Super-Pharm enters the optical services market

Ten post jest także dostępny w języku: polski

A new player has recently appeared on the optical services market in Poland. In October Super-Pharm opened its first optical store Super-Pharm Optic in the Super-Pharm drugstore in the Arkadia shopping centre in Warsaw. Next year, from a few to more than a dozen Super-Pharm Optic optical shops are to be opened, the Cosmetic News has announced.

Super-Pharm combines pharmacies, drugstores and perfumeries in one concept. The range of services will now be supplemented with optical services (optometric tests, purchase of glasses and frames).

In October, Super-Pharm ran 75 outlets. In each of them, it owned a pharmacy and was one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country (in terms of the number of outlets). The company also offers dietary supplements, cosmetics and other products under its own brand Life. Additionally, Super-Pharm is present in the e-commerce segment and runs an e-drug store and an e-pharmacy.

The amendment to the Pharmaceutical Law in 2017 blocked the development of pharmacy chains in Poland. Since from June 2017, applications for a permit to run a pharmacy can only be submitted by pharmacists, this amendment is often referred to as “Pharmacies for a pharmacist”. Pharmacies may be established only in specific places that meet geographical and demographic criteria. Iwona Milewska, the Super-Pharm Poland marketing coordinator, admitted in “Wiadomości Kosmetyczne” (“Cosmetic News”) that it is difficult to talk about new openings next year. She added that if it wasn’t for the regulations prohibiting the opening of pharmacies by companies not composed of pharmacists, Super-Pharm would develop intensively.