Super-Pharm () is an Israeli multinational

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 ...

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

. It also operates in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and previously operated in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Super-Pharm was founded by

Murray Koffler Murray Bernard Koffler (January 22, 1924 – November 5, 2017) was a Canadian pharmacist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was best known for founding the Canadian pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart, establishing the Koffler Centre of the Arts ...

with his two oldest children, Leon and Theo. The pharmacy uses a similar logo, and has private-label brands (such as ''Life''), as

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (colloquially Shoppers; named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, which was also founded by Koffler.

History

In 1921, Leon Koffler began Koffler Drug Stores. In 1941, his son Murray Koffler inherited two drug stores, called "

Koffler's Drugs Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (Colloquialism, colloquially Shoppers; named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail Pharmacy (shop), pharmacy Chain store, chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and two territo ...

"; by 1962, Koffler's had grown to a chain of 17 pharmacies, which Murray then renamed "

" in the 1970s. During the 1970s, Koffler visited Israel; following this visit, he decided to set up a chain similar to his one in Canada. Co-founded with his son Leon and daughter Theo. The first Super-Pharm pharmacy was opened in the Neve Amirim neighborhood of

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1979. Theo Koffler, co-founder and VP, focused on the cosmetic marketing and strategic operational planning. The drug store was different from pharmacies in the past in that it was open on the

Jewish Sabbath Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the cre ...

(Saturday), and sold products that were not drugs. Two years later, they opened a second pharmacy in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

; 1985 saw the opening of a Super-Pharm branch in the Ayalon shopping mall, which was their first location in a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

. In July 2007,

Bank Leumi Bank Leumi (, lit. ''National Bank''; ) is an Israeli bank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as the ''Anglo Palestine Company'' as subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust () Limited formed before in London by members of the Zionism, ...

acquired 18% stake in for 190 million

shekels A shekel or sheqel (; , , plural , ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35 ozt)—and became currency in ancient Tyre, Carthage and Hasmonean Judea. Name The word ...

. This gave Super-Pharm a company value of NIS 1.05 billion

. On 4 January 2011, the trade publication ''Chain Drug Review'' recognized Super-Pharm as the Global Chain Drug Retailer of the Year for 2010. In April 2019, Union Group headed by the Horesh family bought approximately 34% of Super-Pharm from the present investors Leumi Investments, Discount Investments and Leon Koffler.

Private label

Since 1995, Super-Pharm have sold products under their

private label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

''Life'', and ''LifeStyle'', both of which

also sells. This brand includes more than 400 different products from toiletries, to medicine, to food products. In 2007, the Life brand made up approximately 13% of their total sales.

Operation

Israel (Company Origin)

Since opening its first store in 1978, Super-Pharm has grown to 235 stores spread across the entire country. It has achieved the position as the largest

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 in Israel. Super-Pharm is one of the country’s largest employers of non-Jewish Israelis, with close to 20% of their workforce, about 1,000 employees (out of 5,800), are

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...

s; additionally, 25 of the chain's associates franchise stores are owned by

Poland

In 2001, the Super-Pharm opened its first branch in

. As of 2011, the chain operates 33 branches throughout the country. Annual sales of the Polish chain for 2010 are estimated to reach $150 million.

China

In 2005, the company started operating in China in a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with China's partners; as of 2010, the company operated 87 stores in the country.

References

External links

Super Pharm in Israel

Super Pharm in Poland
Retail companies of Israel Retail companies established in 1978 Pharmacy brands Israeli brands

Stores

, , 235 Stores , , 87 Stores {{POL , , 33 Stores **The Company Might Open More Stores And The Information Above Will Have To Be Changed.** edited 17th of april 2022