Understand any stock in simple English
Enter a ticker to learn what the company does and how it makes money.
Dis-Chem Pharmacies Limited
Dis-Chem runs a large chain of pharmacies and health-and-beauty stores in South Africa, selling medicines, supplements, cosmetics and everyday health products to shoppers and businesses.
Dis-Chem is South Africa's big drugstore chain — the place people go for a prescription, a box of vitamins, shampoo, baby formula, or a quick check of their blood pressure. Walk into one of its stores and you'll find a pharmacy counter at the back and shelves of beauty and nutrition products up front, roughly the local version of a Walgreens or Boots. It also runs a wholesale arm that supplies medicines and health products to independent pharmacies, clinics and other businesses, so it makes money both from everyday shoppers and from the trade.
The stores are the engine. Dis-Chem keeps prices low and runs frequent promotions, which pulls in bargain-hunting shoppers and keeps them coming back for repeat purchases like chronic medication and household basics. Its own private-label products, sold under names like Pure and Pharmplex, carry fatter margins than the big brands sitting next to them on the shelf, so pushing its own goods is a quiet profit booster. The pharmacy counter is the sticky part: once someone's chronic script is on file, switching stores is a hassle, so that recurring business is a reliable base. The company is majority-owned by the Saltzman family, whose holding vehicle controls it — founders Ivan and Lynette Saltzman opened the first store in 1978 after running a small pharmacy, and the family still holds the reins. It listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2016. In recent years Dis-Chem has been expanding its store count, growing its wholesale division, and pushing into areas like baby goods and vet products, while also building out online ordering and delivery to keep up with shoppers who'd rather not queue.
The business is not without bruises. Pharmacy retail in South Africa is a scrap: Clicks Group is the fierce rival, and both chains fight over price, promotions and prime mall space. Dis-Chem has also had public spats with suppliers and regulators over pricing and competition issues, and its margins get squeezed when it leans too hard on discounts. Still, the formula is simple and durable: sell health and beauty to a broad, price-conscious market, keep the shelves full, and let the pharmacy counter bring people back month after month.
Saved answer · last researched 12 Nov 2026