Boots could be set to open new store in boost for high street

Under the plans, the brand’s distinctive blue signage would go up on number 8 Coney Street.

Paperchase in Coney Street closed down on April 3 last year.

The site has since been boarded up with York BID signs.

Now a branch of Boots Opticians looks set to open in its place.

Last June, Boots announced plans to shut 300 of its stores across Britain over the next year.

So this opening will be welcome news for many residents in York as the retailer has previously announced a raft of closures in the city.

In York, Boots closed its store in King’s Square last October, the shop in Clifton stopped trading shut in February, and the branch in Heworth East Parade closed in March.

The news follows reports from Sky News that the Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has placed more than 200 outlets under review for possible closure during the next two years.

Sources close to the company insisted on Tuesday that decisions had yet to be made about the stores under scrutiny, but acknowledged that a significant number were likely to be shut.

WBA said in April that it was undertaking a review of its Boots The Chemist estate "focusing on low-performing stores and opportunities for consolidation", although, at the time, it declined to specify the number that it was considering shutting.

If the closures did go ahead, it would mean the 200-plus shops being examined would equate to just under 10 per cent of the chain's standalone UK health and beauty outlets.

Where possible, staff would be redeployed to an area's existing, or new, store, an insider reported.

Boots is one of the largest retailers in Britain by store numbers and also trades.

They employ roughly 56,000 people.

They also have about 1,100 opticians and hearing-care shops which use its brand.

A Boots spokeswoman said at the time: “Evolving the store estate in this way allows Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed and focus investment more acutely in individual stores with the ambition of consistently delivering an excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up-to-date environment.”