VANCOUVER, B.C. — Western Canadian pharmacy chain London Drugs has opened its 75th brick-and-mortar store.
The retailer is hosting grand opening festivities on Friday and Saturday at the new drug store, located on Salt Street in Vancouver’s Olympic Village.
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The Olympic Village store’s main entrance leads into the cosmetics area, a first for London Drugs. |
"Today is the day we open a new London Drugs store in one of the most beautiful city spaces in the world," Wynne Powell, London Drugs president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"Our [75th] store is unique in a variety of ways, particularly its boutique feel and new store concept, customized specifically for the Olympic Village community," Powell stated. "We thank the residents here for being patient and for collaborating in the success of our new store in this vibrant Vancouver neighborhood."
According to the drug chain, the Olympic Village London Drugs is 17,200 square feet, smaller than a typical London Drugs but still containing most of the departments of a standard London Drugs location.
The main entrance into the cosmetics department is brand-new for a London Drugs store, and that’s followed by an open, integrated technological and electronics area. There also are a full-service photolab, a pharmacy with a private consultation room, and all of the household and food items normally found at a London Drugs store.
London Drugs noted that, over the past year, its staff began canvassing the Olympic Village, looking at the residential suites and learning about what products and services would best serve the burgeoning seaside community.
"We met with residents, and we learned about what kind of appliance selections made sense," Powell explained. "We became acutely aware of the variety of foods and household storage requirements, smart technological solutions and the community’s broad health and wellness needs."
Overall, London Drugs stores are in more than 35 major markets throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The retailer also operates an e-commerce store, LondonDrugs.com.
"Today, London Drugs opens its doors to become part of the increasingly vibrant community at The Village," stated Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. "The new store complements the existing retail mix, adds more convenience for local residents and improves walkability in this unique neighborhood."
Also at the grand opening event, London Drugs chief operating officer Clint Mahlman announced that the Olympic Village store would achieve 95% waste diversion from landfills, three years ahead of a 2015 target.
"To date, we have diverted more than 42 million pounds of waste from going to landfills," Mahlman commented. "It is thanks to the hard work of our staff and our recycling partners that we have achieved this success, and we are not done yet."
During the Olympic Village store opening festivities, London Drugs also unveiled a new recycling program in partnership with recycler and upcycler, Terracycle and vendor partners Garnier and Nestlé. London Drugs said it will be the first major retailer in Canada to introduce recycling collection boxes at all of its stores for all beauty packaging and chocolate wrappers.
The program encourages consumers to drop off their used beauty packaging and chocolate wrappers at collection boxes in London Drugs stores. For each piece of used packaging received, 2 cents will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. TerraCycle will recycle the waste into items such as park benches and waste bins.
"London Drugs’ commitment to its customers is the backbone of investing in programs that make a difference in the communities we serve," added Mahlman.
