Matas

Matas is a Danish drug-store and beauty-retail business whose name is derived from Materialisternes Aktieselskab. Established on 13 November 1949, the company developed from the traditional Danish materialist or drysalter shop: a retail format combining personal-care goods, household chemicals, health products, and specialist advice. Its core proposition has long been summarized by the motto “Good Advice Makes the Difference.” The business operates primarily through a chain of stores across Denmark. Its merchandise mix is centered on cosmetics and personal care, including make-up, hair-coloring products, lipstick, rouge, skin care, and related beauty products. Stores also sell personal-hygiene products, vitamin supplements, herbal remedies, liquorice-root products, and selected household goods. Historically, many locations included a chemical department, reflecting the drysalter origins of the format and offering household chemicals as well as more specialized chemical products. Matas became associated with the expansion of consumer access to health-related products. In 1951, it challenged Denmark’s pharmacy monopoly by selling vitamin C tablets. The initial legal response held that the sale was not permitted, but Matas pursued the issue through litigation. After several years, the case helped establish that at least some vitamin products sold through pharmacies and drug stores were dietary supplements rather than medicinal drugs. Later legislative changes concerning over-the-counter medicines enabled Matas to broaden its range of non-prescription products. The company also built a substantial private-label business. It introduced products under the Matas name and worked with Steins Laboratory from 1957, while establishing product-quality rules for its own goods. A first Matas logo appeared in 1956, and the company began distributing a large advertising paper in 1958. During the late twentieth century, the chain expanded its store network, developed additional product lines and sub-brands, and adopted a blue-and-white visual identity that became strongly associated with its stores. Matas expanded from its original Danish base during the 1990s, including the opening of stores in Malmö in connection with its fiftieth anniversary in 1999. It also established the Matas Environmental Fund in 1994 and moved its main administration from Farum to Allerød in 1997. The chain reached 292 stores in 2006, shortly before it was sold to investment firm CVC Capital Partners in May of that year. The retailer has used its product portfolio for social and environmental initiatives. Its 2007 “Elsk Hjertet” (“Love the Heart”) campaign, created with the Danish Heart Association, committed one Danish krone to the association for every item sold from the Plaisir skin-care range. The campaign was planned to continue through 2012. Matas has also faced regulatory and reputational issues associated with the sale of chemicals and medicines. It withdrew certain oxidizing chemicals after they were reportedly used in attempts to make improvised explosive devices, and it became involved in a 2011 dispute with the Danish pharmacy sector over whether it should be allowed to dispense prescription-only medicines. The pharmacy industry argued that investor pressure and profit motives were influencing the campaign. Despite these controversies, Matas remained a major Danish specialist retailer focused on beauty, health, personal care, advice, and selected household products.

