INDEPENDENT pharmacy owners in New Plymouth, on New Zealand's North Island, are fearing for their futures, with the arrival of two discount stores.
Vogeltown Pharmacy owner, David Fabish, told stuff.co.nz that Bargain Chemist and Chemist Warehouse are due to open pharmacies in the city was "a hard pill to swallow".
Fabish warned the rise of discount giants could wipe out existing pharmacies.
"It doesn't make sense why two would pop up at the same time," he said.
Fabish noted the discounters offer to cover the co-payment on subsidised medicines leaving patients with the perception that other pharmacies are "ripping them off".
"They're doing it for a loss, but they're dangling the carrot to get the foot traffic through the door," he said.
"So they're getting their money from somewhere else to off-set their money from doing scripts, and that's retail."
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