Kruidvat is a Dutch 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 medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

and

drugstore A pharmacy (also called drugstore in American English or community pharmacy or chemist in Commonwealth English) is a premises which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist oversees the fulfillment of m ...

chain specialising in

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and beauty products which also has branches in Belgium. The first Kruidvat was opened in September 1975 by Ed During and Dick Siebrand. Kruidvat Holding also owned ICI Paris XL, and , in the Netherlands and Belgium. Kruidvat had offers of low-priced CDs and books in the past. These usually involved the re-release of pre-existing material, but the company also released new recordings. For example, Brilliant Classics, a series of classical CDs including works by Schütz and Gesualdo, a complete series of harpsichord sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, and complete series of Mozart and Bach with many new recordings. After 2000, Kruidvat was also active for a time in releasing new, previously unpublished books, for example by Herman Brusselmans, Louise Fresco, Renate Dorrestein and Carry Slee. It also holds 50% of Rossmann in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, in addition to

Superdrug Superdrug Stores plc (trading as Superdrug) is a health and beauty retailer in the United Kingdom, and the second largest behind Boots UK. The company is owned by AS Watson (Health & Beauty UK) Limited which is part of the A.S. Watson Group. ...

in the United Kingdom since August 2002. Kruidvat Holding was sold to the Hong Kong based company A.S. Watson in November 2002 for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

1.3 billion. Kruidvat’s headquarters are located in Renswoude and their main distribution centre is in

Heteren Heteren is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Overbetuwe, about 12 km (7.4 mi) southwest of Arnhem on the south bank of the Rhine. Heteren was a separate municipality until 2001, when it beca ...

, of which construction was announced in March 2007. The acquisition of Superdrug was fully cleared by the European Union’s

Directorate-General for Competition Within the European Union (EU), Directorates-General are departments with specific zones of responsibility. Within the European Commission specifically, Directorates-General are the equivalent of national-level ministries. Most are headed by a ...

in September 2002. Superdrug was initially sold to Kruidvat in July 2001.
File:Kruidvat.jpg, A shop of Kruidvat in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, the Netherlands (January 2008) File:Onroerenderfgoed 17926 Lokeren.jpg, A shop of Kruidvat in

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

, Belgium

References

External links

*
Kruidvat's A.S. Watson Webpage
Retail companies established in 1975 Pharmacy brands Retail companies of the Netherlands Dutch brands Dutch companies established in 1975 Pharmaceutical companies established in the 20th century Companies based in Utrecht (province) Renswoude {{retail-company-stub