Loblaws' long game to take over healthcare

 

How Galen pulled it off right under our noses

Canadians love, love, love their PC Optimum Points.

When announcing the expansion of the program into Esso stations in 2022, Loblaws claimed there were 18 million PC Optimum members in Canada. In a country with just over 31 million people over 18, calling the program “dominant” doesn’t really go far enough.

When Loblaws purchased Shoppers Drug Mart in 2013, it was the largest Canadian retailer acquisition in history, and it transformed the Canadian landscape for retail (food, medicine, personal items) and real estate. Lexpert, Canada’s trade magazine for lawyers, wrote: “The acquisition brings Loblaw and Shoppers within close reach of more Canadians, with more than 2,300 stores (corporate, franchised and associate-owned) and nearly 1,800 pharmacies totalling 65 million square feet of selling space.”

Given the incredible scope, influence and position of Loblaws and Shoppers together in Canada, the deal was covered rather uncritically as a “win” in Canadian media. Many columnists positioned the acquisition as “protecting” Shoppers from other buyers and “fending off” foreign retailers such as Walmart and Target. A review of coverage indicates the acquisition was covered pretty much as the company positioned the move itself in their own media materials:

“The acquisition brings together two iconic Canadian brands and harnesses the complementary strengths of the nation's number-one grocery retailer and number-one pharmacy and beauty retailer. It strengthens both companies' competitiveness in an evolving retail landscape, creating new growth opportunities for shareholders.”  (more...)

Loblaws' long game to take over healthcare