Tesco had also moved aggressively into over-the-counter medicines and toiletries. In 2001, sales of these items overtook those of Boots, Britain’s leading health and beauty retailer. It then boosted its offering in this sector with the puechase of the nutricentre, a retailer of alternative remedies. The lure of high margin, non-food sales appeared to have been justified. By 2005, non-food sales were growing at about twice the rate of food, an increase of 17% on the previous year. Certainly, Tesco’s push into non-food piles the pressure onto other high street retailers.