Shoppers Drug Mart:
Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation (TSX: SC) is Canada's largest pharmacy chain with more than 1000 stores operating under the names Shoppers Drug Mart in nine provinces and two territories and Pharmaprix in Quebec.
Founded by Murray Koffler, the Koffler family still retains ownership of the Super Pharm pharmacy which is in Israel, Poland, and China, and uses the same logo as Shoppers Drug Mart and some of the same private-label brands, such as Life and LifeStyle.
[edit] Overview
Shoppers Drug Marts are full-service pharmacies, located in prime locations in every province and two territories, and the chain claims to be the most convenient retail chain in Canada.
Core pharmacy services such as prescription dispensing and patient counselling are operated under the "HealthWatch" sub-brand. Most Shoppers locations also sell over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, cosmetics and fragrances – including several high-end "prestige" brands – and other everyday-use general merchandise. The chain has a number of private labels, most visibly their flagship Life brand for everyday products ranging from drugs to food. Other private label brands unique to Shoppers include Quo (cosmetics), get (stationery), and Nativa (organic foods). As the company states, the stores combine "Health, Beauty and Convenience" in their design. Newer format stores include at least five food aisles, a healthy living section, a cosmetics centre, a Carlton Cards aisle, an Easypix digital centre/photolab and a full selection of over-the-counter drugs and health products. Some stores have a full service Canada Post office.
[edit] History
At the age of twenty, Murray Koffler inherited two Koffler's Drugs pharmacies in suburban Toronto (one in the Don Mills Centre shopping mall). By 1962, Koffler's had grown to a chain of 17 pharmacies, which he renamed "Shoppers Drug Mart".
Koffler revamped the concept of the twentieth century “drug store” in Canada by removing the soda fountain and emphasizing the dispensary, requiring his pharmacists to wear starched white coats as a symbol of their professionalism. In the mid-1950s, he began acquiring other drug stores and organized them around a then-novel franchising concept: pharmacist “associates” would own and operate their own stores within the system and share in the profits; among the more notable drug store chains acquired by Shoppers Drug Mart under Koffler was the British Columbia-based Cunningham Drug Stores Ltd., which was absorbed into Shoppers in 1970. When Koffler retired in 1983, he sold the chain to Imasco, formerly Imperial Tobacco, at that time Canada's largest tobacco company.
Between 1983 and 2001, David Bloom was the CEO. His leadership prompted the creation of store-branded trademarks including HealthWatch, PharmExpert, Life Brand, Quo, Rialto and Shoppers Optimum (see below). Each of these have become Canadian household names.
In 2000, after Imperial Tobacco had been taken over by BAT Industries (formerly British American Tobacco), Shoppers was sold to a consortium of institutional investors including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Bain Capital, Inc., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, Charlesbank Capital Partners, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, CIBC Capital Partners, and Shoppers Drug Mart's senior management and pharmacist/owners. Since then, the chain has gone public through an initial public offering.
Shortly after the 2000 takeover, Shoppers revamped its brand and created a new concept store with more space, a sleek and modern look, and a stronger focus on higher-margin cosmetic products. Typically the cosmetics section faces the entrance, with the pharmacy counter at the back and a large convenience foods section near the checkout counters. In most suburban areas, this new format takes the form of new or relocated Shoppers Drug Marts, typically stand-alone "big-box" locations as opposed to smaller mall or strip-mall locations. In 2004, Shoppers started carrying Apple iPods and accessories. They also carried digital cameras. Shoppers stopped carrying Apple iPods in 2006 after Apple announced they were unable to supply the demand. Shoppers Drug Mart Easypix Digital Centres now carry Sandisk MP3 players.
On April 27, 2007, Shoppers Drug Mart #1000 opened in Toronto, Ontario.
