

    Boots’ owner accused of hiking medication prices

    A supplier then owned by Walgreen Boots Alliance, BCM Specials, charged extortionate amounts to the health service for 500ml tubs of skin cream in 2016.

    A swathe of similar cases has been revealed whereby the NHS has been charged excessive prices for drugs dubbed “specials” which are often available elsewhere for a fraction of the price.

    Specials are custom-made treatments for patients requiring non-standard medications, and their prices are unregulated, allowing the supplier to dictate their price.

    This leads to the NHS paying varying prices for the same products from different suppliers.

    In October 2016, it allegedly paid £45.47 for preservative-free eye drops to Unichem, another wholesaler owned by Boots.

    A larger quantity of the same product was reportedly bought for £1 at a different time, though Boots disputed this figure.

    These are reportedly a drop in the ocean and the exploitation of the loophole in price regulation is understood to be rife.

    Walgreen Boots Alliance has denied the allegations, stating that it complied with all regulations.

    A spokeswoman said: “Specials are unique items ordered at short notice. They are made by highly trained technicians in dedicated laboratories in the UK that source ingredients, produce and quality-check often on the same day, and as a single item.

    “This process incurs high overheads, reflected in the final cost, which is set in line with the sector to reflect the bespoke nature of the products.”

    The British Association of Dermatologists chairwoman Deirdre Buckley said: “For many dermatology specials the ingredients aren’t expensive and it’s inexplicable why they cost so much.

    “It is not right. We have a duty to conserve the resources of the taxpayer so that the money is used to actually care for patients.”

    The Department of Health and Social Care said that from April the law will be changed to put suppliers and pharmacies under greater scrutiny.

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  • Asia key to expansion, says Walgreens Boots Alliance

    Asia key to expansion, says Walgreens Boots Alliance

    Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), which owns Boots health-and-beauty chain, plans to continue expanding its business in Asia because of the growing middle class.

    As Boot Thailand celebrates 20 years, WBA co-COO Ornella Barra says Asia, particularly China, South Korea and Thailand, are integral to the company’s expansion plans, with the Asia-Pacific region forecast to account for more than one-third of the global economy by 2021.

    Growth rates in the region continue to outpace the mature economies of the west, driven in part by the rising middle class.

    Moreover, led by regional and domestic players, the market is still fragmented, says Barra, noting that strong beauty brands have huge opportunities for growth in many Asian markets, especially those that can build on brand awareness built in established markets.

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  • Boots to open the largest flagship store in Myeongdong

    Boots to open the largest flagship store in Myeongdong

    E-Mart opened its booth flagship store in Shinhan Financial Center building in Myeongdong on July 28. Boots is the UK’s no.1 drugstore brand, with more than 13,300 stores in 11 countries around the world.

    The booth store is the largest of domestic H & B stores with a size of 1284 square meters (about 388 pyeong). The store consists of four floors ranging from floors 1 to 4 on the ground. Currently, only three floors are partially open.

    The first to third floors are operated as H & B sales spaces. The 4th floor plans to create a K-pop studio and a cafe. Considering the characteristics of Myeong-dong commercial area, many foreign tourists will be able to buy products related to Korean entertainers and it will be opened at the end of next month.

    The first floor is composed of color cosmetics brands such as Mac, Shuuemura, and Benefit. On the second floor are hair and body care products such as Aveda and Renefurterer, and on the third floor are skin and health care brands such as Biotherm, Darphin and Dermalogica.

    Each floor sells its own brand of boots (PL) products for each Kategori such as No. 7 and Soap & Glory. This large boots store was located on where is only 50 meter away from the Olive Young Myeongdong store, which is the largest store.

    In Myeong-dong, where there is much demand for tourists, it is anticipated that Korean version of H & B Olive Young and Boots, with high recognition by foreigners will fight a fierce battle. Especially, it is easy to compare merchandising and price while shops are located side by side.

    Olive Young is the number one player in the market with annual sales of KRW 1.127 trillion as of last year. There are more than 800 stores nationwide. Boots opened Starfield Hanam in May, and it also introduced a small store at express terminal.

    The number of stores nationwide is three including Myungdong-dong, which opened this time.

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  • Boots to launch in Korea

    Boots to launch in Korea

    E-Mart said on March 19 that the Korean first store of Drugstore Boots opened in Starfield, Hanam. It was only 10 months since the signing of a partnership agreement between E-Mart and the Wall Green Boots Alliance (WBA) in July last year. The Boots store is located on the first floor of Starfield with the size of 619 square meter (187 pyeong).

    WBA is a global ‘distribution giant’ that has 13,100 stores in 11 countries around the world, including the UK’s No. 1 health and beauty (H & B) brand, with annual sales of 145 trillion won.

