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spmarshall
Guest
^ Oh, oh. There goes the thread again.
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samsonyuen
Guest
From: www.canada.com/nationalpo...b6&k=27915
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London Drugs looks for growth at home for now, no rush to Ontario yet
Craig Wong
Canadian Press
Monday, June 12, 2006
RICHMOND, B.C. (CP) - As the retail world splits between small speciality stores catering to niche markets and big-box sellers like Wal-Mart and Costco selling at the lowest possible price, B.C.-based retailer London Drugs has carved out a unique and growing space for itself.
But the eclectic Western Canadian retailer, which despite its name sells a seemingly bizarre combination of products ranging from deodorant to plasma screen televisions, isn't in any rush to expand into Central Canada just yet.
London Drugs president Wynne Powell says the company's suppliers have urged expansion into Ontario many times and he's looked at it.
"We came close to going in a couple of years ago but decided to hold off because the economy is so buoyant in the West we felt we should continue to expand in the West," Powell said in an interview.
Part electronics store, part pharmacy and part camera shop, rolls of toilet paper can be found just a few aisles over from high-end home theatre systems and computers in a London Drugs store. Bigger than the average drug store, the chain's locations are smaller than a Wal-Mart at an average of 36,000 square feet.
Maureen Atkinson, a senior partner at the retail consultancy J.C. Williams Group, struggled to describe London Drugs and said there really isn't an equivalent anywhere.
"They are really an unusual animal," she said.
Atkinson said it is hard to tell what drives the business at London Drugs, whether it is a drug store or an electronics store and that could be the deciding factor on whether it can succeed in Ontario.
She said Shoppers Drug Mart is "incredibly strong" in Ontario with all the best locations and a well known brand name and would be a tough competitor for London Drugs.
"It is hard to imagine that they could really be able to carve our a significant enough business to compete," Atkinson said.
But if it is the electronics side of the business that drives the company, she said London Drugs may be able to find room for itself in Central Canada.
Powell likes to describe his stores it as a collection of speciality stores under one roof, and that's how the company is organized, with each department running its own show from high-end audio and video equipment to cosmetics.
Founded in 1945, the store began as a discount pharmacy that also carried discount photo equipment before it was bought by the privately held H.Y. Louie Co. in 1976. Since then the chain has grown to 63 stores across Western Canada with more than 7,000 employees.
Growth has slowed somewhat recently due to a shortage in Western Canada of skilled tradespeople, but Powell said he hopes to open as many as seven stores in 2007.
While many companies are rushing to become income trusts and cash in on the lucrative initial public offering market in recent years, Powell said the private route has served the company well and the company is in no need of capital to expand.
"Public companies tend to expand strictly to get the store numbers up because that's how they seem to impress their stockholders. We don't have stockholders to impress," he said.
Paul Cubbon of UBC's Sauder School of Business said it is one thing for London Drugs to do well where people are familiar with the store, but it will be a very different for them in Ontario where they are have no brand awareness in the minds of shoppers.
"If you ask somebody in Ontario or further east what London Drugs might sell, people are going to say 'a drug store,' not surprisingly because it is a very descriptive name. They might even say, 'Does it come from London, England, because we haven't heard of it in London, Ont.,' " he said.
Still, London Drugs has been successful so far and is very competitive with a reputation for very knowledgeable staff when it comes to selling electronics, Cubbon said.
"When you look at their flyers and the weighting that is given to electronics, it clearly does a good job," he said.
But the company is in no rush to open a store in Canada's most populous province.
In addition to selling consumers on the idea of a store that carries computers, cameras and toothpaste, Powell says it will mean a new distribution centre, a management centre and enough stores to justify them, a departure from its slow and steady approach so far.
"We knew when we went into Manitoba that we were stretching our distribution system to the max," he said.
"We're servicing it well, but we also know we've reached the limit of our current distribution channel."
So for now, Powell says opening in Ontario remains an if, not a when.
________________
London Drugs looks for growth at home for now, no rush to Ontario yet
Craig Wong
Canadian Press
Monday, June 12, 2006
RICHMOND, B.C. (CP) - As the retail world splits between small speciality stores catering to niche markets and big-box sellers like Wal-Mart and Costco selling at the lowest possible price, B.C.-based retailer London Drugs has carved out a unique and growing space for itself.
But the eclectic Western Canadian retailer, which despite its name sells a seemingly bizarre combination of products ranging from deodorant to plasma screen televisions, isn't in any rush to expand into Central Canada just yet.
London Drugs president Wynne Powell says the company's suppliers have urged expansion into Ontario many times and he's looked at it.
"We came close to going in a couple of years ago but decided to hold off because the economy is so buoyant in the West we felt we should continue to expand in the West," Powell said in an interview.
Part electronics store, part pharmacy and part camera shop, rolls of toilet paper can be found just a few aisles over from high-end home theatre systems and computers in a London Drugs store. Bigger than the average drug store, the chain's locations are smaller than a Wal-Mart at an average of 36,000 square feet.
