Today I learned an awful lot about Boots the Chemist.
Which reminds me of a funny story I heard once – I think it was on Radio 4 though I can’t be sure. It was told by a woman who had a dog. Each day she would take it for a walk. The dog knew they were going for a walk each day because she would say “OK, let’s get my boots, then” and the dog picked up on it and went ape (I assume it was very similar to what we go through when I grab the poodles’ lead).
One day her husband said something about going shopping and she said “We must remember to go to Boots” and, of course, the dog went crazy. Which just goes to show what obscure words our canine friends understand.
Boots the Chemist began with John Boot, an Agricultural Labourer. He moved to Nottingham and opened a small herbalist shop in 1849. He was very successful with the poor, who couldn’t necessarily afford to visit a doctor. He died in 1860 and, Mary, his widow took over. She ran the store successfully until her son, Jessie, turned 21 when he took over in 1877.
Jessie expanded the Boots empire, selling a wider range of products and expanding Boots to a whopping 550 stores by 1914. As Jessie turned 70, crippled with arthritis, he decided to retire and sold the whole thing, kit and kaboodle, to an American company called the United Drug Company of America. Boots continued to expand and in 1933, Boots opened its 1000th store.
Around the same time, Jessie’s son, John bought the whole thing back again.
It’s a great success story and makes me feel better about shopping there.
Wonder why Jessie did not pass it to his son John, instead of selling it, then John having to buy it back? Lot of money lost there. But glad it is still owned by an Englishman.
Love mum