    E-mart will show Korean version of H & B, which is differentiated by global sourcing power of boots, the world’s top drugstore company, and E-Mart’s product planning ability.

    The H & B market in Korea last year was1.2 trillion won. It has been on a steady upward trend with a growth of 30~40 percent every year and the business holds great promise for the future. In the next five years, it will grow to over 3 trillion won.

    The boots strengthens the competitiveness with their own brand products (PL) and services. Boots has PL products such as ‘Soap & Glory’ and ‘Botanics’, including functional cosmetics ‘No.7’. In particular, No7 is the number one beauty brand in the UK, and has already been famous among Korean customers. With the official opening of boots, consumers can purchase boots PL products more easily such as No7.

    The boots offers a ‘Match-made’ service that will consult the colours for their skin tones on the opening day. It recommends foundation and colour cosmetics by measuring consumer’s skin tone using No7 exclusive device.

    To celebrate the opening of the Starfield Hanam store, the boots will carry out the ‘3 for 2’ event, which takes one more item if you buy two items of their own brand of boots by the 1st of next month. Until June 29th, 5000 won discount certificate will be presented to customers who purchase more than 50,000 won. The boots eco bags will be presented to 5,000 people by order of arrivals regardless of the amount of purchase. When purchasing more than 50,000 won, the boots beauty box will be presented for the first 400 people as well.

    E-Mart will also open a large flagship store in Myeong-dong, which is called “The Holy Land of Cosmetics” in July. The size of the store is 1284 square meter (388 pyeong). E-Mart plans to gradually expand its H & B gmbusiness, starting with Starfield Hanam, complex shopping mall and Myeongdong stores.

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  • Currency hurt Walgreens Boots Alliance sales

    Currency hurt Walgreens Boots Alliance sales

    Walgreens Boots Alliance sales figures have been an early victim of the strengthening dollar, especially against sterling in which the majority of which Boots’ sales are denominated.

    This dynamic has turned a 1.4 per cent international sales gain in local currency terms into a decrease of 10.9 per cent in the final accounts. In turn, this has diminished overall turnover growth to a paltry 0.4 per cent – markedly down on the 35 per cent uplifts posted a year ago when not yet annualised Alliance Boots’ sales were providing a healthy boost to the figures.

    Fortunately, thanks to some one-off expenses and losses on equity interest last year – neither of which reoccurred this year – the bottom line outcome is strong, with net income rising by well over 3130 per cent. Given that Walgreens is still in the process of driving synergy savings from the Boots Alliance merger it will generate further profit uplifts well into the next fiscal, even against a more challenging growth backdrop.

    It is inevitable, however, that the returns from cost savings and the streamlining of the business will diminish over time. And given that the prospects for a recovery in sterling look slim, the company will need to look to its domestic operation to drive future growth.

    On this front there are two pieces of somewhat disappointing news from today’s results.

    The first is the merger with Rite Aid which was scheduled to close in the second half of this year has now been extended into the next fiscal. There is no real mystery about this – it comes down to the glacial pace at which the Federal Trade Commission, which is examining the deal, moves. However, the extension means Walgreens will not be able to rely on Rite Aid to boost its numbers in the next quarter. Longer term, the deal will be value accretive, mostly thanks to the forecast $1 billion in synergy savings and to the productivity improvements Walgreens can bring to Rite Aid’s rather lacklustre stores.

    The second concern comes from Walgreens’ front of store sales numbers in the US, which fell by 0.3 per cent on a comparable basis and by 0.5 per cent in total. Such an outcome is discouraging given that these had been on an upward trajectory thanks to the improvements the company has been making in its beauty offer. Given that Walgreens has also marketed its general merchandise offer more heavily this year, it is disappointing not to see gains in customer traffic. That said, the numbers are up against some tough comparatives from last year and with the new beauty offer continuing to attract interest from consumers, these metrics will strengthen over the holiday quarter.

    The new fiscal year presents Walgreens Boots Alliance with more opportunities than it does challenges. As such, after a softer start expect to see strong growth in both sales and profits across the year as a whole.

     

    -Neil Saunders

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  • Boots to launch in south korea

    Boots to launch in south korea

    Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise, today announced that it has signed an agreement to form a franchise partnership with Emart Company Ltd (a member of Shinsegae Group), South Korea’s number one hypermarket retailer. Together, they will create a Boots branded pharmacy-led, health and beauty retail franchise in South Korea.

    Under the terms of the agreement, Boots branded stores will be opened in shopping malls, on high streets and within the outbound areas of Shinsegae department stores and Emart hypermarkets. The Boots stores will each feature an independent pharmacy and a range of Boots owned products and ‘exclusive to Boots’ brands as well as leading Korean brands.

