The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 264 No 7097 p751
May 20, 2000 Business

Moss to trial "total health" concept

Moss Pharmacy is planning to open a concept store to test its new "total health" trading format. The format will include comprehensive ranges of health care products, counselling and consultation rooms and "the fastest possible dispensing service". Speaking at a press briefing in London on May 12, Mrs Sue Rockhill (marketing manager, Moss) said that the new format would be used to offer "an alternative retail position" to other pharmacies in the area where it was located. The interior layout would feature curved shelving and counters to create "health care zones" which would encourage customers to browse and ask questions. Touchscreen and video displays would be installed alongside some of the products. A wide range of home health products and alternative medicines would be stocked Mrs Rockhill added that some of these ideas had been tried out in other pharmacies, but "we will do all of these properly within this format". The location for the concept store has not yet been finalised. It is expected to be trading by the end of the year. The pilot version of Moss's "traditional" format, situated at Northallerton, North Yorkshire (PJ, December 11, 1999, p938), has been "an outstanding success" and a further 10 branches are to be converted this year. Some elements of the format, principally displays of alternative medicines, will be used in the main chain of pharmacies.

An artist's impression of the Moss "total health" pharmacy

Mr Barry Andrews (managing director, Moss) said that the future for community pharmacy, as he saw it, lay in becoming more customer-focused. Pharmacy needed to move further away from its focus on products and to become more patient-led. Medicines management was both the way forward and a huge opportunity for pharmacy.
Looking ahead, Mr Andrews said that Moss was linking all of its 686 pharmacies via an ISDN network to enhance the speed of operation of its intranet and e-mail system. A new retail ordering system would allow store specific planograms to be developed.
The company has opened its first staff induction centre at East Kilbride in Scotland. The centre features a replica pharmacy and shop area. It will be used for training all new employees.
Moss is turning to South Africa to help it over the manpower problems caused by the imminent fallow year. Around 70 pharmacists are to be recruited there this year.
Mr Malcolm Bayly (development director, Moss) described Moss's plans for overseas expansion through Alliance Unichem Retail International (AURI). The company currently has eight pharmacies and a warehouse in Rimini, Italy, obtained when the municipality part-privatised its pharmacy chain. Mr Bayly said that more of Italy's 1,500 municipal pharmacies were to be privatised this year, including 80 in Milan.
AURI recently signed an agreement, together with its joint venture partner Galenica, to develop 80 pharmacies with a health and beauty emphasis for the Swiss Co-operative grocery chain. AURI is aiming to have 150 pharmacies of its own in Switzerland in five years. These would be a mixture of wholly owned, franchised and "virtual chain" (independents trading under a single group name) pharmacies. The company is also working on a concept of franchised pharmacies in France to counter a perceived threat from the expansion of buying groups into "banner chains".
Mr Andrews added that while British pharmacists tended to admire the professional look of continential pharmacies, pharmacists from overseas admired the informal and accessible model of community pharmacy practice in the United Kingdom.

Moss buys Scholl stores Moss Pharmacy has acquired 57 Scholl foot care and chiropody stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland from SSL International Plc for around £3m. Moss will run the Scholl outlets as a stand-alone business unit and will pay SSL royalties based on the sales of Scholl products.