Israeli-held New Pharm plans to develop a chain of drugstore-type pharmacies on the Romanian market. The drugstores sell three times more products than a regular pharmacy and take up at least three times the space of such a pharmacy.
“Our plans include the opening of 4-5 such drugstores next year. We will be cautious in our investments targeting the Romanian market, since we first want to get used to the legislative particularities of this market and with its consumers” preferences,” specified Natan Barkan, general manager of New-Pharm Europe, the company operating the pharmacies under the New Pharm brand.
Beside ethical and over-the-counter drugs, drugstores also sell a wide range of associated products, such as cosmetics, beauty products, nutritional products, baby care products and even textiles. Each drugstore is divided into three departments: the pharmacy itself, the cosmetics department and the rest of products that are not included in either of the two former categories.
Common pharmacies take up an area of 200 square metres at most, whereas drugstores take up between 350 and over 1,000 square metres, explained Barkan. At the same time, the portfolio of a drugstore may comprise as many as 30,000 products, while a common pharmacy has a portfolio of no more than 10,000 products.
“Currently, we are in talks for two locations in Bucharest, but we want to take our time. One must be a little humble when entering a new, different market. In our opinion, the baby care segment constitutes a genuine opportunity,” says Barkan. New-Pharm operates a chain of 53 pharmacies on the Israeli market.
Investments needed for the setting up of a drugstore amount to about 250,000 euros, should the location be rented, to which the initial stock, of up to 200,000 euros, is added.
“Revenues generated by a drugstore in Israel revolve around 200,000 euros per month. For the time being, we cannot forecast revenues registered on the Romanian market,” stated New-Pharm chief.
The company opened the first drugstore in Constanta, in Tomis Mall. At the same time, New-Pharm rented some space in the EuroMall project in Pitesti.
New-Pharm Europe”s shareholders are New Pharm and Elran Holding companies, owned by Israeli investors.
The pharmacy market is coping with uncertainty in the wake of the law draft on pharmacies, stipulating that a single operator should own a limited number of pharmacies. This situation has pushed drug retail companies to temporarily halt their expansion plans and part of the investments they are carrying out. alexandru.cerchez@zf.ro