Yup, actually dm is short for "Drogeriemarkt", which could be translated as "drug market". And yes, due to legislation in Germany, they can only sell things like vitamin supplements, "real" drugs (even non-prescription ones) can only be sold in pharmacies.
> "Drogeriemarkt", which could be translated as "drug market".
One has to distinguish between "[die] Drogerie" (more explizit term: "[das] Drogeriefachgeschäft") und "[der] Drogeriemarkt" (in particular in Austria and Switzerland this is strongly distinguished).
Drogerien are specialized shops with well-trained salespeople (Drogist: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drogist). Drogeriemärkte, on the other hand, are convenience stores that sell cleaning agents, cosmetics, nutritional supplements, ... Because in the latter, prizes are typically much cheaper, they replaced Drogerien in many cases.
My grandfather was a "Drogist" and his job was not to sell drugs, but anything pharmacy/chemistry related: "I got that oily dirt on my jacket" - "Say no more, I mix you the perfect soap for this". That feels quite the same as dm/Rossmann/.. from a customer point of view.
The modern word Droge/drug does not mean what it used to mean.
In Spain in a "droguería" you would find something quite similar to a DM: cleaning supplies, some chemicals, personal hygiene and cosmetic products and the like. A "drogaria" in Portugal probably would a bit more similar like a hardware store, but also in the theme...
Yeah, it's a very historical thing dating back from times of Marco Polo, the Silk Road, and the likes.
In France we have "pharmacie", "droguerie", "épicerie", and "quincaillerie".
- "pharmacie" is the regulated medical thing, historically it was "apothicaire" (apothecary)
- "quincaillerie" is where you get hardware ("quincaille") like screws, tubes, metal parts, and whatnot, and by extension, tools. By extension "quincaille" coloquially refers to small, cheap stuff in a derogatory way (akin to "lemon" but for small things).
- "droguerie" is where you get various general usage, non-medical stuff, from hygiene to ; it is part of "épicerie", where it used to be "all manners of drugs sold under the merchand guild, from dye pigments to perfume, hygiene products and cosmetics, as well as medicine". In the XVIII century the "drugs" term largely meant "things of small value that you can put on the market" and "mixes for which only artists and craftsmen hold the secret".
With this definition you can see how it grew from "épicerie" (=> "spicery", a shop for spice) from the economy market of bringing such goods from specific countries like North Africa, Middle East, India, China and whatnot. Pigments, spice, and medicine were obtained from foreign sources and highly sought after. Of course this could involve a deal of mysticism and exotic mystery, a perfect recipe for snake-oil medicine and once medical goods began to be regulated it is left with "alternative" medicinal things.
- "épicerie" used to cover all of the above, but today it's your corner-shop that has a bit of everything and is open most of the time to 24/7 (bordering on the illegal, or outright skirting opening hour laws) and saves you in a pinch. These businesses are often held by people of above areas ascendance, not really surprising given the history of it.
That would be more or less the same than in Spanish:
- "Farmacia" for the regulated drugs
- "Quincalla" is cheap hardware that you could find on a flea market or maybe a corner-shop. Old terms for places that would sell that kind of stuff would be "quincallería" or "chamarilería", but today you would probably go to a "bazar".
- And, as I anticipated, the "opens till late and has a bit of everything" store would be a "bazar", although sometimes is referred using the nationality or origin of the managers (usually from South Asia or China, at least on Spain)
There's also "parapharmacie" which sell things like lotions, shampoo, and other hygiene and beauty supplies. (Though not necessarily medicines, although some (most?) will also have that capacity.)
Even old American writings talk of “the chemist” which is clearly an early pharmacist who has various chemicals he can mix to make medicines or house cleaning supplies.
Interesting, I never made the connection. In my language "drogéria" is a store like dm - place to get cosmetics, perfumes, cleaning supplies and other similar chemicals. No relation to pharmacies ("lekáreň" => "liek" = drug).
