Bruce Moody has always had a knack for retail.  As a 15-year-old growing up in Moncton, New Brunswick, he snared his first job, working for a local independent grocery chain.  From there, he moved to the Loblaws organization.  From progressing through different positions with Loblaws and Bolands, an Oshawa Group Company, on the east coast, he moved west and switched from food to pharmacy.  Now, as president and CEO of Remedy'sRx with 200 stores participating in their program in BC, Alberta and Ontario, a financing division ( Remedy Capital Corporation) and a new long-term care model (Remedy Long-Term Care) launching in western Canada, Moody has a vision, and it's all about harnessing the power of the independent and applying retail know-how to the pharmacy sector. 

Bruce Moody spoke to Pharmacy Business about his vision and why he thinks independent pharmacy retail is the place to be.

PB: What drew you to pharmacy?

MOODY:  In the early days, food retailing was more sophisticated than drugstore retailing, with better use of POS, better decision making and category management tools.  I saw an opportunity to get involved in drugs as a burgeoning retail format.  I love retail, so for me it was a very natural progression.  Today there are more similarities certainly than there are differences in the retail formats  (food and drug).  You're seeing people coming out of the food industry going into retail pharmacy and bringing with them that background and experience.

PB: What gave you the idea for the Remedy's banner?

MOODY: If I were to separate retailing, I would separate it into two segments: corporate systems and independent systems.  By my definition, independent pharmacy is what true retailing is all about.  It's the heart and the soul of  the store owner/pharmacist interacting with the patient and the customer.  It creates a different relationship between those two.  There's more of a sense of closeness.  There's more of  a sense of care.

Independent pharmacy needed help in those areas they're not as skilled or as proficient in, such as the business managment side, such as pricing strategies and product positioning.  In particular, I recognized a strong push from corporate pharmacy into independent pharmacy.  If it were to continue, we would see a significant reduction in the number of independent pharmacies in Canada, which I think is terrible for patient care.

I could see the trend but decided to make use of direct consumer research to provide a complete picture.  What really suprised me in my research was what was learned about the knowledge level of consumers.  They absolutely understood and could articulate what independent pharmacy is and what they wanted independent pharmacy to become.

They recognize that independent pharmacy is local; they recognize there's a different level of care; they recognize independent pharmacy as part of their community.  There is an emotional attachment to that location that supercedes anything else.

I recognized clearly that if one could develop a banner program that allowed a store owner/pharmacist to do what they do well, while providing solid patient care and business building programs we would create a great marriage of the two parties.

PB: What are the top challenges for independent pharmacy?

MOODY: First and foremost is branding.  There has to be something to attract customers to the location.  If you drive in the parking lot and have a choice of two (an independent or a corporate store), as long as the independent is in the right condition and has professional looking branding, customers will choose the independent because independent pharmacists are recognized as terrific healthcare providers.

The next biggest challenge is the condition of the store.  There are certain things today's patients will accept and certain things they won't.  In the short term they may accept poor conditions, but that will not happen over the medium to long term.  Sometimes pharmacists don't recognize what they don't have.  They understand what they're doing for the patient.  What they don't capture is what's really on the patient's mind:  "that was terrific service, but boy, that place looked awful."  Our research also clearly said that patients prefer an environment where it's easy to get in and out, with the convenience of getting what they need.  Thirdly, the independent must be aligned with a banner program that can help them reach their customers through patient focused programs while enabling the store to maintain its independent identity with the customer.

PB: Our proprietary research found that 11 percent of shoppers shop in a small drugstore of less than 1,000 sq. ft. Forty-one percent shop in stores from 1,000 to 2,000 sq. ft., and the rest in larger stores.  Is there an optimum size for an independent pharmacy?

MOODY: Based on our research, the ideal size of a store today is 4,500 sq.ft., although consumers do want their store to allow for unique market situations.  An example of this is a Remedy'sRx store owned by Mag Makhail located in Okotoks, Alberta, which is 12,000 sq.ft. with full home healthcare.  That's the perfect sized store for that marketplace.  We also have a beautiful store in Nelson, BC owned by Mark McBride that is 1,500 sq. ft., with full compounding.  The right size in drugstore retailing matters.  You have to let the market opportunities present themselves.

PB: How do your pharmacies compete in a marketplace that has the big guys?

MOODY: It has to be service. It has to be patient care.  And it has to be the right product at the right price.  You have to have it in stock, you have to have it correctly positioned.  We encourage an independent to be competitive on price.  We won't lead on price, but we'll follow price.  We're not going to be outpriced by a competitor, but we also don't want to make it a pricing environment either because we clearly understand that price is a very short-term win.

PB: Is independent pharmacy in this country under siege? Are we seeing a lot of consolidation?

MOODY: Do I think it's under siege, yes.  Independents have to change their thinking today.  Those who do will have great success. Those who don't understand the value of branding and being part of a banner program that provides best-in-class services to them are at risk.

You're seeing attempts by corporate pharmacy to consolidate.  We're having success stemming that flow, and we're very proud of that from a business model perspective.  In fact, there are a number of locations in Canada we're opening very close to a big corporate location and having great success with them.

PB: Sould the independent pharmacy that belongs to a banner be a "mini me" version of a corporate store?

MOODY: No, it shouldn't.  You can have a 1,000 sq. ft. store or a 2,000 sq. ft. store that looks every bit as nice as one of the large corporate locations, with different product mix.  No bathroom tissue, no dairy, no eggs, no snack foods.  Or you can have a location, as we have in Okotoks, of 12,000 sq. ft. and it's not a "mini me," it's a me, with half that store allocated to home healthcare.

That's why I hope independent pharmacists will realize there is so much power in what you look like to the consumers.  When they get into that location, size doesn't matter. You matter.  And if you're delivering the right level of healthcare, they will never go anywhere else.  Use knowledge of the customers to your advantage and provide them with what they demand: you've got to look right; you have to be in the right condition.  If you have these items correct while providing the customer with best-in-class service and programs, the store will have great success.  If the store is unable to provide these items to their customers, there will be a  very quick disconnect with them and they will go elsewhere.

PB: How do you see the world of pharmacy changing in Canada over the next five to 10 years?

MOODY: The role of the pharmacist will increase beyond what it is today.  Pharmacists will need support mechanisms behind them to allow them to meet the halthcare expectations of the patient.  I think governments will force a lot of that activity at a retail pharmacy location as part of their strategy for reducing overall costs.

Independent pharmacy will continue to grow.  I think it will penetrate more of the market.  I don't see any closures or any demise of any of the retail groups that exist today.  I believe they will all find a niche and they will evolve and become what they need to become to survive.  I think the future looks great for independent pharmacy, and I choose to believe that government, despite our challenges, will get it right.  They will understand the role the pharmacy plays in that delivery of healthcare.  I think consumers will expect more from retail pharmacies, and those retail pharmacies that aren't in good condition will suffer.  Rather than the demise of an independent business model, I see more of an erosion or reduction of those kinds of sites.  The will go away, and the good retail sites will continue to have success. PB