Shoppers Drug Mart: Not Your Average Drug Store
Loading ...Throughout the first part of the twentieth century, drug stores in North American were generally small pharmacies that sold health-related products, and, if lucky, had a lunch counter or soda fountain. In many towns and cities, these lunch counters/soda fountains have long gone, and what remained are a bunch of standard stores. Quite boring, no?
This is exactly what makes Shoppers Drug Mart (TSX: SC) different from other chains, especially in the past ten years. It is more than a standard drugstore, but a lifestyle shop. Many of the newly renovated Shoppers Drug Marts not only carry the standard products of health and drugstore make-up, but basic groceries and higher end cosmetics as well. In the past few years, Shoppers Drug Mart has gone beyond Maybelline, Covergirl and Revlon and introduced brands such as Smashbox, Benefit and Lancome which are generally found in beauty and department stores only. Many stores also have convenience store products.
The chain itself was founded in 1962 in Toronto and soon expanded across the country. Currently, there are over 1,000 in Canada under the Shoppers name. In Quebec, the chain’s name is Pharmaprix.
Shoppers Drug Mart has several private-label brands. Perhaps the most well-known is Life. Life brand products include shampoos, health and baby-related items. Shoppers is also known for its loyalty program, Optimum, which made its debut in 1999. A dollar of purchases (with the exception of lottery tickets, prescription drugs, Canada Post items among other things) is worth ten points and customers can save points to redeem on most products sold at the store.
Most recently, Shoppers Drug Mart launched a new brand of stores, called Murale. Similar to the European-based beauty products chain Sephora, Murale will specialize in higher end beauty products. This is actually not totally new for shoppers. A beauty concept store was something that Shoppers Drug Mart experimented with earlier in the decade. Unlike regular Shoppers Drug Marts, these stores did not have a prescription counter, nor did they sell medication of any kind. Instead, they focused on cosmetics, creams and cleansers. But after a few years, all of these stores were converted to regular Shoppers Drug Mart stores.
On Tuesday, November 18, Shoppers Drug Mart opened at 45.28 and closed at 44.04. Its 52-week range was between 41.50 and 58.23.
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What do you guys think of the Murale concept?
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