Health and beauty retailer Boots has unveiled plans for another foray into the international market, by opening its own areas within stores of U.S. retail giants Target and CVS.
The deal, signed last week, will see 32 Boots outlets placed inside the Target and CVS chains. The shops will feature Boots own brand products such as No.7, Britain's biggest selling cosmetic brand, and Botanics.
Shares in Boots are up 1.4 per as traders said a successful move into the US market could yield big benefits for the company. Earlier in the session the stock hit 742-1/2 pence, its best level since November 1999.
But Boots stressed it was only testing the waters with a "very low risk, low capital model" in specific areas of the United States and was not making a major move into the country.
Boots has struggled several times to expand overseas, including in 2002 when it had to end a loss-making venture in Japan to operate standalone stores.