The
Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 266 No 7131 p75
£2.6m refurbishment for Lloyds Pharmacy flagship
Superdrug for sale?
Unichem to close Walthamstow depot
Superdrug.com launches postal prescription service
The flagship of the Lloyds Pharmacy group, John Bell & Croyden of Wigmore
Street, London, is to undergo a £2.6m refurbishment over the next six months.
The refurbishment will see an expansion of the store’s surgical department and
more space given over to skincare and vitamin product displays, but pharmacy
will remain at the heart of the business. Following refurbishment, staff numbers
will increase from 80 to around 100.
John Bell & Croyden was formed in 1908 by the merger of two long-established
retail chemist businesses - John Bell & Co, founded in 1798 by John Bell, and
Croyden & Co, established by one of John Bell’s former assistants, Charles Croyden,
in 1832. John Bell was the father of Jacob Bell, a founder of the Pharmaceutical
Society and the first editor of The Pharmaceutical Journal. The combined
business moved to its present location at 50-54 Wigmore Street in 1912. It was
acquired by Savory & Moore in 1928, subsequently becoming part of the Lloyds
Chemists (now Lloyds Pharmacy) chain. The store is located close to Harley Street
and has a large clientele of private patients and overseas visitors.
Although John Bell & Croyden is owned by Lloyds Pharmacy, it is managed separately
from the national chain. It is part of a special businesses group which also
includes pharmacies in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland.
Mr Fred Taylor, general manager for special businesses, showed The Journal
round the store on January 11.
Mr Taylor said that although John Bell & Croyden was a successful business,
turning over about £10m a year, changes were needed to bring it up to date.
These included more modern staff facilities and office space, improved access
for customers with disabilities through automatic doors and a new lift, and
changes to the amount of space allocated to different types of merchandise.
New features to be added to the store included display sets, taking the form
of a bathroom, bedroom and living room, for the surgical department where various
disability aids could be demonstrated before sale, and a nail bar which could
be used by customers waiting for the pharmacy.
In the pharmacy area the counter would be curved and broken up to allow pharmacists
to come out from behind it. Pharmacy medicines would be displayed in glass cabinets
in front of the dispensary.
Mr Taylor added that the company was considering opening more stores under the
John Bell & Croyden name. These could either feature the full range of products
stocked by the current branch or parts of it (such as a 24-hour pharmacy service).
Branches might be opened in the United Kingdom or overseas.
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Health and beauty retailer Superdrug, which includes a chain of pharmacies,
may be on the verge of being sold to an overseas pharmacy chain, according to
press reports.
Superdrug’s parent company, Kingfisher Plc, said in a trading statement issued
on January 16 that it was still planning to demerge its general merchandise
group (Superdrug and Woolworths) later this year. The demerged group would then
become a separately quoted stock.
However, a spokesman for Kingfisher told The Journal that the company
had received several expressions of interest in Superdrug. The company had a
duty to its shareholders to consider these but, at present, it was not in talks
with any other company. He still believed that the demerger was the most likely
outcome.
Kingfisher said that like-for-like sales at Superdrug had risen by 5.6 per cent
in the nine weeks to December 30, 2000. Total sales for the period were £205.5m.
According to the Financial Times on January 15, the leading contender
to buy Superdrug is the Canadian pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart, which is
reported to have offered Kingfisher between £300m and £350m for Superdrug. Other
transatlantic chains, such as Wal-Mart, Walgreens and CVS, may also be interested
in breaking into the United Kingdom market.
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Unichem Ltd is to close its depot at Priestly Road, Walthamstow, London, at
the end of June with the loss of 116 jobs, the company announced on January
12.
Unichem said that the Walthamstow branch was nearing the end of its useful life
and was not suitable for upgrading with automated picking equipment. Existing
customers would be served from Unichem’s depots at Letchworth, Croydon and Chessington
where automated picking was in operation. Letchworth already services evening
and weekend orders for Walthamstow customers.
The 35 drivers working at Walthamstow are to be offered transfers to the company’s
other branches. The remaining 116 staff are to be made redundant.
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Superdrug.com, Superdrug’s online pharmacy business, has started a postal
repeat prescription service as a precursor to electronic transfer of prescriptions
(ETP).
Mr Barry Simner (general manager, Superdrug.com) told The Journal on
January 16 that the Government had indicated that it wanted to see internet
pharmacy services and ETP established. The postal service allowed Superdrug
to work out its procedures ahead of a full electronic system.
The service was advertised in the January/February issue of Balance,
the magazine of the British Diabetic Association. Patients are invited to send
their prescriptions to Superdrug in a postage-paid envelope after completing
the necessary declaration on the back of the prescription. They are asked to
supply a telephone number so that payment details can be arranged. Medicines
are then dispensed and delivered, free of charge, within 48 hours. Mr Simner
said that medicines were dispensed and delivered either from central London
branches of Superdrug or from local branches.
Patients are also invited to set up a repeat prescription collection and delivery
service from their doctor’s surgery.
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