New pharmacies: where they open and who supplies them
Auspector ·
Between September 27 and October 27, 2026, 230 new pharmacy records entered our newly opened businesses section in the United States and 85 in the United Kingdom — a slow-turnover sector: in all six markets we measure, new pharmacies arrived at a fraction of the all-sector rate, because a pharmacy opens on a licence. Each opening is therefore a rare, well-timed sales window.
How many new pharmacies open, and where?
Our database holds 81,589 pharmacy records in the United States and 14,860 in the United Kingdom. In the 30 days, 230 and 85 new ones arrived — just 2.8 and 5.7 per 1,000 pharmacy records already there, against 13.8 and 11.5 across all sectors. That is the licensed-market shape: few openings, each one significant.
| City | Pharmacy records | New, 30 days | Phone | Website information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 963 | 5 | 91.0% | 49.5% |
| New York | 3,562 | <5 | 92.6% | 40.3% |
| Houston | 1,220 | <5 | 93.1% | 60.9% |
| Chicago | 486 | <5 | 94.7% | 71.4% |
| San Antonio | 423 | <5 | 94.6% | 78.7% |
| Philadelphia | 411 | <5 | 92.2% | 57.9% |
| Phoenix | 391 | <5 | 94.4% | 82.4% |
| Dallas | 376 | <5 | 94.1% | 71.3% |
| Columbus | 326 | <5 | 97.2% | 77.6% |
| Jacksonville | 316 | <5 | 93.7% | 72.5% |
| Nashville | 263 | <5 | 96.2% | 77.2% |
| San Diego | 256 | <5 | 93.0% | 66.4% |
Only Los Angeles (5) reached five new records among the 12 cities; the rest of the flow is spread thin across the country, a few records at a time. All US figures: pharmacies in the United States.
| City | Pharmacy records | New, 30 days | Phone | Website information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 1,283 | 29 | 90.6% | 63.3% |
| Birmingham | 305 | <5 | 92.8% | 60.3% |
| Glasgow | 188 | <5 | 92.6% | 76.1% |
| Liverpool | 173 | <5 | 90.8% | 72.8% |
| Manchester | 137 | <5 | 90.5% | 70.8% |
| Belfast | 134 | <5 | 94.8% | 63.4% |
| Sheffield | 118 | <5 | 94.1% | 82.2% |
| Leeds | 116 | <5 | 91.4% | 69.0% |
| Leicester | 112 | <5 | 94.6% | 64.3% |
| Coventry | 95 | <5 | 93.7% | 60.0% |
| Bristol | 91 | <5 | 91.2% | 72.5% |
| Edinburgh | 88 | <5 | 92.0% | 78.4% |
London received 29 new pharmacy records — most of the UK flow sits in one city, and the counties follow the population. The county view is on the Greater London page; all UK figures: pharmacies in the United Kingdom.
How reachable are new pharmacies?
Pharmacies are among the most reachable businesses in our records: 95.4% of US pharmacy records carry a phone number and 74.9% website information (all sectors: 83.1% and 61.7%); in the UK, 94.7% and 72.6%. 17,047 US records (20.9%) have a phone but no website information; in the UK, 3,444 (23.2%).
A record is a business location — the pharmacy counter, not a patient or a person. Nothing in this article is about medicines or health advice; it is about the shelf, the fridge, the counter and the software behind them. Pharmacy openings are regulated: in the UK the General Pharmaceutical Council and in the US the state boards of pharmacy hold the rules on who may open one — check with them, not with us. Rules on unsolicited calls and messages differ by country and channel, and the obligation lies with the sender; check them with your own counsel before a campaign.
Six markets compared
| Country | Pharmacy records | New, 30 days | New per 1,000 pharmacy records | New per 1,000 records, all sectors | Phone | Website information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 81,589 | 230 | 2.8 | 13.8 | 95.4% | 74.9% |
| Türkiye | 36,884 | 180 | 4.9 | 11.1 | 76.8% | 16.5% |
| United Kingdom | 14,860 | 85 | 5.7 | 11.5 | 94.7% | 72.6% |
| Spain | 26,236 | 76 | 2.9 | 7.8 | 90.5% | 30.7% |
| Germany | 18,276 | 74 | 4.0 | 8.3 | 96.3% | 94.5% |
| France | 22,882 | 47 | 2.1 | 9.8 | 90.7% | 57.7% |
In all six markets the pharmacy rate is a fraction of the all-sector rate — 2.8 new records per 1,000 in the United States is the largest of the six. Website information ranges from 94.5% in Germany to 16.5% in Türkiye; in Türkiye and Spain, most pharmacy records carry a phone and no web address at all — a market that still answers the phone rather than a form.
How a supplier reaches a new pharmacy
A new record is dated by the day it reached us, not by the opening day — and for a pharmacy, the run-up is long: the licence, the fit-out, the stock build-up. By the time a record appears, the opening is usually close, which is exactly when the first-supplier decisions are still open.
What a new pharmacy buys first
- Wholesale: the main pharmaceutical wholesale contract is the founding decision of a pharmacy — the delivery cadence, the range and the credit terms. Wholesalers and OTC suppliers who want the account need to be in touch while the shelves are still empty.
- Dispensing software: prescription handling, stock and ordering run on the pharmacy system from day one; unlike a café changing till, a pharmacy does not re-platform lightly, so the first system tends to stay.
- Fixtures, refrigeration and the counter: shelving, the cold chain and the dispensing bench are fitted before the stock arrives — one order, rarely repeated.
- Dermocosmetics and front-of-shop: the retail side — skincare and OTC display — is planned at opening, and the supplier list for it is short. Payment terminals have their own playbook in merchant services leads.
Working a small, valuable list
- Treat it as a queue, not a wave: 230 records a month is about 8 a day — every record deserves a prepared approach, not a blast.
- Read the record: category (pharmacy, homeopathic pharmacy, parapharmacy), district and phone. A parapharmacy buys a different front-of-shop mix than a dispensing pharmacy.
- Check for repeats: a second branch of the same group appears as its own record; the same name on two new records is a head-office conversation.
- Visit with something concrete: a planogram for the dermocosmetics aisle, a cold-chain checklist, a migration path for the prescription file.
- Keep the record ID: exports carry a stable ID per record, so notes from the visit stay attached when you export again.
The search in the panel
- Category: pharmacy, homeopathic pharmacy, parapharmacy — each record keeps its own category and categories are chosen one by one.
- Area: city and district; the whole country if you work nationally.
- Time: arrived in the newly opened businesses section in the last 30 days.
- Channel: phone number on record if your team calls; “no website information” for web and online-ordering sellers.
- Watch: save the search and new matches arrive by email every day.
Searching and counting are free on every plan, so you can see how many new pharmacies your territory had this month before you spend a credit (pricing). A credit is spent the first time you open a record’s details, and an export counts as opening; one credit opens one newly opened business or five established ones, and a record you have opened never costs again. Exports are CSV or XLSX. A record carries name, category, address, city, district, phone, web address, coordinates and, where available, opening hours; there is no email column and no named-person column. For the first call itself, see the cold call script for new businesses.