It's been reported overnight that one of the UK's leading health and beauty retailers, Boots, is about to start closing a number of its stores.
The speculated number is around 200, although it's thought the closures will happen over the course of two years.
WWD reports that Boots' latest financial report showed a decline in sales of 2.3 percent down to £6.8 billion, and that the company cited the highly competitive nature of the industry as one reason for this.
It's also hard not to link the store closures to other British high street retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Topshop, who have similarly fallen on harder times following the growth of discount and online retailers.
A spokesperson from Boots said of the announcement: "As is natural with a business of our size, we have stores opening, closing and relocating on a regular basis. In fact, we’re investing in our stores, last year we completed a huge merchandising project to update our self-selection cosmetics areas in 2,200 of our stores. We are being realistic about the future and that we will need to be agile to adapt to the changing landscape.”
Boots currently stocks a multitude of Australian beauty brands including Bondi Sands, Face Halo, Sand & Sky and Lanolips. Earlier this month, the company also launched Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty across its U.K. doors.