Matas was founded on 13 November 1949 under a name abbreviated from Materialisternes Aktieselskab. Its origins lie in the Danish materialist or drysalter tradition, a type of specialist shop that sold personal-care goods, health-related products, household chemicals, and other practical items. The company began with an investment of 14,000 Danish kroner. Its first financial year ended with a small deficit, described in the company’s historical account as the only deficit in its history. The retailer’s early development was closely connected to Danish regulation of medicines and pharmacy sales. In 1951, Matas challenged the pharmacy monopoly by selling vitamin C tablets. Authorities treated the sale as unlawful, and the dispute received public attention. Matas brought a lawsuit, and after six years the legal discussion distinguished a number of products sold through pharmacies and drug stores as dietary supplements rather than medicinal drugs. This dispute helped establish Matas as an advocate of broader retail access to health products. Matas began developing its own branded merchandise during the 1950s. It introduced its first logo in 1956 and started working with Steins Laboratory in 1957. At the same time, it created quality rules for products carrying the Matas name. In 1958, the company produced its first advertising paper, distributing approximately 700,000 copies. The publication supported a more coordinated national identity and promoted the chain’s assortment to Danish consumers. The store network expanded substantially during the following decades. In 1967, Matas had 150 Danish stores, and by 1974 the total was just under 200. Between 1967 and 1988, the business added products and sub-brands and developed a blue-and-white design scheme. That color combination became a defining element of Matas stores and continued to influence the chain’s exterior and interior presentation. In 1989, the company marked its fortieth anniversary and received several Danish business and marketing awards. The 1990s brought organizational and geographic developments. Matas established the Matas Environmental Fund in 1994. In 1997, its main administration moved from Farum to Allerød. For its fiftieth anniversary in 1999, the company opened two stores in Malmö, marking an attempt to extend the format beyond Denmark. The expansion did not change the company’s central identity as a Danish retailer, and Denmark remained its principal market. Regulatory liberalization later broadened the chain’s health assortment. In 2001, changes to Danish rules on the sale of over-the-counter medicines allowed Matas to offer a wider variety of non-prescription products. The chain continued to combine these products with cosmetics, personal hygiene, vitamins, herbal remedies, household goods, and chemical products. Its private-label lines became an important part of the assortment, alongside nationally and internationally sourced beauty brands. Matas reached its 292nd store in 2006. In May of the same year, it was sold to CVC Capital Partners, an investment company. The transaction marked a change in ownership after decades of development as a Danish retail chain. Matas subsequently continued to operate as a specialist retailer rather than abandoning its traditional drug-store and beauty focus. The company’s public profile also included social and environmental activity. The Matas Environmental Fund represented a formal environmental initiative, while the 2007 Elsk Hjertet campaign with the Danish Heart Association connected sales of Plaisir skin-care products with donations for cardiovascular research, prevention, and patient support. The campaign was intended to run until 2012. Matas encountered safety and regulatory controversy in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Some chemicals sold through the chain were reportedly acquired for use in improvised explosive devices, leading the company to stop selling certain products, including chemicals such as potassium nitrate and potassium permanganate. The company also entered a public conflict with the Danish pharmacy industry in 2011 after advocating the right to dispense prescription-only medicines. These episodes reflected the tension between Matas’s historic role as a broad-access drug store and the legal boundaries governing medicines and hazardous chemicals. Across its history, Matas has remained defined by the combination of retail reach, beauty and personal-care expertise, health-related products, private-label merchandise, and advice. Its Danish store network and the continued association of the brand with practical guidance have preserved the central proposition expressed by its long-standing motto: good advice makes the difference.

1. 2006Store network reaches 292 locations and ownership changes

   Matas opens its 292nd store and is sold to CVC Capital Partners in May.

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2. 2001Over-the-counter medicine assortment expands

   Changes in Danish law allow Matas to offer a broader selection of over-the-counter products.

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3. 1999Stores open in Malmö

   Matas marks its fiftieth anniversary by opening two stores in Malmö, Sweden.

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4. 1997Administration moves to Allerød

   Matas relocates its main administration from Farum to Allerød.

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5. 1994Matas Environmental Fund is established

   The company creates the Matas Environmental Fund as part of its environmental activities.

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6. 1974Store network approaches 200 locations

   The Danish chain reaches just under 200 stores.

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7. 1967Store network reaches 150 locations

   Matas is reported to operate 150 stores in Denmark.

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8. 1958First Matas advertising paper

   The retailer publishes its first advertising paper, with an initial circulation of approximately 700,000 copies.

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9. 1957Laboratory partnership and private-label standards

   Matas begins working with Steins Laboratory and establishes quality rules for products sold under its own name.

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10. 1956First Matas logo

    Matas presents its first logo as it develops a more unified brand identity.

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11. 1951Matas challenges the pharmacy monopoly

    The company begins selling vitamin C tablets, triggering a legal dispute over pharmacy control of medicines and vitamin products.

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12. 1949Matas is founded

    Materialisternes Aktieselskab, later known as Matas, is founded in Denmark on 13 November.

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A Danish specialist retailer combining beauty and personal-care products with health goods, household items, private-label products, and service-oriented advice. The brand’s traditional positioning emphasizes knowledgeable guidance and broad everyday access to products historically associated with drug stores and materialist shops.

• Matas private-label productsBeauty and personal care1950

  Matas has developed products under its own name since the 1950s. The range is supported by formal quality rules and, from 1957, cooperation with Steins Laboratory. Its private-label assortment forms part of the retailer’s broader offer in cosmetics, skin care, personal hygiene, and related everyday-care categories.

• PlaisirSkin care

  Plaisir is a Matas skin-care range and was the central product line in the Elsk Hjertet campaign launched with the Danish Heart Association in 2007. Products from the range generated a charitable donation per item sold during the campaign period.

• Cosmetics and make-upBeauty1949

  Cosmetics are a central part of Matas’s retail assortment. The category includes make-up and color cosmetics such as lipstick and rouge, together with associated beauty products sold through the chain’s Danish stores.

