Sam, Boots and "elitist"!! I can certainly think of fancier places!! Have you ever been in there? It's a national commodity, but not for posh people.

Well, at least I now know of a store in England that I would beable to find everything like I do at Wal-Mart (YES - I do shop at Wal-Mart & love the prices!!!) I know that most people in our area feel that Wal-Mart beats out Walgreens / Rite-aid or K-Mart by several miles!!!

I was just reading an article about Boots in a local magazine in Vancouver and apparently in the mid 80's had opened branches in North America but they didn't last very long. Anyone remember seeing one in your city?

As a UK resident, I'm somewhat surprised by the fascination with Boots shown by many posters. Boots represent the kind of dull uniformity that has transformed our high streets into a carbon copy of one another. Like Mark's & Spencer's, there is comfort in knowing exactly what you get, whether you are in London or Inverness, but at the expense of any local flavour or individual flair. They trade on their name, and the price they charge for a lot of their branded toiletries is frankly ridiculous. Many wise shoppers now patronise bargain toiletries stores that have sprung up, like Bodycare, which undercut Boots price by up to 50%. For something special, many prefer Bodyshop (and there are others) or go to beauty products section at department stores like Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser and even Debenham's which have more style. Boots do have boutique-like stores called 'Health and Beauty' in select locations, selling their standard range.<BR>As for overseas stores, Boots had opened their first store in the posh Ginza district of Tokyo, but had to close it due to poor sale. Wonder why? <BR>

Well, but if I arrived in London mid-afternoon and wanted to buy an inexpensive hairdryer and a curling iron right away, rather than bringing them from the U.S., along with converters/adapters, wouldn't a Boots be the place for me to go?

Yes, definitely.