Maureen Atkinson, a senior partner at the retail consultancy J.C. Williams Group, struggled to describe London Drugs and said there really isn't an equivalent anywhere.
"They are really an unusual animal," she said.
Atkinson said it is hard to tell what drives the business at London Drugs, whether it is a drug store or an electronics store and that could be the deciding factor on whether it can succeed in Ontario.
She said Shoppers Drug Mart is "incredibly strong" in Ontario with all the best locations and a well known brand name and would be a tough competitor for London Drugs.
"It is hard to imagine that they could really be able to carve our a significant enough business to compete," Atkinson said.
But if it is the electronics side of the business that drives the company, she said London Drugs may be able to find room for itself in Central Canada.
Powell likes to describe his stores it as a collection of speciality stores under one roof, and that's how the company is organized, with each department running its own show from high-end audio and video equipment to cosmetics.
Founded in 1945, the store began as a discount pharmacy that also carried discount photo equipment before it was bought by the privately held H.Y. Louie Co. in 1976. Since then the chain has grown to 63 stores across Western Canada with more than 7,000 employees.
Growth has slowed somewhat recently due to a shortage in Western Canada of skilled tradespeople, but Powell said he hopes to open as many as seven stores in 2007.
While many companies are rushing to become income trusts and cash in on the lucrative initial public offering market in recent years, Powell said the private route has served the company well and the company is in no need of capital to expand.
"Public companies tend to expand strictly to get the store numbers up because that's how they seem to impress their stockholders. We don't have stockholders to impress," he said.
Paul Cubbon of UBC's Sauder School of Business said it is one thing for London Drugs to do well where people are familiar with the store, but it will be a very different for them in Ontario where they are have no brand awareness in the minds of shoppers.
"If you ask somebody in Ontario or further east what London Drugs might sell, people are going to say 'a drug store,' not surprisingly because it is a very descriptive name. They might even say, 'Does it come from London, England, because we haven't heard of it in London, Ont.,' " he said.
Still, London Drugs has been successful so far and is very competitive with a reputation for very knowledgeable staff when it comes to selling electronics, Cubbon said.
"When you look at their flyers and the weighting that is given to electronics, it clearly does a good job," he said.
But the company is in no rush to open a store in Canada's most populous province.
In addition to selling consumers on the idea of a store that carries computers, cameras and toothpaste, Powell says it will mean a new distribution centre, a management centre and enough stores to justify them, a departure from its slow and steady approach so far.
"We knew when we went into Manitoba that we were stretching our distribution system to the max," he said.
"We're servicing it well, but we also know we've reached the limit of our current distribution channel."
So for now, Powell says opening in Ontario remains an if, not a when.
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adma
Guest
Which is why Le Chateau has been gearing itself t/w an older demo lately (with varying results, at least from a shareholder level). Likewise w/80s-style teen-trash standbys like Suzy Shier, which now seems geared t/w the uptalking secretarial class...
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Ed007Toronto
Guest
Babel, I was thinking interchange and the opera house.
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building babel
Guest
Ed: I saw neither interchange's name, nor the size of his endowment, written on any walls at the opera house.
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interchange42
Guest
c-Cough! Splutter!
I was assured by a certain someone at the opera company that the size of my endowment would remain under wraps, for the time being at least...
42
I was assured by a certain someone at the opera company that the size of my endowment would remain under wraps, for the time being at least...
42
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adma
Guest
God bless Frank Magazine
[sorry, these "size of endowment" gags get me going]
[sorry, these "size of endowment" gags get me going]
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Darkstar416
Guest
Roots is building a new concept store and "yoga centre" on Yonge Street in the Summerhill area.
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Ontarian1976
Guest
There are an increasing number of vacant retail spaces in my neighbourhood on Bloor between Spadina and Bathurst. As of next week there will be about 6 or 7, a few of which are pretty good-sized. Hopefully someone can fill them.
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adma
Guest
Kind of like a Rabbas-era yuppie updating of the old neighbourhood IGA concept. (F'rinstance, the Roncesvalles IGA just got Sobeys-ized.)
Hate to see IGA phased out across the board like this, though...
Hate to see IGA phased out across the board like this, though...
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mgl2
Guest
Have you seen the new OLGC prize centre in the Atrium on Bay? From the inside, it looks rather cheap. Not great design work.
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adma
Guest
And (presently at least) a vinyl banner on the outside...
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andreapalladio
Guest
A government office with cheap design? Whoda thunk.
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building babel
Guest
The nastiest looking reno to a former government building that I ever did see is the Comfort Suites hotel at Dundas and Jarvis.
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adma
Guest
And said gov't bldg was pretty nasty in its own right, so there was arguably poetic justice. (Ah well, it's Dundas + Jarvis...)