London Drugs

Last updated

London Drugs
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Founded1945;79 years ago (1945)
FounderSam Bass
Headquarters Richmond, British Columbia
Area served
 Western Canada
ProductsElectronics, grocery, pharmaceuticals, health & beauty, photofinishing, insurance services, furniture, toys, optical, housewares, and tech services including Apple Authorized Service Provider.
OwnerH.Y. Louie Co.
Website www.londondrugs.com
Former London Drugs Store 85 in Abbotsford, British Columbia London Drugs Store 77.jpg
Former London Drugs Store 85 in Abbotsford, British Columbia
Former Photography section of London Drugs Store 85 in Abbotsford, BC London Drugs Store 77 - Cameras.jpg
Former Photography section of London Drugs Store 85 in Abbotsford, BC

London Drugs is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Richmond, British Columbia. As of June 2021, the chain has 78 stores in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. [1] In addition to pharmacy services, London Drugs locations also sell electronics, housewares, cosmetics, and a limited selection of grocery items.

Contents

History

London Drugs was founded by Sam Bass in 1945 as a small drugstore at 800 Main Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. [2] Bass named his drugstore after the English city of London, the seat of the Canadian monarch. [3]

In 1968, London Drugs was sold to Daylin, Inc. The next year, Daylin ran into financial difficulties in the US branch of its business, and decided to put London Drugs up for sale. In 1976, the business was acquired by the H.Y. Louie Group under the direction of President Tong Louie.

Tong Louie expanded the company within BC and, for the first time, beyond the provincial border into Alberta with the first Edmonton location in 1976. In the next ten years, London Drugs tripled its number of stores.

During this growth, the company also began increasing the types of products available in stores. Small kitchen appliances, high end cosmetics and high quality photo equipment quickly became staple items lining the shelves.

In 1981, London Drugs expanded into another non-traditional drugstore category by installing its first One-Hour Photofinishing labs. The introduction of photofinishing labs into the store and the one-hour-photo revolution paved the way for London Drugs' introduction of a computer department in 1983.

In 2004, the St. Vital Shopping Centre in Winnipeg became the new home to London Drugs' first (and still only) Manitoba store.

Today, London Drugs has stores in more than 35 major markets throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. According to their website, as of September 2019, they operate 82 stores. In addition to pharmacy, other major goods offered include cosmetics, small appliances, electronics, cameras and photo finishing, toys and food. London Drugs serves more than 45 million customers each year.

In January 2019, London Drugs acquired the Edmonton-based photography chain McBain Camera. [4]

From April 28–May 7, 2024, [5] [6] all London Drugs stores were closed due to a ransomware attack on the company's head offices. [7] [8] Critical data infrastructure was rebuilt and audited. Urgent pharmacy care remained available during the closures. [9] On May 21, 2024, Lockbit claimed responsibility for the attack, and threatened to release data within 48 hours if a ransom of $25 million is not paid. [8] London Drugs stated that that they are "unwilling and unable to pay ransom" to the parties involved." No customer or primary employee data was compromised. [7] On May 23, 2024, London Drugs announced that hackers released corporate data stolen from its head office after the company refused to pay a ransom. The breach, discovered on April 28, led to the temporary closure of all 79 stores across Western Canada, and the company notified affected employees and offered them identity theft protection services. [10]

Brands

London Drugs markets its own brand of products and services under the following labels:

NameType of Product
London DrugsHealth Products, Furniture, Home ware, Food
London NaturalsVitamins and Medicines
London HomeFurniture, Dinnerware
Certified Data [11] Computers
Tree FrogComputer Accessories
London PremiereCosmetic Products
London PlantationNuts
LD Insurance [12] Insurance Services
London Spa [13] Spa Services
CustomWorks [14] Entertainment System Installation
TLD Computers [15] IT Equipment and Services

Locations

Of the chain's 78 stores, most are located in British Columbia, 37 of them in Vancouver and the surrounding area. There are also 20 stores in Alberta, 5 in Saskatchewan, and 1 in Manitoba.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osco Drug and Sav-on Drugs</span> Retail pharmacy chains in the United States

Osco Drug and Sav-on Drugs were the names of a pair of chain pharmacies that operated in the United States. Osco Drug was founded by the Skaggs family. Alpha Beta grocery store was purchased by American Stores in 1961. Skaggs Drug Centers bought American Stores in 1979 and assumed the American Stores name. Sav-on Drugs was a California-based pharmacy chain that was acquired by Osco's parent company in 1980. Both Osco and Sav-on stores eventually came under the ownership of American Stores, then Albertsons, and finally SuperValu before the stores were sold off.

Shoppers Drug Mart Inc., commonly known as Shoppers is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and two territories.

