Pharmacy chain Wellness Forever eyes to triple store count in 3 yrs

Mumbai-based Wellness Forever, the largest organised pharmacy chain, is aiming to triple its store count in the next three years.

Presently, the company has 161 stores. Of these stores, over half are present across Mumbai, while remaining are scattered across big cities of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka

Ashraf Biran, Co-Founder and Director, Wellness Forever, said, “We are planning to add 75 stores by end of FY20, 100 stores in FY21 and 150 stores in FY22. We want to have around 450-500 stores in the next three years.”

Wellness Forever will add all the new stores in the western region. Most of its stores are company-owned and operated so far. However, the company is open to a franchise model for expansion. It is also taking up operations of hospital pharmacies as well.

Wellness Forever was started by Ashraf Biran, Gulshan Bakhtiani, and Mohan Chavan in 2008.

Biran said, “It takes around 6 months for a store to become cash profit, and two years to break-even on the investment. The expansion will be funded largely by internal accruals and bank debt, and they would be tapping investors if the need arises.”

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