Warehouse-style pharmacies in Korea are expanding rapidly, with MediKingdom Pharmacy in Yongsan District, Seoul, opening in February in a 1,178-square-meter space. The store showcases a supermarket-like layout, displaying hundreds of over-the-counter drugs on large shelves and inviting customers to browse with shopping carts, a markedly different experience from traditional neighborhood pharmacies.
The surge in large-format pharmacies follows an earlier example set by Megaphactory in Seongnam, which opened last year and has since expanded to a 2,210-square-meter flagship in Seoul. Industry data shows several pharmacies larger than 500 square meters opened in 2022 and 2024, with continued growth in 2025 and 2026, signaling a notable shift in Korea’s pharmacy landscape.
These warehouse-style pharmacies emphasize bulk purchasing from pharmaceutical companies to reduce procurement costs, enabling price reductions of up to about 30 percent compared with conventional pharmacies. While this model attracts price-conscious consumers, concerns are rising about potential overuse or misuse of medicines and the risk of smaller neighborhood pharmacies being driven out of competition.
Regulators and lawmakers are starting to tackle the issue, with proposals to regulate labeling and advertising to prevent the perception of warehouse-style pharmacies as discount or factory outlets. Some lawmakers are calling for stricter rules, including operating hours and closing days similar to large discount stores, though applying such rules across independently operated stores presents challenges.
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