    “South Korea is considered a leading market for skincare and cosmetics products in Asia today.  We believe there is a significant opportunity to extend the reach of Boots own brands into this market and are thrilled to be doing so with Emart,” said Ornella Barra Co-Chief Operating Officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance. “Emart is the preeminent retailer in South Korea and their strong experience as well as their marketing expertise gives us great confidence in the long-term potential of this partnership.”

    “We are delighted to have the opportunity to introduce the Boots brand, and offer pharmacy care as well as acting as a beauty and healthcare destination by also offering a wide range of both Korean and Boots product brands.” said Gab-Soo, Lee, CEO of Emart Inc.

    The first stores are expected to open before the end of the first half of calendar year 2017 and will include Boots highly regarded and exclusive No7 and Soap & Glory products.

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  • Why the Boots Alliance merger is a success

    Why the Boots Alliance merger is a success

    With a strong international business, a focus on driving productivity and investment in omnichannel, the Boots Alliance Walgreens business is on track to long-term success.

    The inclusion of Boots Alliance’s sales for the full quarter provided a fillip to revenue growth which was up by almost 14 per cent. Underlying sales, while up at headline level, were somewhat more subdued – especially within the US retail pharmacy division.

    The warmer weather in the US, especially during the early part of the quarter, was unhelpful – it meant the traditional cold and flu season did not strike with its usual vengeance. This, in turn, suppressed sales of key seasonal lines like flu, cold and cough medicines. This was noticeable in the front of store retail sales decline of 0.3 per cent on a comparable basis; something only offset by a strong prescription performance which pushed the retail pharmacy division’s overall performance into positive territory.

    Although cold remedies pulled down front of store sales, Walgreens is making encouraging progress in other parts of its retail offer. As a local retailer with a solid network of well frequented stores, Walgreens has a major opportunity to sell more product to existing customers, as well as drawing in a wider audience for products outside of the pharmacy and wellness space.

    Accomplishing this task requires a reinvigoration of the front of store proposition, especially in areas like beauty where Walgreens aim should be to be seen as much as a destination for higher end, more premium brands as it is for essentials and everyday beauty. This transformation has started, especially with the success of the group’s own brands like No. 7 cosmetics, and in the gifting category – which was an area of focus over the holiday period.

    In reshaping the front of store offering, Walgreens is ahead of its main rival CVS which has a lot more work to do in order to shift perceptions. Walgreens, of course, has an advantage as it is able to learn from Boots in the UK, which has, for a long time, been successful at selling both premium beauty and many other non-beauty categories. While Walgreens should not aim to simply replicate Boots, there are elements of the proposition – including the focus on lunchtime snacks and takeaway food – that can be adopted and adapted to the US market.

    Looking internationally, Boots in the UK had a successful quarter helped by a focus on Christmas gifting and also the strong performance of the ‘order online and collect from store’ service. Similar to Walgreens in the US, Boots in the UK has an extensive and localised store network which makes it a convenient option when it comes to picking up products purchased online. This, again, is something that the US operation can learn from and develop as the group looks to grow its omnichannel capabilities.

    Being part of a much bigger group isn’t only creating opportunities for the sharing of brands and ideas, it is also – as the Walgreens always planned – delivering savings. This quarter, synergies saved around US$329 million, and the group remains on target for $1 billion of savings across this quarter. This target is attainable and should help to provide an underlying boost to earnings moving into the second half.

    The successful integration of Boots Alliance and Walgreens has likely given the group confidence to pursue Rite Aid – the proposed acquisition of which was announced last October and approved by Rite Aid’s stockholders in early February. All being well, this transaction should close during the second half of this fiscal year.

    The deal makes sense on a number of levels – not least because Rite Aid has struggled to keep pace with its two rivals and we believe that Walgreens will be able to quickly make the chain more productive.

    Rite Aid has started this work with its Genuine Wellbeing format refresh, which creates a more engaging and enticing shopping experience with enhanced levels of customer service. This is something that Walgreens will be able to bolster, especially through its strong stable of own brands including Boots No 7 cosmetics.

    The potential synergy savings that will accrue from the merger are also attractive. These are estimated at $1 billion which, given the complementary nature of both businesses, are conceivable and go some way to offset the premium that Walgreens offered for Rite Aid.

    With a strong international business, a focus on driving productivity within the US, investment in omnichannel, and the boost from another acquisition, this looks to be a year of progress and change at Walgreens. While all of this activity may cause some short term fluctuations in earnings and sales, it will successfully position the group for longer term success.

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