Canadian Press (18 July 2007)

Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. could start looking a little bit more like a tiny supermarket as the company watches sales of its non-prescription drug products increasingly drive profits, and makes plans to expand its position in both food and beauty products. Executives at the company outlined plans on Wednesday to expand focus on both food and beauty products as front-of-store sales contributed to second-quarter profits, which were up 18.9 per cent to $112 million.

In the quarter front-of-store sales, considered non-pharmacy products, grew at a rate of 9.3 per cent to $1.023 billion from $936 million in the comparable period. The profit drivers have encouraged the company to move further into both food and beauty in the coming quarters, president and CEO Jurgen Schreiber said in an earnings call. About 330 Shoppers locations offer an expanded food selection, which makes the traditional store look more like a mini supermarket.

The company boosted its second-quarter net income to $112 million from $94.4 million in the comparable period of 2006 as it benefited from strong sales growth across the country. Revenue rose to $1.9 billion in the three months ended June 16, up nine per cent from the second quarter of 2006 when revenue was $1.8 billion.

Shoppers opened 23 new stores in the quarter, broadening its retail space by 11.4 per cent. Aside from food, the new space has also gone to growing the presence of its beauty boutiques which have signed deals to carry major department store brands like Clinique.