Neighborhood drugstore chain

At the corner of Dansalan St. and Boni Ave. in Mandaluyong, two-year-old PharmaShoppe Drug has built up a base of repeat customers. The 24-hour pharmacy has elderly customers who come daily to have their blood pressure taken for free. PharmaShoppe membership, which is also free, entitles cardholders to immediate discounts on medicine and to a wide range of promotions from sponsoring drug companies such as monthly free clinics, blood sugar screening and electrocardiogram testing.

"We are the friendly neighborhood drugstore that cares. Our pharmacist knows what the regular medicines of PharmaShoppe members are. The pharmacist will remind the customer of any medicines he may have forgotten or check if his stocks at home are already running low," said Randolf Clarito, president of Synchrony International, which owns and operates the PharmaShoppe franchise.

The Philippines has a P66-billion pharmaceutical industry. An estimated 13,000 drugstores operate all over the country, of which 11% are branches of both small and big chains.

Value-added concept

"The concept is to have a professional and dependable drugstore service that would actually assist patients in understanding better their diseases, prescriptions and medications. We are very strong in core values formation because we see that this is not present in the existing pharmaceutical retailers, except in the market leader," said Grace Lazo, general manager of Synchrony Investment, which oversees the store development and training for franchisees. These core values are social responsibility, professionalism, excellence, hard work, integrity, teamwork and financial stability.

For example, PharmaShoppe has a bigger minimum space requirement than the 15 square meters set by the Bureau of Food and Drugs. "We want the façade, especially the store counter, to look big, so customers will feel welcome. This is why we recommend a minimum 20 to 30 sqm. space to allow for enough shelves and at least three meters of frontage," said Lazo.

Flexibility

The standard franchise package costs P1.6 million and includes full back office support such as store development, operations, human resources recruitment and training, site selection, business planning and marketing.

"We can customize the package. We can go higher if the franchisee is more aggressive and wants more stocks. We can go lower, depending on the size of the site. We want to reach as many cities in the greater Manila area and Luzon in the next few years," said Lazo.

A two-shift, 16-hour store requires three to four staff, including a licensed pharmacist. Of the current 16 outlets, two are open 24 hours a day . "We help our franchisees evaluate the risk, the security of the staff and customer traffic so they can decide what kind of operation they want," Clarito said

Common among franchise applicants are retirees, entrepreneurs, doctors and pharmacists who have time to devote to the business. The chain bills 2% of gross sales for royalty.

PharmaShoppe’s newest branch is owned by the San Dionisio Credit Cooperative in Paranaque. The cooperative has 8,000 members who automatically become PharmaShoppe members and benefit from the franchise’s regular medical and outreach activities.

"We are committed to personalized and professional pharmaceutical care. And we have a system that ensures our concepts are implemented at the store level so the entire community will benefit," said Lazo.