Chemist Warehouse Group (trading as Chemist Warehouse, Chemist Warehouse New Zealand, My Chemist, My Beauty Spot) is an Australian company operating a chain of retail

pharmacies 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 healt ...

both locally and internationally. The company is Australia's largest pharmacy franchise retailer with over 350 stores, and employs over 8,000 staff. The company brands itself as offering discounted prices for pharmaceutical goods. The company also manages a website and a "click and collect" 24 hour dispense either pick-up and delivery service for medications.

Model

Chemist Warehouse Woden in September 2013

Interior of Chemist Warehouse at Rocklea, Queensland

The company has been dubbed "the

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

of pharmacy" and uses a complex franchise structure to circumvent Australian regulations that limit how many pharmacies a company can operate in any one area. The company's structure allows it to "control" about 400 pharmacies across Australia, and it makes up about 50 percent of the market share. The business model used by Chemist Warehouse is thought to involve minimal equity investment by individual pharmacists who agree to the trading terms enforced across the group. Individual pharmacists working under the Chemist Warehouse umbrella benefit from the bulk purchasing power that comes with being part of the company. The company had an estimated revenue of $2.3 billion in 2013–14. The 2013 Inside Retail Magazine Top 50 Most Powerful Retailers list placed Sam Gance of Chemist Warehouse at number 16.

Radio

The company has ventured into radio, creating the Chemist Warehouse Remix with ARN. The radio was publicised as a 'custom built station' for Chemist Warehouse. It is not limited to stores and can be heard via DAB+ digital radio, online, or the

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

app. The New Zealand affiliate is operated by

NZME New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Net ...

, and is also available on iHeartRadio.

Criticism

The Pharmacy Guild and pharmacists' union have criticised the company, stating its approach threatens both healthcare standards and employment conditions in the industry. It was also being probed by the Fair Work Ombudsman of underpaying almost 6,000 employees totaling more than $3.6 million in outstanding wages.

References

External links

*
Official NZ website
{{Retailers in New Zealand Pharmacies of Australia Pharmacies of New Zealand Retail companies established in 2000 Companies based in Melbourne