A few days ago, Dr. Max, the largest Czech pharmacy chain, made an even bigger push into body care and premium cosmetics. It opened its new concept, called Bjut, in a shopping centre in Prague's Chodov district. In addition to pharmacy care and health advice in pharmacies, it targets customers who are looking for a connection between health and care.

Bjut is neither a pharmacy nor a perfumery, but it has something of each. Most of its clientele is, unsurprisingly, women. The opening of Bjut, including the preparation of online support, represents an investment in the lower units of millions of euros and a year of intensive preparations.

Why Chodov? "It's the number one address in terms of focus and we don't have a pharmacy there yet, but we would definitely like to open one there one day. It is the largest shopping centre in the country, there is also a floor of premium stores, so we want to be where our customers are," said the head of the chain. They want to evaluate the functioning of the new project in a year, so it is possible that the brand will eventually appear in one of the other five European countries where the group operates.

Last year, Dr. Max pharmacies in the Czech Republic earned 51.4 million euros and their net profit increased by 40 percent year-on-year. Sales also increased by more than a tenth, amounting to almost 1.1 billion euros last year. They are operated by Česká lékárna holding, which belongs to the portfolio of billionaire Marek Dospiva's Penta group.

Source: Forbes.cz
Prepared by CzechTrade Romania