New leadership steers the helm

Retail pharmacy is becoming increasingly global. Bi-Lo Holdings in March brought turnaround expert Ian McLeod to the helm. McLeod, who also has experience in the United Kingdom and Germany, most recently served as managing director for Australia’s 2,200 Coles food, liquor and convenience stores, including more than 760 full-service supermarkets, growing sales from $23.2 billion to $35.2 billion, doubling profits over six years and outperforming the market for 20 consecutive quarters.

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And now he will try his hand at improving Bi-Lo’s business. Last year, Bi-Lo completed its 2013 acquisition of nearly 165 Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid’s stores from Delhaize, and over the course of the year converted those banners to Winn-Dixie, BI-LO and Harveys. Today, Bi-Lo Holdings operates approximately 800 supermarkets, including 527 pharmacies.



Bi-Lo Holdings’ pharmacy operations are performing well under the guidance of John Fegan, Bi-Lo Holdings’ VP pharmacy. The grocer last year implemented its Refill Sync program and now boasts more than 40,000 enrollees. “Our pharmacists did a great job of talking to the patients we serve,” Fegan said. “The average patient has about five prescriptions that they put into this program. The goal is to improve the overall health of the patients that we serve by having them be compliant and persistent on the medications they’re supposed to be taking.”



“It’s a win-win,” Fegan added. “We as a company win because it improves our bottom line, [and] the patients win because their health is being improved by the fact that they’re taking their prescriptions.”