There will be a silver lining Friday (Aug. 15) for employees at the London Drugs at Port Place shopping centre.
For some, it will represent the end of the work week and for the entire store, it will be the 25th anniversary.
The Terminal Avenue location represented the natural progression of expansion, according to Warren Cook, store manager of Store No. 036 in downtown Nanaimo. These days, London Drugs is much more, he said.
The store now sells food amongst other things.
“We focus a lot on the organic foods,” said Cook. “We’re focusing a lot on the healthier foods of today but that’s not to say we don’t still have some of what would be classified as ‘junk food’ which there still is a strong demand for, too.”
It has expanded to electronics, selling such items as televisions and computers, but at the heart of the chain is still the pharmacy and even then, that is evolving, Cook said.
“The biggest change I would say in the pharmacy is that we’re involved in a number of clinics,” he said. “We do osteoporosis clinics, sleep clinics. We’re very big on … helping people quit smoking, heart clinics.”
London Drugs has a private room where customers can consult with pharmacists and clinics are held. It also has what Cook calls iHealth, connecting with technology that people have on smartphones.
Being in Nanaimo for a quarter of a century, the Port Place London Drugs has made many contributions to the community, most recently with the B.C. Summer Games. It has also participated in the Silly Boat Regatta.
There will be a celebration at the store Friday at 9 a.m.