The UK's leading health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett (H&B) has opened its first experience store on Cardiff's Queen Street.

Opened on Thursday, the new shop brings together a collection of new and customised wellness services, including a wellness studio offering Pilates, Yoga and meditation classes through local experts.

The company said that the initiative is based on customer demand for more immersive experiences.

Over the past financial year, the company has refurbished 315 stores and opened 35 new stores including 15 concessions.

The concessions are part of the retailer’s efforts to trial new format stores, including travel locations, garden centres, and a kiosk in Dublin which sells a selected range of 1,000 products.


The retailer is also currently working in partnership with a number of firms including Randox to provide diagnostic tests for customers, said Nick Gerrard, property and format director at Holland & Barrett in a LinkedIn post.

“I’m hugely proud of the way the concept has been delivered from thoughts to renders to design to reality and shows the strength of cross-functional working we have in H&B with lots of help from our partners and suppliers,” he added.

Gerrard explained the move represents the next step in H&B’s store transformation across UK and Ireland.

Over the past three years, the retailer has focused on transforming its stores through multi-million-pound investments, including rolling out technology and new product development, with over 620 stores completed and more than 75 per cent of its estate refitted.

Last November, the wellness retailer announced plans to open 50 new stores in 2025 and launch around 1,000 new items across its own brand ranges.

Gerrard noted: “The insights we will gain from our Experience Store will inform future store concepts and continue connecting communities with our fantastic customer experience in stores.”

Last year, H&B also inked significant partnerships to boost its digital capabilities, including with Provenance, a sustainability data platform, making it one of the first High Street retailers in the UK to integrate verified sustainability claims into the customer shopping experience.

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