Schlecker was Europe's biggest drugstore chain — then 50,000 jobs vanished in a year

Schlecker began in 1975, when Anton Schlecker opened his first drugstore in the southern German town of Kirchheim unter Teck. It grew into one of Europe's largest drugstore chains: by 2007 its network stretched across 13 European countries, employed more than 52,000 people and generated annual revenue of about seven billion euros.

The chain let its format age. Its stores came to feel dated next to newer, sharper rivals, and a string of controversies damaged its image with shoppers. As customers increasingly shunned the brand, management finally moved to overhaul the stores and launched a big marketing campaign to repair its reputation — but the cost of catching up landed on a business that was already weakening.

In January 2012 Schlecker went bust. The collapse moved fast: more than 25,000 employees lost their jobs in Germany and about the same number abroad, and by June the remaining roughly 3,200 stores were closing and the last 13,200 staff were being let go. A retailer that had employed more than 50,000 people was wound down within months.

Schlecker is a cautionary case about the cost of late action. The chain did not fail because the market disappeared — drugstore demand was thriving for its rivals — but because it spent years letting its stores and reputation fall behind, and then discovered that a turnaround attempted too late costs more than the company has left to spend.