PARASHOP RETAIL PROFILE

Parashop has led France’s uniqueparapharmacie market since the 1990s.Annemarie Kruse explains how

Fact file: Parashop

Founded 1993

Address Parashop Diffusion SAS, Cité d’Antin,75009 Paris, France

Contact +33 1 44 77 81 00

Website parashop.com

Parashop sells around 6,000 products across some220 beauty and personal care brands. Frenchparapharmacies do not sell mainstream beauty suchas L’Oréal Paris, Garnier or Nivea; the focus liesstrictly on dermocosmetic brands, thermal andphytotherapy beauty and herbal cosmetics. Theline-up includes all the classic Frenchdermocosmetic grandes marques: L’Oréal’s Vichy,Roger Gallet, La Roche-Posay, Biotherm andSanoflore; Pierre Fabre’s Avène, Ducray, RenéFurterer, Elancyl, Galénic, Klorane and A-Derma;and French brands Bioderma, Uriage, Novexpert,Lierac and Phyto. On the more natural side of the portfolio is Nuxe,

Cattier and Caudalie from France and Weleda fromGermany; other big dermocosmetic brands retailedby Parashop include Biotherm (L’Oréal) andEucerin (Beiersdorf). The line-up also includessome unusual international brands such as Japaneseskin care brand DHC and Herborist from China(an exclusive Parashop brand). Parashop also sellscolour cosmetics from many of the dermocosmeticbrands, plus make-up from US-based PhysiciansFormula and 2B Colours from Belgium.In 2007, Parashop stepped up its expansion by

launching several own label ranges, including the33-sku skin and body care range Être Bien, followedin early 2012 by personal care line PréparationParashop and later that year By Parashop, a range ofbath and body gift sets. Over the past decade,Parashop has also increased its exclusive brandselection from six in 2010 to 31 in 2016. Theseinclude organic niche brand Akane from France,hair care range Biosilk from the US and Canadianskin care brand IDC.

A selective futureOver the past few years Parashop has started tofocus more on beauty retail: several recently openedoutlets are slanting strongly towards a selectiveretail experience, with wooden floors, aromatherapycorners and further exclusive brands. For a while, Parashop also considered a

cooperation with French perfumery Beauty Success– although ultimately Beauty Success teamed upwith the Tanguy chain of parapharmacies.Nevertheless, it is likely that Parashop will continueto angle its retail approach towards a nicheperfumery concept. And although Parashop is notthe cheapest ‘para’ retailer in France, the company’sfocus on exclusive brands and an upmarket shoppingexperience has made it one of the country’s morepopular parapharmacie chains.

Parashop is the biggest chain in the Frenchparapharmacie market. This retail channel is uniqueto the French market, and it is also an increasinglyimportant retail channel for personal care, especiallyfor dermocosmetics, aromatherapy and organiccosmetics, since, unlike other European countries(Germany, Austria or the UK), France does nothave a drugstore channel.Every small town has at least one standalone

parapharmacie and several of France’s bigsupermarket retailers – like Leclerc and Auchan –have parapharmacie retail areas attached to theirstores. Besides these chains the parapharmaciemarket is very fragmented; with many independentstores and smaller chains. In terms of outlets,Parashop is the largest ‘para’ chain in France.

Leading the sectorThe first Parashop was opened in 1993 in Orléansby brothers Christophe and Olivier Barnoin andthe history of the retail chain reflects thedevelopment of the parapharmacie market as adistribution channel. The actual term‘parapharmacie’ is said to have been coined in theearly 1980s by Michel-Edouard Leclerc of theeponymous retail group. The actual parapharmaciechannel began to develop in the early 1990s,making Parashop one of the leaders in a new andexciting retail sector.Over the next years the Parashop chain expanded,

first in provincial France, then into the greater Parisarea. In 1995, Swiss retail group Maus Frèresbought a majority stake in Parashop and stepped upthe pace of its store openings. Today, Parashopoperates 71 stores in France and four in Italy.Parashop outlets tend to be located in shopping

centres and busy commercial areas with a highfootfall and customer frequency. The stores have anaverage retail area of 190sqm and over the last fewyears, around 40 Parashop outlets have beenrenovated and upgraded. With well-lit shelves, atidy and clean interior design and well-trained skincare advisors, Parashop stores offer a comfortableand sophisticated shopping environment.

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PARASHOP

September 2016 cosmetics business markets 5

Dermocosmetic grandesmarques such as Vichyare the mainstay ofParashop’s brandselection

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