Sobeys Inc. is a national supermarket chain in Canada with over 1,500 stores operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than C$25.1 billion in the fiscal 2019 operating year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Company Limited, a Canadian business conglomerate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wardair</span> Defunct Canadian airline (1952–1989)

Wardair Canada was a privately run Canadian airline, founded by Max Ward in 1952 under the name Wardair Ltd, before formally changing its name to "Wardair Canada" in 1976. The airline was acquired by and folded into Canadian Airlines in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Coutu Group</span>

The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc. is a Canadian drugstore chain headquartered in Varennes, Quebec. It has more than 400 franchised locations in New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec under the PJC Jean Coutu, PJC Clinique, and PJC Santé banners. The company was once the third largest distributor and retailer of pharmaceuticals and related products in North America, with nearly 2,200 drug stores. Its American stores have been sold to Rite Aid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CVS Pharmacy</span> American pharmacy chain

CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Originally named the Consumer Value Stores, it was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IGA, Inc.</span> American multinational supermarket chain franchise

IGA, Inc. is a voluntary chain of grocery stores that operates in more than 41 countries. Unlike the chain store business model, IGA operates as a franchise through stores that are owned separately from the brand. Many of these stores operate in small-town markets and belong to families that manage them. It was founded in the United States as the Independent Grocers Alliance in 1926. The headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Save-On-Foods</span> Western Canadian supermarket chain

Save-On-Foods is a chain of supermarkets located across Western Canada, owned by the Pattison Food Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pharmasave</span>

Pharmasave is a Canadian independent pharmacy and drugstore retailer with over 800 stores across Canada. Pharmasave produces a line of over 700 private-label Pharmasave Brand products.

Cunningham Drug Stores Ltd. was a regional pharmacy chain based in British Columbia, Canada.

Fields Stores Ltd. is a Canadian discount store company owned by FHC Holdings, with 67 locations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories.

The Katz Group of Companies is a Canadian privately-owned enterprise, with operations in sports and entertainment and real estate development. Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a subsidiary of the Katz Group, owns the National Hockey League five-time Stanley Cup Champion Edmonton Oilers, as well as professional hockey franchises in the American Hockey League, Western Hockey League, and ECHL, and Aquila Productions, an entertainment and event company. OEG operates Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton. Katz Group is also involved in land assembly, site, and building development in Canada and the United States, including the design and development of Ice District, an area that encompasses more than 25 acres anchored by Rogers Place. Katz Group is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Its founder and chairman is Daryl Katz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daryl Katz</span> Canadian businessman and philanthropist

Daryl Allan Katz is a Canadian billionaire businessman. Katz is the founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately owned enterprises, with pharmacy, sports & entertainment, and real estate development businesses. Katz Group owns the Edmonton Oilers and led the development of Rogers Place and the Ice District. Katz is a former lawyer and resides in Edmonton.

The Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMAs) is an annual awards event for music in the western portion of Canada. The awards are provided by the Western Canada Music Alliance, which consists of six member music industry organizations from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, and The Northwest Territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Canada</span> Region of Canada

Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada–United States border namely British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The people of the region are often referred to as "Western Canadians" or "Westerners", and though diverse from province to province are largely seen as being collectively distinct from other Canadians along cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, geographic and political lines. They account for approximately 32% of Canada's total population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tobacco-free pharmacy</span> Retail pharmacy that does not sell tobacco products

A tobacco-free pharmacy is a retail pharmacy where the sale of tobacco products is not available. Outside the United States, it is illegal in countries such as in France and most of Canada for pharmacy stores to sell cigarettes and similar products on the same premises as over-the-counter drugs and prescription medication. Anti-tobacco campaigners advocate the removal of tobacco from pharmacies due to the health risks associated with smoking and the apparent contradiction of selling cigarettes alongside smoking cessation products and asthma medication. Some pharmaceutical retailers counter this argument by reasoning that by selling tobacco, they are more readily able to offer to customers advice and products for quitting smoking.

Safeway is a Canadian supermarket chain of 135 full service supermarket stores mostly operating in the western provinces in Canada. It was established in 1929 as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., before being sold in 2013 to Canada's second-largest supermarket chain, Sobeys, a division of the conglomerate Empire Company. Independent since 2013 from the American company it continues to use the same Safeway name and logo as of May 2023.

Daylin, Inc. was a major retail conglomerate based in Los Angeles and later Beverly Hills, California. Its best-known unit was Handy Dan Improvement Centers, which prefigured The Home Depot; the company also briefly owned London Drugs as well as Great Eastern, which gave rise to Linens 'n Things.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IGA (Canada)</span> Canadian retail chain

IGA is a group of independent grocers in Canada supplied by Sobeys, which franchises the name from IGA, Inc. Acquired by Sobeys as part of its purchase of the Oshawa Group Ltd., it now operates primarily in Quebec.

References

  1. ↑ "London Drugs: Store Locator". www.londondrugs.com. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Sam Bass". Jewish Independent. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Story of London Drugs". London Drugs. London Drugs. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  4. ↑ Cook, Dustin (January 12, 2019). "Edmonton's storied McBain Camera snapped up by London Drugs, will continue to operate independently". Edmonton Journal . Postmedia Network . Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  5. ↑ "All London Drugs stores in Western Canada reopen following cyberattack". Global News. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  6. ↑ "'Cybersecurity incident' leads to closure of London Drugs stores in western Canada". Global News. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "London Drugs hackers seek millions in ransom on claims of stolen employee data". Global News. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Cybercriminals threaten to leak London Drugs data if it doesn't pay $25M ransom". CTV News British Columbia. May 21, 2024. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  9. ↑ "London Drugs reopens phone lines and Canada Post outlets". CBC News. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  10. ↑ Press, Canadian. "Hackers release corporate data stolen from London Drugs, company says". CHAT News Today. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  11. ↑ Certified Data
  12. ↑ LD Insurance
  13. ↑ "London Spa". londondrugs.com.
  14. ↑ CustomWorks
  15. ↑ TLD Computers
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.