Health and beauty chain Boots plans to invest €50 million in a major expansion that will include at least 30 new stores opening across the country and create 800 jobs.
"Operating stores in Ireland continues to be an important part of our growth strategy and we have an aggressive store opening programme in place over the next five years," Rhys Iley, director of Boots Ireland, said yesterday.
All of the new stores will be open by 2011, and Mr Iley said that Boots plans to launch the majority of these within the next three years.
The first of the new stores will open in Drogheda in October 2006, Mr Iley said. This will be the chain's 41st store in the country.
He indicated that another store would open in November, but the location has not yet been confirmed. The company intends to open a minimum of seven stores during 2007.
Mr Iley indicated that Boots will target the greater Dublin area, and big towns and cities such as Cork, Galway and Limerick. In addition, Boots is considering regional locations; however, this will depend on where new shopping centres are being developed.
Mr Iley said that Boots was proving extremely popular with the Irish consumer.
Its Grafton Street, Dublin, location produces the highest return per square metre of any store in the Boots chain, and over the Christmas period its Liffey Valley store takes in more money than any other Boots' store worldwide.
Boots' healthcare products, which include over-the-counter medicine, vitamins and painkillers, have been producing double-digit growth in the Irish market in recent times, which was well ahead of the UK market, Mr Iley said.
Boots also announced that it will invest €2.4 million in refurbishing 17 of its existing stores in the State, which will involve installing consulting rooms and in some cases new pharmacies.
Boots is also introducing "midnight opening" at one of its stores this autumn, and while it does not intended to roll this out in all of its Irish stores, the opening hours in its community-based pharmacies may also be extended.
