Senior Advisor, Sycamore Partners
News Briefs
Boots celebrates 15 years of health, beauty and wellness in The Gulf
Boots marks 15-year milestone since its first franchise store opened in The Gulf at Kuwait International Airport.
Since its first foray into an exciting new region in 2006, Boots has opened 150 stores in six markets in The Gulf, launched five new websites and five mobile apps, and completed more than 100 million transactions.
“We’re delighted to be celebrating 15 years of Boots in The Gulf, where we know customers connected with the Boots brand straight from launch and love our owned brands from No7 to Boots Natural Collection,” says Richard Thornhill, head of retail partners, Boots International Retail. “It’s been great to see the celebration activities our franchise partner, Alshaya Group, has been delivering. They have been a fantastic partner to work with over the last 15 years, providing insight and understanding into the local consumer to ensure we deliver the best of Boots for our customers.”
Customers have been sharing in the celebrations with a special promotion of up to 75 percent off thousands of products in-store and online – Boots Gulf’s first omnichannel promotion. Stores have also been playing a special birthday playlist featuring hits from the last 15 years.
The list of tunes is also helping Boots go viral online, with social media influencers, team members and TikTok stars promoting their favorite Boots products in a Lip Sync Challenge to tracks from the playlist.
“Over the years, we have had a regular stream of visitors from Boots UK visiting the region to see how these Middle East markets are engaging with the Boots brand,” says Della Pass, vice president of wellness, Alshaya. “This support from the UK has enabled us to bring more and more Boots brand products to the region, and we are continuously working together to keep the range growing.
“I have so many great memories from the past 15 years, and all of them involve the great team we have. Seeing how the team has been able to bring the Boots brand to life in these countries is incredible. I feel really proud of what we’ve achieved.”