Pushing the envelope in food, beauty

It has been a year since Loblaw Co. completed its acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart in a $12.4 billion deal that created a retailing powerhouse.

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Shoppers Drug Mart is tapping into Loblaw’s strengths and expertise as evidenced by the expansion of its fresh foods pilot. Since October, six Shoppers Drug Mart stores in Toronto have been piloting an improved convenience food offering, including fresh produce, meats and prepared meals. The pilot is expanding to Regina, where eight Shoppers Drug Marts are being renovated by May.



Also at the front end, Shoppers Drug Mart continues to push the envelope in beauty with its enhanced beautyBOUTIQUE. In August, the company unveiled its fourth location.



Housing 21 prestige brands, the beautyBOUTIQUE features new fixtures, digital signage, enhanced fragrance and dermatology areas.



Pharmacy, however, remains an extremely critical component of its business.



Among the more recent developments is that Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacists in Alberta can now offer flu screenings in store — a first for Canadian pharmacies. Patients can now get screened for influenza A or B using a new flu screening tool available exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart. Results are available 10 minutes after the screening is administered. In Alberta, many pharmacists now have additional prescribing authorization, which gives them the ability to prescribe treatment depending on screening results.

To help curb medication errors and reduce hospital readmissions, five Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, teamed up with Health Sciences North/Horizon Santé-Nord to launch a pilot project. Patients who are being discharged from North/Horizon Santé-Nord are advised to have a consultation with their Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist to discuss all the medications they are currently taking, in addition to new medications prescribed.