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Superdrug to open dozens of new stores in UK expansion

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Superdrug to open dozens of new stores in UK expansion


High street health and beauty chain Superdrug has revealed plans to open 30 new stores this year, reinforcing its commitment to the UK retail sector.

The retailer confirmed this expansion of its store footprint will create around 600 jobs across the UK.

The Croydon-based business, founded in 1964, currently operates more than 780 shops across the UK and Ireland. Bosses at the chain stated the plans for further openings come on the back of “strong customer demand” in its stores.

Superdrug added that it will continue to invest particularly in “large-format destination stores and retail park locations”.

It confirmed that new sites include Dundee Gallagher Retail Park, Kilmarnock Retail Park, East Kilbride, Strathkelvin Retail Park and Linwood Phoenix Retail Park in Scotland; White Rose Leeds, Crawley, Waterlooville Retail Park, Newport Retail Park, Isle of Wight in England; and Cwmbran Retail Park in Wales.

Shoppers will be able to buy new beauty products and treatments such as ear piercing, manicures and eyebrow threading at Superdrug Beauty Studios, the group added.

Superdrug said it is opening 30 new shops this year (PA Archive)

The retail chain also said it plans to complete 60 store refits during the year as it commits “significant investment” across its estate of site.

Clare Jennings, Superdrug’s property director, said: “Superdrug continues to see strong demand for physical, experience-led retail, and our 2026 store opening programme is a clear vote of confidence in UK bricks and mortar retail.

“By opening 30 stores, we’re not just increasing our footprint, we’re creating destinations that bring together beauty, healthcare and affordable treatments under one roof.

“Our customers want more than convenience, they want expertise, products and services they can trust, delivered in welcoming spaces within their local communities.

“This investment allows us to bring bigger, better Superdrug stores to more locations across the UK, unlocking more access to healthcare, beauty products and treatments, while creating hundreds of new jobs and long-term career opportunities for our colleagues.”

The news comes as high-street pharmacy giants Boots and Superdrug have been accused of misleading customers with “dodgy deals” after an investigation into loyalty pricing at their stores.

Consumer champion Which? compared prices across the two businesses during a six-month period in 2025, finding hundreds of cases where loyalty deals indicated a greater saving for members than in reality.

Which? says it has referred both Boots and Superdrug to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), alleging that the companies have gone against the watchdog’s guidance on loyalty pricing promotions.

One of the examples given by Which? is a Simple skincare bundle that was priced at £4.98 for loyalty members and £9.98 for other customers. However, immediately before that, the bundle was priced at £4.80 for everyone (and marked as “reduced” from £9.98), and afterwards it was £4.49 for everyone (also “reduced” from £9.98).

Superdrug argued that the prices highlighted by Which? only made up a small proportion of its thousands of loyalty price promotions.



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Australia fuel crisis: Panic buying prompts PM to reassure nation over fuel supply

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Australia fuel crisis: Panic buying prompts PM to reassure nation over fuel supply



Anthony Albanese says nation’s supply remains “secure” amid reports of panic buying and shortages.



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Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial

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Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial



A woman has been awarded $6m in a verdict that could have implications for hundreds of other cases in the US.



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Target faces a new boycott over ICE response as retailer presses ahead with turnaround

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Target faces a new boycott over ICE response as retailer presses ahead with turnaround


A major teachers’ union is calling for its members to skip Target when buying back-to-school supplies, the latest twist in a series of boycotts that have targeted the big-box retailer as its turnaround shows signs of life, CNBC has learned.

The AFT, or American Federation of Teachers, passed a resolution Thursday that calls on its 1.8 million members and others to shop at local stores and not at Target, saying the company did not respond adequately to the surge of federal immigration enforcement in the retailer’s hometown of Minneapolis this winter. Federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during the operation.

The labor union, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, plans to urge a similar resolution at AFL-CIO’s convention in Minneapolis this summer and at conventions held by other organizations, including the NAACP and LULAC, AFT President Randi Weingarten said.

Target declined to comment specifically on the AFT’s resolution but said in a statement that it has “a longstanding commitment to strengthening the communities we serve,” including donating 5% of profits since the company’s founding and offering a discount to educators as part of a teacher appreciation program.

Target’s annual sales have declined for the past three years in a row, but the company’s new CEO Michael Fiddelke laid out an ambitious plan earlier this month to refresh its stores, add more enticing merchandise and return to sales growth. The retailer said it expects net sales to rise about 2% this fiscal year compared with the prior year and anticipates sales will grow every quarter.

It is unclear if and how much the AFT’s call for a back-to-school boycott could hurt Target, which is trying to win back customers. Earlier this month, Atlanta area pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant announced the end of a yearlong boycott of the company, called Target Fast, which had started because of the company’s rollback of major diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

At a press conference, Bryant said Target has demonstrated its commitment to the Black community with investments in Black businesses and donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Yet other activists leading a separate boycott, including former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, have said they continue to call for shoppers to steer clear of Target.

The AFT previously supported and participated in the Target boycott over its DEI rollback.

The retailer has attributed some of its sales losses to backlash to its DEI decision, along with other factors including company missteps with merchandise, a weaker store experience and softer discretionary spending.

At an investor meeting in Minneapolis in early March, Fiddelke stressed that it’s “a new chapter for Target.” He said the company is “doing the work to build connection with new guests, deepen relationships with existing guests and earn back trust with guests we’ve disappointed.”

In a separate email to Target employees earlier this month, Fiddelke highlighted how the retailer is putting its strategy into action, including through its move to cut prices on more than 3,000 items and the opening of its 2,000th store. He said Target has made progress with winning back trust, too, noting the end of the Target Fast boycott.

He said Target has had “ongoing conversations with the organizers” of the boycott, who have “acknowledged the meaningful contributions Target has made, and will continue to make, to the Black community.”

In an interview with CNBC, Weingarten said the AFT’s boycott is focused on what she called Target’s lack of response to the surge of aggressive and violent immigration enforcement in its own backyard. Weingarten said the AFT sent a letter to Target and met with Target staff to encourage them to speak up before the union moved to pass the resolution.

“Target was negotiating with our colleagues in the civil rights community for weeks and weeks and weeks,” she said. “They could have very easily dealt with both [concerns about DEI and immigration enforcement] and they chose not to.”

She said Target is “more worried about standing with the Trump administration than the communities that made them a profitable company.”

Fiddelke joined dozens of executives from Minnesota-based corporations in co-signing a letter in late January calling for an “immediate de-escalation” in the state after the fatal shooting of Pretti. However, the letter did not name the shooting victims Pretti or Good or call out the president, his immigration policies or federal agents.

Fiddelke also shared a video message with employees that more directly acknowledged current events, but stopped short of calling for ICE agents to leave the city or for accountability in the two shooting deaths.

Weingarten described the CEOs’ letter as “insulting” and said it “basically blamed both sides.”

She said the union, which includes many teachers, can have the greatest financial impact during the back-to-school shopping season this summer and fall. By passing the resolution now, she said, the AFT can get the word out to members and “give Target enough time to come back to its senses.”



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