Boots to open new Wolverhampton retail park store, raising questions over city centre future

Boots is set to open a new store on the edge of Wolverhampton city centre, prompting concerns about the future of its flagship Dudley Street store.

The pharmacy giant is due to move onto St John's Retail Park - just outside the ring road - we can reveal.

The news has been hailed as positive for St John’s Retail Park, which is now fully let, but it raises questions about the future of Boots’ existing city centre store, which is an anchor outlet within the Mander Centre shopping centre.

Boots has said it has no announcement to make at this stage regarding its plans for Wolverhampton.

However, CSP Retail confirmed the pharmacy chain has signed a lease to move onto St John’s Retail Park.

Boots is understood to be moving into unit B, a 9,000 sq ft unit, next to The Range, although no move in or launch date has been confirmed yet.

Craig Hudson, of letting agents CSP Retail, said of the news: "We're very pleased. It's a big tick in the box. We had several parties keen to take on the unit and we're now fully let."

Boots will join the likes of Pets at Home, Currys and Next who are also big name tenants of the retail park.

There has been much speculation over the past year about whether the global pharmacy business intends to retain its large city centre store.

Boots said as a retailer it is always looking for new store locations but the company would not confirm the news about St John’s Retail Park or whether it intends to retain a city centre presence in Wolverhampton.

A spokesperson for Boots told the Express & Star: “We have no announcement to make at this stage.”

Councillor Stephen Simkins, leader of Wolverhampton Council, said he believed Boots had three years remaining on the lease of its shop in Dudley Street.

He added: "We would like them to stay for the next three years, but that's an operational decision for Boots, and what is good for their company.

"We would want Boots to stay in the city centre, and we're keen to have talks to see what the best solution is to keep it there."