SHOPPERS are furious after a pharmacy chain with over 2,000 stores nationwide look set to shut up shop another outlet tomorrow.
Locals in Rainham, Kent are waving goodbye to their local boots after the major health and beauty retailer announced plans to close 300 sites.
A staff member at the store in the town’s shopping centre posted a message online to notify customers, Kent Online reported.
“Come in and see the team and I if you’ve got any questions whilst we transition over,” the sign read.
“Thank you for your service and support.”
The store will continue to dispense prescriptions up until the closing date.
It is understood the independent community pharmacy Jhoots will be taking over.
Seething locals took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice their despair.
“Clearly out of touch with Rainham,” one user wrote.
“Pharmacies are closing left, right and centre.”
A second added: “It’s a disgrace!”
Boots last closed more than 200 stores over 18 months 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.
They said the decision to close stores was not taken lightly.
The closures come as the latest figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed over 10,000 shops and almost 120,000 retail jobs were lost in 2023.
A number of factors have caused the high street to take a hard hit in recent years.
Many businesses struggled to survive through the coronavirus pandemic.
Large numbers of shoppers have been increasingly turning to online retail.
Skyrocketing energy costs, mixed with wage cuts, have also caused many stores to close.
And rising inflation in the last two years has made things difficult for household budgets, meaning they had less expendable money to spend in shops and they suffered as a result.
Boots opening hours vary from store to store, so the pharmacy chain recommends checking ahead to see if your local branch is open.
Usually, Boots stores are open from as early as 7am and some close as late as 10pm, with many staying open past 6pm.
But Easter means some stores may be opening later than usual and shutting earlier.
Others may also be shut over Easter Sunday.
You can check yours by using the chain’s locator tool on its website.
