Shoppers Drug Mart to shrink hours at 24-hour stores in Winnipeg

Shoppers Drug Mart will no longer be operating 24 hours a day in Winnipeg.

The pharmacy chain had multiple stores that were open around the clock that have and are transitioning.

Already transitioned:

• Southdale Square – 235 Vermillion Road, unit 100
• Mountain & McPhillips – 1017 McPhillips Street

Transition on Feb 25:

• Pembina Village – 2211 Pembina Highway

Transitioning on April 22:

• St. James SC – 2533 Portage Avenue
• Roslyn & Osborne – 43 Osborne Street

“Making the decision to  reduce hours is never done lightly. We consider accessibility and convenience for our patients and balance that with ensuring the store is running efficiently and profitably,” said a spokesperson from Loblaw Public Relations.

“In Winnipeg, after-hour demand has been so low it is not practical to continue to operate these stores 24 hours. Affected stores will now operate from 8 a.m. until midnight.”

Susie Erjavec Parker is the editor of WinnipegMom.ca and says Winnipeggers relied on Shoppers stores to be open late.

“Parents are disappointed because they know it’s their go-to if they’re in a pinch,” she said.

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“I live a few doors down from one so I have to say, with three kids, especially during cold a flu season, I definitely use their services in the 24-hour span”

Parker said parents will now need to be more aware of what they have stocked up in their own medicine cabinets at home.

“It was their insurance policy — you might not need it but if you do, you feel so much better knowing it’s there for you.”

Pharmacists Manitoba said it wasn’t aware of any pharmacies that will be opening 24 hours a day after Shoppers closes.

Asper School of Business marketing professor Fang Wan says the company would have had to weigh the options.

“Especially with retail it’s about traffic and it is really low-traffic hours and that’s why it’s understandable. The majority, 90 per cent of the stores, don’t open off hours.”

Wan says retailers might want to look at boosting their online presence and coming up with a delivery service to be more available to their customers.