The company's fourth retail chain is Boots Opticians three percent of sales , a major U. Boots Contract Manufacturing five percent of sales was created in and is the largest contract manufacturer with more than 4, products and over million units per year in Europe of medicines, cosmetics, and toiletries--most of which are private-label Boots branded; this unit has eight factories and one major development lab.
Also created in was Boots Healthcare International BHI; five percent of sales , which sells over-the-counter analgesics pain relievers , cough and throat remedies, and skincare products; three-quarters of BHI's business is generated outside the United Kingdom, in more than countries.
Boots Properties two percent of sales is one of the U. Although The Boots Company has been steadily expanding abroad, mainly through acquisition, more than 95 percent of overall sales are still generated at home. Jesse Boot, the founder of the company, was born in Nottingham in , the first child and only son of John Boot and his second wife, Mary. An agricultural laborer by trade, John Boot was much influenced by the ideas of popular medicine then current among nonconformists, particularly those of the disciples of the American Samuel Thompson, whose remedies, based on medical botany, were then enjoying considerable success in Britain.
After John Boot's health broke down, he opened a small shop in in Goosegate, Nottingham, selling his own herbal and botanical medicines. His death in left his widow and her two children dependent on the shop for their livelihood, and Mary Boot continued to run the business with the help of her year-old son.
Three years later Jesse Boot left school to work full time in the business, and over the next few years he took charge of it.
In the s, rising real incomes allowed the working class to purchase the patent and proprietary medicines of the kind manufactured and sold by Thomas Holloway and Thomas Beecham, displacing the remedies of medical botany. Although the shop in Goosegate continued to sell herbal medicines, young Jesse Boot started to expand the business, first by adding a range of household goods, including groceries, sold at cut prices; an advertisement of the early s claimed more than 2, articles in stock.
He decided in to enter the business of retailing proprietary medicines; as he recalled in , he thought that "if he could afford to sell proprietary articles at prices lower than were being charged by the ordinary chemists, there would be a large future before him. It won for him the enduring hostility of the established chemists, first in Nottingham, and later in other towns and cities where he opened branches.
Although at first Boot had difficulties both in persuading the wholesalers to supply him with such large quantities and in finding the money to pay them, he secured the support of a number of influential businessmen and professional men in Nottingham, and, following an extensive advertising campaign in the local press, his business grew rapidly. In the following year he opened a new and larger shop, also in Goosegate, and five years later he extended, refurbished, and refitted it.
Incorporation with limited liability could have opened the way for external investment in the business, but Boot chose to keep control in his own hands, offering shares only to a few close friends and associates in the s; for the time being, he continued to rely on the banks for financial backing, and a decade later, when he started to encourage investors, he sold only preference, nonvoting shares.
Some of these shares were offered to customers, through the shops, and some to employees, for the cooperative ideal attracted the nonconformist and liberal side of Jesse Boot's character, although at the same time he was determined to keep control of his business. More significantly at the time, incorporation opened up a new area of business for Boot's shop, that of dispensing prescriptions. In a test case brought by the Pharmaceutical Society in against the London and Provincial Supply Association, the House of Lords decided, much to the chagrin of the society, that limited liability companies had the right to employ qualified pharmacists or chemists to dispense prescriptions.
In Boot recruited Edward Waring as the company's first pharmacist in the Nottingham store and, with dispensing at half-price, the prescription section was off to a good start. Expansion of the business continued with the opening in of branches in Lincoln and Sheffield and the start of small-scale manufacturing behind the shop in Goosegate.
He recovered, and while recuperating on holiday in Jersey he met Florence Rowe, daughter of a bookshop owner. In August they were married. The s saw an ambitious plan of expansion implemented. New shops were opened to extend the company's coverage of England and Wales, and Boot also bought, where he could, small chains of chemists' shops.
By the end of , according to The Chemist and Druggist, Boots was then the largest of the company-chemist chains. The size of the company--there were shops by the end of the century--was enhanced when in Boot bought the Southern Drug Company and the Metropolitan Drug Company, which together formed a chain of more than 60 shops, the largest in the metropolitan area.
