Has Walgreens revived its plan to sell Boots?
Walgreens Boots Alliance is said to be considering putting the British health and beauty retailer Boots up for sale.
The US-based health, beauty and pharmaceutical company initially attempted to sell Boots in 2022, but abandoned the process after potential buyers failed to reach the asking price of £7bn.
According to Bloomberg, Walgreens is now working with consultants to start talks with interested parties about selling the heritage retailer, which has 2,200 stores in Britain and employs around 55,000 people.
Walgreens is also said to be considering listing Boots on the London stock market.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is said to be considering putting UK health and beauty retailer, Boots up for sale.
The US-based health, beauty and pharmaceutical company initially attempted to sell Boots in 2022 but abandoned the process after the potential buyers failed to reach the asking price of £7bn.
According to Bloomberg, Walgreens is now said to be working with consultants to begin talks with interested parties about selling the heritage retailer, which has 2,200 stores in Britain and employs around 55,000 people.
The business is also said to be considering listing Boots on the London stock market.
French fragrance brand Diptyque has opened its first standalone brick-and-mortar concept store, Maisons Diptyque, on London’s New Bond Street.
The brand has combined its range of eau de toilette, eau de parfum and perfumed hair mists with illustrations inspired by the name of each scent – to help shoppers imagine a scented story before they try the fragrance.
The space also houses a home fragrance salon with Diptique’s full decoration range, from candle holders to ceramics.
CEO Fabienne Mauny said the launch marked “a new era for the brand, symbolising our commitment to broadening our national and international reach.”
Diptique now plans to open a second concept store in Paris in late May.
Dutch personal care company Rituals has opened a new standalone store in Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport, as it continues to boost its travel-retail presence.
Head of travel retail for EMEA & Americas Lotte Rozemuller said Europe is a key area for its business expansion, stating: “Our new store in Berlin strengthens our presence in the channel and speaks to our commitment to our wider strategy of stand-alone stores, which has been a pivotal part of Rituals' success in travel retail."
The brand shared that it will also open another standalone travel retail store soon but hasn’t disclosed the location yet.
UK scent retailer The Fragrance Shop reported a “record-breaking year” for 2023, with like-for-like sales up by 6.1%, and business growth of 9.4% in the 12 months up to 1st April, 2024.
The Manchester-based retailer added 13 new stores to its portfolio in 2023, including its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street, and launched the UK’s first AI scent creation machine, Every Human.
The business said the brand Barbour grew by 55%, Versace was up by 48%, and Jean Paul Gaultier was up by 40%.
With a current total of 223 stores in the UK, the business plans to reach over 300 locations within the next three fiscal years, and also launch into international markets.
Chief Executive Sanjay Vadera MBE noted that The Fragrance Shop had “seen incredible growth” within its membership program MyTFS “which is now a thriving community of over one million members.”
He highlighted that the company had expanded its retail footprint across the country with 13 new stores and outlined plans for further expansion.
“We are already a CPD-accredited business for our education programs and are now focusing on achieving ISO9001, which is the standard for quality management systems,” he said. “This supports our ambition to grow into international markets.”
UK health and beauty retailer Superdrug has made influencer Princess Andre the new face of its own-brand cosmetics line, Studio London, which has enjoyed great success on TikTok with numerous viral sell outs.
Superdrug said that the social media influencer and daughter of celebrities Katie Price and Peter Andre will help to shape the future of the brand by contributing to the development of new products and starring in marketing campaigns.
