Superdrug

Origins and expansion

Superdrug in the Horsefair Centre, Wetherby, West Yorkshire

Superdrug, Kings Mall, Hammersmith, London (2016)

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 forty stores by the beginning of the 1970s, and in 1971, The Rite Aid Corporation, an American drugstore chain, acquired 49% of the business.

By 1981, there were three hundred 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.^[2]

In March 1987, Superdrug was sold to Woolworth Holdings (now known as Kingfisher plc) for £57 million.^[2] The sale allowed accelerated growth of the brand through utilisation of Kingfisher's surplus high street property portfolio and substantial financial assets.

In January 1988, 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 six hundred outlets throughout the United Kingdom.

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, in July 2001, 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 CK Hutchison Holdings formally Hutchison Whampoa in November 2002.

AS Watson is also the parent company of Savers, the United Kingdom's number three drugstore chain. Subsequently, several of Superdrug's smaller stores were converted into Savers, and approximately three hundred Savers stores were converted into branches of Superdrug.

In April 2006, Superdrug entered the Republic of Ireland, and began rolling out its "next generation" stores, the first of which opened in Uxbridge. These focused 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.^[3]

Recent years

In February 2010, Superdrug became a BUAV approved retailer,^[4] 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 eleven stores of Superdrug, including; Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Bury, Glasgow, Westfield London and Kensington High Street.^[5] In January 2018, Superdrug were recognised by the Institute of Customer Service, placing fourth in the United Kingdom for Customer Satisfaction (UKCSI), with Yorkshire Bank in third, First Direct second, and Amazon first.

The Little Vegan Pop-Up Shop

On 22 March 2018, Superdrug opened their first vegan only pop up shop at Shoreditch’s Boxpark. Superdrug said it was in response to an increase demand in plant based and cruelty free beauty products. The store showcases Superdrug own brand beauty and cosmetic products, and also exclusive non ownbranded products that are also friendly to vegans.^[6]

Superdrug Mobile

In June 2018, Superdrug Mobile was launched. The mobile network is operated as an MVNO on the back of sister company Three and is exclusive to members of Superdrug's "Health & Beautycard" loyalty scheme.^[7]

Advertising

On 1 October 2010, the campaign Take Another Look was launched by Superdrug to encourage customers to “Take Another Look” at the company.^[11]

On 7 February 2013, Superdrug launched a new marketing and advertising campaign, “That Superdrug Feeling”, featuring actual Superdrug staff from their stores.^[12]

Dare Magazine

Superdrug's Dare Magazine underwent a major makeover, to bring it in line with the company's "Take Another Look" Campaign. The Magazine is distributed instore and on the streets of London for free. On 10 February 2011, Superdrug announced that the magazine would be the first 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.^[13]

Loyalty card

On 11 May 2011, Superdrug launched their first reward card called, The Beautycard.^[14] The card was launched as part of the Take Another Look campaign, which has been at the heart of the company's marketing strategy since October 2010. On 27 May 2011, Superdrug announced they had signed up one million customers to its loyalty card scheme.^[15]

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.