In 2007, the chain has run in to some difficulty while trying to establish itself as a "Big Box" chain in urban neighbourhoods. Current plans to evict local residents and demolish the greater part of a funeral home has galvanized local opposition in the Greektown area of Toronto, who fear that a "Walmart" type store will threaten the fabric of the area. City Councillor Case Ootes and the local BIA council(Business Improvement Association)have come under particular criticism for the lack of consultation with local residents. [2]
[edit] Shoppers Optimum & Optimum PLUS
The Shoppers Optimum Card is a fidelity program that is exclusive to Shoppers Drug Mart and Home Health Care stores. Any customer can apply for one and can then collect points to eventually redeem them in exchange of a credit for almost anything in the store. A customer receives 10 points for every dollar spent at the store. This excludes the purchase of lottery, tobacco products, transit tickets and passes, prescription items, any products containing codeine, Canada Post products and gift cards (except SDM ones). Sometimes, Shoppers Drug Mart organizes special point events where customers receive 20 times the regular points when they spend a certain amount. In 2006, the company introduced Secret Point Events. Optimum Card holders receive in the mail a flyer announcing the secret event prior to the announced date. They bring that flyer in on the secret day to obtain 20 times the regular points. Only online registered card holders receive the flyer. Other drug stores copied Shoppers Drug Mart by adopting their own fidelity program. Shortly after Shoppers Drug Mart introduced the Optimum Card, Rexall PharmaPlus started accepting the Air Miles card (only in Ontario stores).
Beginning Fall 2008, SDM began a supplementary program called Shoppers Optimum PLUS where loyal members of the store (defined as those who earned 10,000 regular points in a calendar year) enjoy additional benefits such as special points redemption schemes and more bonus points opportunities.
[edit] Financial data
Fiscal 2004 system sales: $6.471 billion CAD
Fiscal 2004 EBITDA: $636 million
Drug store sales: $1001 per square foot
Number of Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores: 1001 in Canada
Number of Home Health Care stores: 49
[edit] Board of directors
- David Williams, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation
- Jurgen Schreiber, President & Chief Executive Officer, Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation
- Shan Atkins, Managing Director, Chetrum Capital, LLC
- Krystyna T. Hoeg, Corporate Director
- Holge Kluge, Corporate Director
- Gaetan Lussier, Corporate Director
- The Honourable David Peterson, P.C., Q.C., Chairman & Senior Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
- Dr. Martha Piper, Corporate Director
- Derek Ridout, Corporate Director
- Leslee J. Thompson, Vice President, Health System Strategies, Medtronic of Canada
[edit] Management
- Jürgen Schreiber, Chief Executive Officer
- George Halatsis, Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer
- Timothy McAleece, Executive Vice-President, Operations
- Richard Alderson, Senior Vice-President, Legal Affairs, General Counsel & Secretary
- Erik Botines, Senior Vice-President, Peers Relations
- John Caplice, Senior Vice-President, Treasurer & Investor Relations
- Gary Chin, Senior Vice President
- Virginia Cirocco, Senior Vice-President, Pharmacy
- Terry Landry, Senior Vice-President, Operations, Pharmaprix
- Brad Lukow, Senior Vice-President, Finance
- Joseph Magnacca, Senior Vice-President, Merchandising & Category Management
- Geoffrey Martin, Senior Vice-President, Business Development
- Loreen Paananen, Senior Vice-President, Retail Development
- Susanne Priest, Senior Vice-President, Shoppers Health Care Division
- Bobbi Reinholdt, Senior Vice-President & Chief Information Officer
- Mary-Alice Vuicic, Senior Vice-President, Human Resources & Organizational Development
- Kevin Whibbs, Senior Vice-President, Logistics & Supply Chain
- TBA, Senior Vice President, Marketing
[edit] Advertising
- "Everything you Want in a Drugstore" -- 1980s and the early-1990s
- "Take Care of Yourself" -- 2000 to 2002
- "Your Life Store" -- 2002 to present
- "Gifts Made Easy" -- 2006 holiday campaign
Shoppers and Pharmaprix former logos (also with red letters on a white background)
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Old Shoppers Drug Mart logo on the signage of a Toronto store.
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[edit] In popular culture
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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