York Pharmacy diversifies
Published:Sunday | July 28, 2013 | 12:00 AM
New hours, new services, new investments
Aims to reclaim No. 1 slot
Avia Collinder, Business Writer
For more than 50 years, York Pharmacy has graced Half-Way Tree square, easily accessible to all who traverse the busy city centre.
Now it is accessible around the clock.
York's General Manager Newton Ramdial says new owners of the pharmacy, Serron Pharmaceuticals Limited, whose seven shareholders comprise medical doctors and other partners, are repositioning the pharmacy as a 24-hour operation with more services.
The pharmacy was acquired from Garth Moodie last October.
Already, Serron has refurbished the property, the marquee has been upgraded to reflect the new service hours, and by September, the pharmacy will be offering a new service - 'medical doctor on call' - said Ramdial.
Outside of its core business and chief income source, dispensing drugs, York Pharmacy has always been known as a place for gifts and personal items.
Serron now plans to add a deli on the second floor and a cosmetics centre, Ramdial tells Sunday Business, in a push to diversify and grow revenue streams.
"These we hope to be in place by our anniversary in October. We have employed consultants who are
experts in their field to work on this project," Ramdial said.
The entire investment programme, he adds, is driven by the pharmacy's unique location, which sees exceptionally heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic through the heart of Half-Way Tree, including commuters to Portmore whose bus terminus sits near the entrance to York Plaza.
"There is no other pharmacy in Jamaica for branding and location. It is over 50 years old. It has history. I don't think any other pharmacy has a location like we have," said the GM.
"The traffic is pretty heavy, which is one of the things that encourages us for a 24-hour operation."
The new hours were implemented June 1.
The pharmacy now employs 40, including five floor staff who were added for the night shift, as well as a new pharmacist, and pharmacy technician.
"We also had to beef up our security situation. We could not have customers and staff, and not ensure safety. We also increased the electronic security system and security lights," said Ramdial.
"In the nights, all parking areas on both sides are like daylight. We also had to increase the manned security," he said.
While the response to the round-the-clock service has been slow, he notes, "from after six in the morning you will see traffic increasing, which we put down to persons on their way to work."
Ramdial declined to comment on the size of the investments being made by Serron, but said it's in the millions.
It includes J$1.5 million to install a lift for the disabled, injured and elderly customers who need to access the pharmacy on the second floor.
For the same group, narrow doors and old turnstiles have been removed and replaced by doorways wide enough to comfortably accept wheelchairs.
The refurbishing programme includes more energy-efficient lighting, as well as air conditioning with inverters.
"We are also doing some amount of solar. We have taken bids from several companies for this," said Ramdial.
"We are hoping that our bill can be cut by 40 to 50 per cent."
Serron is not expecting to make any money from its new acquisition in the first year, given the capital outlay on the upgrades.
The pharmacy hopes to break even by year two.
"The view we are taking right now is that we are not here to make a whole lot of money in the short term. We are here to provide a service. We want to be the standard by which other pharmacies are judged," said Ramdial.
Serron Pharmaceuticals is led by Dr Welfsord Sinclair, who is the managing director and a shareholder.
The pharmacy operates under the registered name York Pharmacy 2012.
York is not the most popular pharmacy in Kingston when measured by market share, but hopes to make market gains within a year.
According to Ramdial, the No. 1 slot is held by Monarch Pharmacy.
"We are in the top three," he said. Within a very short period of time, in months, we are going to recapture the number-one spot because what we are about is building a business."