Between and more new shops were opened, bringing the total to in , including prestigious sites in Princes Street, Edinburgh, in and Regent Street, London, in While pharmaceuticals and dispensing remained the core of the business, the range of merchandise retailed also widened, particularly in the larger shops, which were closer to department stores, and as the company tried to widen its appeal to attract middle-class customers.
Florence Boot's experience of retailing in her father's bookshop gave her a direct interest in the business, resulting in the introduction of departments offering stationery, books, artists' materials, and gifts that proved popular and successful and remained in her charge. By manufacturing, which had started in a small way behind the shop, occupied the whole of a former cotton mill in Nottingham, and the interest always taken by Jesse Boot in the design, fitting, and appearance of the shops led to the establishment and growth of a building and shopfitting department.
A printing department to serve the company's needs opened in World War I brought new opportunities that Jesse Boot--who was knighted in was quick to seize. Despite being increasingly disabled by arthritis, he continued to control the company. The outbreak of war left Boots and the country without a supply of these and other essential fine chemicals, and Boot soon decided to start to manufacture them.
He recruited research chemists from Burroughs Wellcome, and production at the new plant started in In addition to fine chemicals, the company also started to manufacture saccharin during the war. Jesse Boot, who was awarded baronetcy in as a reward for contributions to the Liberal Party, was 70 in Fearing the effects of the postwar slump on business, which was becoming increasingly burdensome to him to run but which he did not want to hand over to his son John, Boot negotiated privately the sale of his controlling interest to American Louis K.
Liggett and his Rexall group of U. Corporate Responsibility. Expand Image Download Image. Maison Thomas pharmaceutical distributor is founded in Agen, France. Interpharm pharmaceutical distributor created in The Netherlands. Charles R. Walgreen Sr. Walgreens invents the malted milkshake. Walgreens stock becomes publicly traded Boots acquires Beeston site in Nottingham.
Boots opens its 1,th store in the UK. Walgreens stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Boots launches No7 cosmetics. Boots launches Soltan suncare range. Walgreens begins the transition to self-service stores Moss Chemists prescription service delivery vans begin operating. The first self-service Boots stores are trialed in London, UK. Walgreens enters the Puerto Rico market.
Boots launches Ibuprofen Brufen in the UK. Jesse Boot devoted his remaining years to philanthropic pursuits. Enormously proud of his Nottinghamshire roots, Jesse wanted to create enduring gifts for the people of his home town. Both he and Florence donated over 70 acres of land to the city, mostly for public parks, with part of the Highfields Estate used as a new home for University College Nottingham.
They also gave sizeable gifts to Nottingham General Hospital and Jesse established his own trust devoted to supporting local causes. Jesse was recognised for his great contribution by being presented with the Freedom of the City of Nottingham and a few years later, in , he became Lord Trent. He died in Jersey a couple of years later in at the age of John Boot was keen to build on the developments of the business.
In the late s he acquired the Beeston site to expand their manufacturing capacity and created modern factories and offices. In the famous D10 factory opened to nationwide acclaim. It was designed by the engineer Owen Williams and included many modern and innovative features.
In Boots opened their th store in Galashiels in Scotland. Boots also opened their first store overseas in the s, in New Zealand. Number Seven was launched in as a prestigious, but affordable, skincare range; 11 products were originally introduced, with the addition of colour cosmetics a few years later.
The first range adopted a striking yellow and blue art deco packaging. Number Seven consultants were introduced to offer expert advice and some of the stores even opened their own Number Seven Beauty Salons. During the Second World War Boots manufacturing was vital to the war effort. The company were producing the newly discovered penicillin on an unprecedented commercial scale in the UK, with the largest surface culture plant in the world.
Research continued after the war and in s Dr Stewart Adams began his research which was eventually to lead to the launch of Ibuprofen in In the late s, with the acquisition of Timothy Whites and Taylors, store numbers grew by over Customer services also expanded with the introduction of Optical care and the subsequent formation of Boots Opticians in the s.
In the late s the famous Advantage Card was launched, taking reward for customer loyalty onto a new level. Over its year history, Boots has pioneered the creation of affordable, reliable products, designed to make people look and feel good. Its emphasis on customer care has helped to make it one of the most trusted brands on the high street.
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