Jubilee Pharmacy and Market owner Scott Monette did the math when he went looking for a second location.
He found what he wanted at 851 Johnson St., a 6,700-square-foot building and former home of the House of Fine Carpets.
The original Jubilee Pharmacy at 1775 Fort St. has nine nearby pharmacies as competition and is continuing to experience sales growth, Monette said. At the new location, there are just two other pharmacies, including a London Drugs.
Monette is confident that Jubilee’s product mix, prices and service will make it a destination. The Johnson Street site is also on a busy arterial street and close to high density condominium and office projects.
The new store opened Saturday. It has a pharmacy and natural foods, including a selection of gluten-free products, which are a long-time feature of Jubilee Pharmacy. Monette believes it should not be expensive for people to eat a healthy diet.
Vitamins, natural cleaning products and cosmetics also fill shelves. Fresh produce will be stocked in coming weeks, he said.
A new Palate coffee shop sells baked goods, paninis, sandwiches and salads.
Family members were conscripted as taste-testers for products made by potential suppliers, rating everything on a scale from one to 10. Monette laughs when saying that he “made them eat until they almost fell over.”
Table tops are made of wooden pallets (yes, Monette is having a little fun with words) left behind in the building when he and wife Thora bought it in April.
The Fort Street property is leased. For their new venture on Johnson Street, they wanted the security of their own building.
Monette created shopping carts out of wooden crates, with wheels that easily slide sideways, as well as smaller wooden carts with retractable handles.
The design was developed to create a “really cool, vintage-modern, 19th century pharmacy.”
To get the building ready after buying it in April “we just worked, worked, worked,” said Monette, who was there until 2 a.m. at times. Brick lines two walls in the 1897 building that features high ceilings.
A native of North Battleford, Sask., Monette graduated in pharmacy from the University of Saskatchewan in 2003, and moved to Nanaimo to escape cold winters. “I knew I wanted to live on the Island.”
In 2007, he bought a share of the 4,500-square-foot Jubilee Pharmacy from then-owner Wayne Booth, becoming full owner in May 2012. Together the stores employ 31 staff.
Monette said pharmacists are taking a larger role in health services. He has been working with a high-tech company based in India, hoping to launch an app to help people deal with their medical problems.
