ABSTRACT

Boots is an institution in its home market with over 1,400 stores, a strong brand, large sales volume and customer flows second only to the Post Office. In addition, it owns a healthcare business that manufactures, distributes and markets ‘over the counter’ (OTC) products around the world, including brands such as Clearasil, Nurofen and Strepsils. For those non-British consumers who have not grown up with the brand, it is difficult to explain the attraction, and, possibly as a result, Boots has found it hard to expand outside the UK. In part, this is because of the difficulties involved in transferring the brand and the format overseas, but it is also perhaps because the home retail operations have dwarfed the rest of the organization, monopolizing investment and management attention.