The Hindu : Business : Medicine Shoppe to double retail outlets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 31, 2004

Business

Business

Medicine Shoppe to double retail outlets

By Our Staff Correspondent

MUMBAI, AUG. 30. The Medicine Shoppe India, the largest retail pharmacy chain and the Indian arm of The Medicine Shoppe International, is implementing a Rs. 50 crore expansion programme to make it a 500 outlet retail chain by 2009.

The company has plans will double the number of retail outlets to 100 plus by March 20005. "The funds for the expansion will come from Medicine Shoppe and the new franchisees,'' said Rick Clark, Director, International Operations, Medicine Shoppe International, the franchising wing of the U.S. healthcare company, Cardinal Health.

Addressing the media here today, Viraj Gandhi, Managing Director, Medicine Shoppe India, said the company's presence was largely in the Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. The expansion would also include franchises in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In a bid to provide one more value added service to the domestic consumers, Medicine Shoppe and Oriental Insurance Company had joined hands to offer free mediclaim to Medicine Shoppe customers. Now, with every purchase of Rs. 5,000 made at a Medicine Shoppe pharmacy (no specific time period), a customer would get a mediclaim policy worth Rs. 5,000. This initiative follows the success of the retailer's first free personal accident insurance offer, where the company has issued policies worth more than Rs. 16 crores in the last 18 months.

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