• Health and vitamin productsHealth products1951

  Matas sells vitamin supplements, herbal remedies, liquorice-root products, and other health-related goods. Its participation in the debate over vitamin sales and later expansion into over-the-counter products are important parts of the category’s history within the business.

• Household chemicals and goodsHousehold products1949

  Reflecting the traditional drysalter format, Matas stores have sold household goods and chemical products in addition to beauty and health merchandise. The chemical assortment has at times been restricted because of concerns about misuse of certain oxidizing substances.

• 2007Elsk Hjertet

  Denmark

  Matas partnered with the Danish Heart Association on a cardiovascular-health campaign. The retailer pledged to donate one Danish krone for every Plaisir skin-care item sold.

  Outcome. The campaign was scheduled to run through 2012; the supplied reference does not specify the final amount raised or a later evaluation.

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• 2011Campaign for prescription-medicine dispensing rightsOther

  Matas sought a role in dispensing prescription-only medicines, challenging the traditional division between pharmacies and other retailers.

  What changed. The company campaigned publicly for the right to dispense prescription medication.

  Aftermath. The Danish pharmacy industry opposed the campaign and argued that Matas was under pressure from investors focused on profit generation. The supplied reference does not state the final regulatory outcome.

  • Danish pharmacy industry — Pharmacy representatives opposed Matas’s proposal and attributed the initiative partly to investor-driven commercial pressure.
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• 2008Restriction of sales of certain chemicalsStrategy

  Some chemicals sold in the chain were reportedly purchased for use in making improvised explosive devices, particularly around New Year celebrations.

  What changed. Matas stopped selling certain chemicals, including products associated with potassium nitrate and potassium permanganate.

  Aftermath. The reference states that potassium permanganate was again sold in some stores by 2008 under a different brand, but it does not describe a comprehensive later policy.

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• 2006Sale to CVC Capital PartnersM&A

  Matas had expanded to a 292-store Danish network by 2006.

  What changed. The business was sold to investment firm CVC Capital Partners in May.

  Aftermath. The transaction transferred ownership of the established Danish retail chain to a financial investor. The supplied reference does not provide subsequent ownership details.

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• 2001Expansion into over-the-counter productsStrategy

  Changes in Danish legislation altered the rules governing retail sales of over-the-counter medicines.

  What changed. Matas began offering a wider variety of non-prescription products.

  Aftermath. The change broadened Matas’s health-related assortment beyond vitamins, herbal remedies, and similar products.

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• 1951Challenge to pharmacy-controlled vitamin salesOther

  Danish rules dating from 1929 restricted the sale of medicines and vitamin supplements to pharmacies. Matas sought to sell vitamin C tablets through its stores.

  What changed. Matas continued the dispute through litigation after authorities treated the sale as illegal.

  Aftermath. After six years, the legal discussion recognized that at least some products sold by pharmacies and drug stores were dietary supplements rather than medicinal drugs.

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• 2011Matas campaigns for the right to dispense prescription medicines

  Matas became involved in a dispute with Denmark’s pharmacy industry after campaigning for authorization to dispense prescription-only medicines. Pharmacy representatives opposed the proposal and linked it to investor pressure.

  RegulationOther
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• 2008Matas restricts sales of chemicals associated with improvised explosive devices

  The retailer had stopped selling certain chemicals after they were reportedly purchased for use in making improvised explosive devices. Potassium permanganate and potassium nitrate were among the chemicals discussed in connection with the restrictions.

  RegulationOther
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• 2007Matas launches the Elsk Hjertet heart-health campaign

  Matas partnered with the Danish Heart Association and pledged a one-Danish-krone donation for every item sold from its Plaisir skin-care line. The campaign was scheduled to run through 2012.

  Campaign
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• 2006Matas sold to CVC Capital Partners

  After reaching a 292-store network, Matas was sold to investment firm CVC Capital Partners in May 2006.

  M&A
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• 1956Matas introduces its first logo and formalizes product-quality standards

  The company presented its first logo and subsequently began working with Steins Laboratory while establishing quality rules for Matas-branded products.

  Product launchOther
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• 1951Matas challenges Denmark’s pharmacy monopoly over vitamin sales

  Matas began selling vitamin C tablets in opposition to rules that reserved the sale of medicines and vitamin supplements for pharmacies. The dispute led to police involvement, litigation, and a later finding that some products classified as pharmacy goods were dietary supplements rather than medicinal drugs.

  LawsuitRegulation
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1. Matas (drug store)