Bodycare is set to expand its estate and launch a loyalty scheme by the end of the year, as it targets growth in the south of England, Retail Week can reveal.
The health and beauty retailer added five new shops to its 130-store estate, with the latest opening yesterday in Walthamstow, London, and the others in Stevenage, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Ipswich.
Tony Brown, chief executive officer, said: “We plan to increase our current estate by another 30 or 40 stores as and when the right sites come our way. We are predominantly a northern-based company but we see our expansion going into East Anglia, the West Country and Kent. We see that corridor as our expansion areas and opportunity areas.”
It is also working towards launching a loyalty scheme by the end of the year.
Brown said: “One of our biggest investments this year is our IT systems. The current [one] has been there since the business opened 50 years ago. Having a more flexible IT system and ecosystem will allow us to build a loyalty scheme certainly within the next 12 months.”
The retailer began from a market stall in 1970 by founders Graham and Margaret Blackledge, in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and has created a space for itself as a value retailer for everyday essential beauty and health products. The business was bought by Baaj Capital in June last year and has since then undergone rapid changes to accelerate growth.
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