Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,253 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. Super-Pharm uses the same logo as Shoppers Drug Mart, created by the artist Sylvain Liu. It also uses some of the same private-label brands, such as Life Brand and Quo. In 2013, Brampton-based Loblaw Companies acquired Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation for $12.4 billion in cash and stock.
Video Shoppers Drug Mart
History
At the age of twenty, Murray Koffler inherited two Koffler's Drugs pharmacies, first at 376 College Street and second on Bathurst Street north of St. Clair Avenue West, then opened a suburban location at Don Mills Centre on the advice of E.P. Taylor.. By 1962, Koffler's had grown to a chain of 17 pharmacies, which he renamed "Shoppers Drug Mart" in the 1970s. The first store named "Shoppers Drug Mart" was at Shoppers World Danforth from which it derived the name.
Koffler revamped the concept of the 20th 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. In 1968, Shoppers Drug Mart grew to 52 stores in Ontario by merging with 33 Plaza Drugstores. In 1971, Shoppers Drug Mart purchased 87 Cunningham Drug Stores in British Columbia and Alberta. The first Pharmaprix store opened in 1972 in Québec. In 1974, Lord's Supervalue Pharmacies 26 stores in Atlantic Canada joined the Shoppers Drug Mart family. In 1986 Shoppers Drug Mart bought Super X Drugstores, an Ontario-area chain of 72 stores. In 1992, the company bought up the Western Canadian chain Pinder's Drugs, and followed this in 1995 with a chain of 24 Bi-Rite Drug Stores based in western Canada. Also in 1995, Shoppers Drug Mart acquired 135 Big V Drugstores. In 1996, the first Shoppers Home Health Care store opened.
When Koffler retired in 1986, he sold the chain to Imasco Limited. That same year, David Bloom, a former Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist, was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Bloom would lead the organization until retiring in 2001, having devoted a total of 35 years of service to the Company. During David Bloom's tenure, Shoppers doubled its number of stores, quadrupled its sales and increased profit ten-fold. David Bloom also launched the Shoppers Optimum loyalty program in 2000 which quickly became the largest and most successful loyalty program in Canada. The Optimum program currently boasts over 10 million members in Canada.
In 2000, after Imasco Limited 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.
In 2001, Glenn Murphy was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. In November of that same year, Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation was publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
In 2002, Shoppers Drug Mart introduced its first large format stores, with more space, a sleek and modern look, and a stronger focus on cosmetic products. Typically the cosmetics section faces the entrance, with the pharmacy counter at the back and a convenience food section, called Food Essentials, near the front cash. In most suburban areas, this new format takes the form of new or relocated store, typically stand-alone "big-box" locations as opposed to smaller mall or strip-mall locations.
In 2003, Shoppers Drug Mart introduced its first beautyBOUTIQUE, setting a new standard for the industry with its open-sell display and unbiased approach to customer service in prestige cosmetic retailing. Today, there are 364 beautyBOUTIQUES across the country.
On April 26, 2007, the 1000th Shoppers Drug Mart store opened in Toronto, Ontario.
In recent years, the chain has been moving to decrease its reliance on pharmaceutical sales and increase sales of what it calls "front of store" items, such as food and cosmetics. The store claims that in 2012, it increased its market share in food and that 51% of purchases now come from non-pharmaceutical items.
Acquisition by Loblaw Companies
On July 15, 2013, Loblaw Companies announced that it would acquire Shoppers Drug Mart for $12.4 billion, pending shareholder and regulatory approval. The deal was approved by the Competition Bureau on March 21, 2014, and completed March 28, 2014.
As a result of the merger, the chain began to develop synergies with Loblaw's grocery stores. Most prominently, Shopper's Drug Mart locations began to stock products from Loblaw's President's Choice store brand; likewise, Loblaw stores could now stock Shoppers' Life brand products.
Maps Shoppers Drug Mart
Shoppers Optimum
Shoppers Optimum is a loyalty program used by the Shoppers Drug Mart chain. Members collect Shoppers Optimum points that may be redeemed on purchases within the store. Shoppers Optimum members receive 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 Shoppers gift cards). Events for bonus point collecting and/or redemption (e.g. 20x the points, bonus redemption) are regularly held.
On November 8, 2017, Loblaw announced plans to merge the program with the chain's PC Plus program as PC Optimum, effective February 1, 2018. All existing Optimum members will be automatically transitioned to the program (except in Quebec, where this must be done manually before May 7, 2018).
Advertising
- "You're Gonna Be Happy."--Early - mid 1980s
- "Everything you Want in a Drugstore"--1980s and the early-1990s
- "Take Care of Yourself"--2000 to 2002
- "Your Life Store"--2002 to present (French variant: Vive la vie!, i.e. "Long live life!"), to go with its own featured "Life" trade brand.
- "Gifts Made Easy"--holiday campaign, 2006 to present
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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