Allied Master Chemists of Australia Limited (Amcal) is an Australian pharmacy retailer, founded by Major General C. H. Simpson on 13 July 1937, in a move that greatly influenced the pharmacy industry in Australia.[1] The founding group consisted of 11 pharmacists.
The launch of Amcal to consumers included personal letters to each household, window posters, the give-away of a tablet of soap, and a brochure entitled "Why this is an Amcal Pharmacy".
Australia
Originally, Amcal was a cooperative buying group, owned by its members, who all had shares in the Amcal group. Amcal demutualised when Sigma Pharmaceuticals bought out the members' shares in 2000, with the lure of more money and better centralised marketing. It is still a marketing group, but a franchise division of Amcal, called Amcal Max, is now marketing under a more competitive and compliant model.[vague] Between 2016 and 2017, some Amcal pharmacies were converted to Terry White Chemmarts. There are now 223 Amcal pharmacies in Australia.[2]
New Zealand
In New Zealand, Amcal was a pharmacy franchise. Amcal's marketing was managed by the owner of Amcal New Zealand, Pharmacybrands, a division of Australian Pharmaceutical Industries. The chain was re-branded as Unichem in 2015.
Loyalty program
Amcal's loyalty program, Amcal Rewards, has over 2.4 million members, making it one of the largest retail loyalty programs in Australia.
