Petition launched to save Exeter Boots store

With less than two months to go before Exeter’s Mount Pleasant Boots closes, a petition has been launched.

The closure is part of wider plans that will see the retailer's total number of shops reduced from 2,200 to 1,900.

Boots says the move is about trying to “consolidate a number of stores in close proximity to each other”.

Last month, in its quarterly results, Boots said: “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.”

Boots said shoppers affected by the closures will have alternative stores less than three miles away. All affected staff members have also been offered opportunities in other stores in the local areas.

A spokesperson for Boots said: "All team members from these stores will be offered alternative roles."

Since 2019, Boots has already closed around 200 stores along with 48 optician services.

Labour Exeter City Councillors Josie Parkhouse and Martyn Snow have launched a campaign to save the branch.

You can sign their petition here.