Hutchison Closing Superdrug 3G Retail Outlets

Hutchison 3G UK is scrapping its experiment with selling mobile phones inside the health and beauty retail chain, Superdrug. The company has been operating concession retail outlets inside the stores since it launched its network, but is now focusing on its dedicated retail outlets. Selling mobile phones inside a consumer goods retail outlet has always raised concerns as the customer fit between the two products is hardly ideal.

The company is understood to be retaining 20 concessions - but the remaining 107 will close down, and most of the staff will be reassigned to the dedicated retail stores where possible. The company has around 270 dedicated stores and expects to open a further 30 branches this year.

Hutchison Whampoa, which owns the 3 network brought the pan-European retail chain for approximately US$1.3 billion in August 2002. In 2006, the company started an agressive roll out plan for its own retail outlets with the purchase of 95 former branches of the Link mobile phone retailer.

Posted to the site on 14th January 2008