Boots to take over former New Look store in Weymouth - here's when

Fashion chain New Look closed its doors for the last time at the New Bond Street premises last Saturday, with signs placed in the windows advising shoppers they can still click and collect from the retailer's head office at Weymouth's Mercery Road.

The clothes brand has had a presence on the local high street for 51 years and was widely considered to be part of the fabric of the town, but had to close after its landlord ended the lease early.

Old New Look advert in the Dorset Evening Echo

The first New Look shop at St Mary Street was founded in 1971 by Tom Singh and his wife, with offices above the premises. It opened a branch of 915 for children and teenagers in the town centre in 1990 - which later became part of the larger New Bond Street store.

A lorry arrived on Tuesday evening to empty out the shop, signalling the end of the brand's long history in the town centre.

The branch before it closed

Now, it has been confirmed that Weymouth's branch of Boots will be leaving its current dual-fronted premises at 81-82 St Mary Street and 22-24 St Thomas Street to take over the vacant store.

The move will take place in June according to Weymouth Boots store manager Darren Steel - who named a date towards the end of the month - but said this is not set in stone.

He told the Echo: "It's going to be a slick move - this shop will continue to trade so there will be no disruption for customers. Although we are moving, there won't be much noticeable difference - what you see inside the branch now will more or less remain the same - but spread across two floors. The two shops are roughly the same size in terms of floor space."

What would you like to see here?

Without any major changes to the size of the premises or in-store offering, at the moment it looks unlikely that the branch will need to create additional job roles, Mr Steel added.

We questioned why Boots has decided to move, if the shops are the same size and no other changes planned. The response was that the landlord of the current Boots premises has plans for the future use of the building - but there are no further details on what those plans are at the moment.

There have been temporary Boots signs over the entrance of the St Mary Street side of the building for around a year.

The current Weymouth Boots building is Grade II listed and dates back to the early and mid-1800s when it was originally two townhouses. At the moment the upper floors are used as storage/office space.

The national healthcare and retail brand was founded by John Boot in 1849 when he opened the first shop in Nottingham, selling herbal remedies. Boots was bought out in 2014 and now forms part of US corporation Walgreens Boots Alliance - for the time being. The pharmaceutical giant put Boots up for sale last month as part of a shift in focus towards the US healthcare market.

It is understood there is strong interest in the company including from Asda owners the Issa brothers and other major UK supermarkets.