A&D Pharma draws up nine different budgets this year, five for next year

The variables taken into account this year included the possibility of having a state imposed pharmacy threshold for state subsidized drugs and purchasing power, among others. “There was one version where we imagined what would happen if we didn’t sell any cosmetics at all. Even under that scenario, the turnover would have grown,” said Ionescu. Sensiblu’s cosmetics sales make up half of its total sales in shopping mall-based pharmacies, according to Ionescu. In street locations, drug sales make up a bigger weight, 85 percent of the sales. The chain’s pharmacies with the highest sales per unit include its outlets in Feeria and Unirea shopping centers in Bucharest and a unit in Buzau. The pharmacy in Feeria has a 50-50 split between cosmetics and drug sales. The pharma company has recently opened a new type of unit inside AFI Palace Cotroceni, where it expects to see initial sales equivalent to a street location. A pharmacy in a commercial center requires several months to reach the level of sales of those located elsewhere in the city, according to the company. If an outlet suffers six months of falling sales, the company decides whether to relocate or just close the unit. A&D Pharma has relocated two street pharmacies this year and closed down one. “We analyze our pharmacies on a monthly basis, and each is treated as a separate business in terms of performance,” said Ionescu. Sensiblu runs 220 pharmacies in Romania. 
Corina Saceanu