Superdrug

Origins and expansion

In 1964, Superdrug was incorporated under the name of ′Leading Supermarkets Limited′ by the Goldstein brothers in London, both of whom had experience working in the grocery retail industry. Later that year the business adopted the present name. The first official Superdrug Store opened in Putney, London on 26 April 1966. By 1968 there was a total of three stores trading, Putney, Croydon and Streatham, also in the same year Superdrug acquired its first distribution centre, which was situated in Wimbledon.

The chain grew rapidly and expanded to a chain of 40 stores by the early 1970s and in 1971, The Rite Aid Corporation, an American drugstore chain, acquired 49% of the business.

By 1981, there were 300 Superdrug stores in the United Kingdom and they opened their 11,148 m² (120,000 ft²) distribution centre and office complex at Beddington Lane in Croydon. This particular distribution centre closed in July 2007 and the southern distribution operation moved to Dunstable, although the head office remains in Croydon. The northern distribution operates from Pontefract.

In 1983, the business was floated on London's Unlisted Securities Market stock market.

In 1987, Superdrug was sold to Woolworth Holdings (now known as Kingfisher plc) for £57 million. The sale allowed accelerated growth of the brand through utilisation of Kingfisher's surplus high street property portfolio and substantial financial assets. That year Superdrug acquired Tip-Top, a discount drugstore chain which had a large presence in the north of England and Scotland, and Share Drug Stores plc, a southern-based chain. These acquisitions and a continually aggressive expansion programme saw the chain grow to 600 outlets throughout the UK.

Superdrug continued to grow over the next 8 years increasing profitability and market share. In 1995, the company began a rebranding programme which saw it leave behind its discount heritage and move upmarket, with a new corporate identity – under the banner "the real beauty is the price" – and new larger stores in prime retail locations. This led to a marked increase in prices in order to fund a higher cost base, and left the chain vulnerable to attack from new discount chains such as Savers and Wilkinson, who were rapidly expanding at the time and the supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda who were growing their presence in the high margin non-food sector.

Acquisition

Facing increasing pressure from supermarkets and new discount chains Superdrug was sold to Kruidvat, a drugstore operator from continental Europe to allow Kingfisher to focus on its DIY and electrical chains. Kruidvat was subsequently sold to AS Watson, the retail and manufacturing business of the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa in 2002. AS Watson is also the parent company of Savers, the UK's number three drugstore chain. Subsequently, several of Superdrug's smaller stores were converted into Savers, and approximately 200 Savers stores were converted into branches of Superdrug.

In 2006, Superdrug entered the Republic of Ireland, and began rolling out its "next generation" stores, the first of which opened in Uxbridge. These focussed on cosmetics and fragrance above all else and used plasma screens throughout the store. Superdrug announced their intention to create 150 more next-generation stores in 2008.

Recent years

In February 2010 Superdrug became a BUAV approved retailer, joining several other high street chains in pledging its own brand products will be free from animal testing. All Superdrug own label products carry the leaping bunny cruelty-free logo. This does not, however, cover products made by other brands sold in the store.

During 2010, Superdrug went into partnership with sister company The Perfume Shop by trialling shop in shop concessions. The partnership was tried in 11 Superdrug Stores, including; Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Bury, Glasgow, Westfield London and Kensington High Street.

Products

During 2012, Superdrug went into partnership with Pro Skin Clinics which has enabled Superdrug to offer specialist skincare clinics in-store. Treatments on offer range from laser hair removal to facials. Superdrug planned to have 50 Clinics by the end of 2013 starting with High Street Kensington and Oxford Street stores and then concentrating on recently refurbished stores.

During 2013 Superdrug ventured into the Premium Skin Care market, by launching a new and exclusive brand called "B". The brand offers both Skin Care and Make-up and was launched during January and February 2013, accompanied by a multimillion-pound advertising campaign including TV advertising, magazine promotion, blogger reviews and a pop-up tour around the UK's largest shopping centre's.

Advertising

On 1 October 2010, the Take Another Look campaign was launched by Superdrug to encourage customers to "Take Another Look" at the company.

On 7 February 2013, Superdrug launched a new marketing and advertising campaign, "That Superdrug Feeling", featuring actual Superdrug staff from their stores.

Dare Magazine

Superdrug's Dare Magazine underwent a major makeover, to bring it in line with the companies "Take Another Look" Campaign. The Magazine is distributed in-store and on the street's of London for free. On 10 February 2011, Superdrug announced that the magazine would be the first UK customer magazine to use digital watermarking technology. Readers will be able to use their smartphone to view interactive video content and access exclusive news and tips by scanning digital watermarks embedded in the magazine.

Loyalty card

On 11 May 2011, Superdrug launched their first reward card called, The Beautycard. The card was launched as part of the 'Take Another Look' campaign, which has been at the heart of the companies marketing strategy since October 2010. On 27 May 2011, Superdrug announced they had signed up 1 million customers to its loyalty card scheme.

In 2015, Superdrug adapted their loyalty card in order to appeal to more of a mass market, renaming it Health and Beautycard. The concept of the card containing a mirror remained but was redesigned to give a more mature look and feel.

Controversies

In December 2007, Superdrug was forced to withdraw a women's punch bag following complaints from anti-domestic violence campaigners. The man shaped product encouraged women to insert a photo of a male in the punch bag's face and had an arrow pointing at the groin stating – "kick him here".

The ManKind Initiative said it was disgraceful that a national retailer like Superdrug should be openly selling products encouraging domestic violence against men. Following the complaints the retailer withdrew the product immediately and promised to donate any profits from sales of the item to domestic violence charity The ManKind Initiative.