Pharmacies
Looking for pharmacy recommendations that are not your regular Pepsi and Coke pharmacies.
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View original on piefed.caLooking for pharmacy recommendations that are not your regular Pepsi and Coke pharmacies.
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Assuming "Pepsi and Coke" pharmacies means big brand pharmacies and isn't about Pepsi and Coke running some pharmacy somewhere, there are often local pharmacies that are better than anything I can generically suggest to you. For instance, in Ottawa we have some local compounding pharmacies which aren't part of any franchise. But off the top of my head, a couple Canadian pharmacies that have decent coverage of Canada that aren't exactly huge:
Bigger but also alright:
Places to avoid:
I've left Shoppers Drug Mart (aka Pharmaprix) off the list since I won't recommend Weston-owned places, but they are technically Canadian so they're better than some but certainly not "alright".
Rexall was sold in 2024 to ‘Birch Hill Equity’, a Canadian private equity firm, if that makes it any better.
Huh I didn't even know! Gonna have to edit Wikipedia now...
Though the caveat with private companies is you never know who really owns them. Tim Hortons is the poster child there -- officially owned by a holding company headquartered in Toronto, a Brazillian investment firm has a 32% stake in them. Birch Hill does not even disclose that info.
Rexall and Well are owned by the same company. Rexall is on Well's website, and Rexall expanded their offerings to include products from Well that they didn't previously have. Also your can pick up Well orders at Rexall stores, and they share loyalty rewards. I certainly prefer them over Amazon and Shoppers Drug Mart where the same or comparable items are available. I still go to a local, independent pharmacy for meds, though.
Excellent, thank you kindly for your help.
How well does Lawtons, Medicine Shoppe, or Fords Pharmacy fit in this list?
No problem!
Lawtons is owned by Sobeys, so a little bit better than Shoppers Drug Mart but still not great.
Medicine Shoppe seems like a chain roughly on-par with Pharmasave & -choice (though not quite as widespread).
The Ford's Pharmacy in Moncton seems to be independent, so that gets a big recommend from me. If that's not the one you're referring to, I've got no idea which one you mean.
That is the one. Thank you!
Are you looking for medication or the things you buy from drug stores because for some reason that's where we often go for makeup and shampoo and gift cards.
If the former, check out https://www.guardian-ida-remedysrx.ca/ - I feel they don't have as much of the latter.