Holland & Barrett to open concessions in Next stores

Holland & Barrett has signed a concessions partnership with fashion retailer Next, as it kicks on with the next stage of its expansion plans.

The first ‘store within a store’ is set to open on 10 July at Next’s Martlesham Heath branch in Ipswich, while another two sites are set to open this summer, H&B told The Grocer.

The concessions will stock up to 1,000 of H&B’s health and wellness products, selected to complement Next’s existing concessions, which include Costa Coffee and Waterstones. The retailer is also growing its ranges of sports, health and wellness products. 

H&B’s concessions will use its own trained staff, who will be able to provide tailored health and wellness advice to customers.

The second of the concessions will be in Next’s store in the Silver Link Shopping Park in North Shields. The location of the third has not yet been revealed.

The partnership is the latest step in an ongoing store transformation programme by H&B owner LetterOne. The group has invested upwards of £70m into renovating its store footprint and supply chain over the past year, since completing a debt buyout deal in November 2022, which left the retailer debt-free.

It has seen H&B partner with WH Smith Travel stores to trial specialist concessions. In October, H&B also restarted the rollout of its concessions partnership with Tesco, by opening its first store within a Tesco since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

H&B has also been adding cafés to its own stores, after launching the concept in Birmingham last year.

The latest opening will give H&B 50 concessions in total.

Over the next year, H&B would open or renovate “at least one store a day” as part of the ongoing refurbishment plan, the retailer said. 

“Holland & Barrett has an ambitious three-year transformation strategy to become our customer’s first choice for wellness products, advice services and solutions,” said H&B property and format director Nick Gerrard.

“To help achieve this, we’re investing in revitalising our store experience, taking a flexible approach to space planning and piloting new locations and store footprints.

“We’re very excited to partner with Next with our brand-new concession formats, which will complement Next’s retail offering, giving its customers easy and convenient access to the latest and trending health and wellness essentials.”