Dis-Chem is the second largest retail

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

chain in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, with 165 stores, plus 4 in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and 1 in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. The chain had a total revenue of 21.4 billion South African rand in 2019. Dis-Chem has private label products, sells via the Internet, operates a loyalty programme, and the Group has a wholesale division. The chain announced in 2016 its plans to double the number of outlets through 2021. At that time, one-third of its outlets were less than three years old.

History

Dis-Chem started in 1978 when pharmacists Ivan and Lynette Saltzman, opened their first retail pharmacy in

Mondeor Mondeor is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Known as the Jewel of the South, Mondeor is set amongst hills outside the urban Johannesburg area but is only a 1 ...

, a southern suburb of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. They introduced the concept of a discount pharmacy with product categories that until then, had not been offered in South African pharmacies because of prohibiting legislation. In 2014, Dis-Chem opened its first store outside South Africa, in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

. In November 2016, Dis-Chem Pharmacies Limited group listed 27.5% of its listed share capital on the

Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...

. It was the second-largest

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in the exchange's history."About Dis-Chem"
Dis-Chem website, accessed 9 July 2020

Criticism

In July 2020, the Competition Commission of South Africa found Dis-Chem guilty of inflating prices of certain hygiene products (i.e. disposable face masks) during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In September 2022, Dischem CEO, Ivan Saltzman issued a memo, according to the letter, the company placed a moratorium on the appointment of white individuals.

References

{{reflist Pharmacy brands Retail companies of South Africa Companies based in Johannesburg