Mexican drugstore Farmacias de Similares enters competitive U.S. market

If you think the drugstore industry is experiencing difficulties in America with CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens and RITE AID closing hundreds of stores, a new global drugstore chain is in the early stages of entering this very competitive market.

Farmacias de Similares SA, which operates more than 9,700 drugstores in Mexico and about 500 across Chile and Colombia, is planning to open in August 2025 its first U.S. store on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, dubbed Similandia, which means Simi land.

This store won’t be a typical drugstore. It will primarily sell limited-edition merchandise and plush toys. It operates similar gift stores in Mexico, which last fall sold a version of a doll decked out like a Jedi, a collaboration with Walt Disney Co., and sells a popular doll that represents the company’s mustachioed Mexican mascot, Dr. Simi.

The privately held company’s CEO, Victor González Herrera says Farmacias Similares also plans to sell some of its products through an alliance with CVS Health Corp., setting up displays in some of the U.S. chain’s stores in areas with large Mexican populations, such as Houston, Los Angeles and San Antonio.

On March 12, 2025, Farmacias Similares rolled out its first online store to sell to U.S. customers: https://www.drsimi.us

The Dr. Simi U.S. site will soon sell about 200 products, including over-the-counter medications, supplements, vitamins and personal care products—all goods that don’t require U.S. regulatory authorization—along with its popular Dr. Simi toys.

The company opened its first U.S. office, in Austin, on March 24, complete with a meditation room and boardroom, and it’s planning a U.S. distribution center to fulfill domestic orders, which will eventually include everyday items such as perfumes, protein powders and vitamin C serums. It’s planning to offer telemedicine services to U.S. customers in English and Spanish, too.

According to Ramón Soler, director of operations for Dr. Simi U.S., Austin is only an entry point. From there, the plan is to first grow the company in California and Texas, then in other states with large Hispanic populations, such as Arizona, Florida, Illinois and New York.

In the U.S., the company will primarily target the country’s tens of millions of Latino residents, says González Herrera. “It’s a huge and very neglected market. Dr. Simi is becoming a symbol that can attract Latinos to stores,” he said.

Read more: The Mexican Drugstore Mascot Opening Doors to the U.S. (Bloomberg)