Target Canada’s Franchised Pharmacists Crying Foul: Seek Same Protection Given To Retrenched Staff

Hundreds of franchised pharmacists appointed by Target Canada, the insolvent retailer that is exiting the Canada market, are up in arms and seeking protection to bridge their losses. This follows reports that U.S. retail giant’s Canada unit, Wal-Mart Canada Corp. has acquired some pharmacy patient records from the insolvent discounter.

Demand for Funds

In the last week of January, Target reportedly transferred the patient records of its three corporately owned pharmacies to Wal-Mart. This enrage the franchisee pharmacists.

According to a court filing, representatives from Target Canada’s franchised pharmacists, who are managing a vast majority of the retailer’s 133 stores, will be asking the court to set up a fund for them similar to the one, already created for its 17,600 employees, who are being retrenched, reports Globe and Mail.

The pharmacists are bitter as they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, in setting up the franchises. They want Target to let them stay in their stores beyond the end of February, the time they are told to leave.

Expressing helplessness, Stavros Steve Gavrilidis, a Target pharmacist in Windsor said, "We are like illegitmate children". He is also the secretary of the Pharmacy Franchisee Association of Canada. "We want to be recognised in Target’s bankruptcy protection process," he added.

The U.S. discounter is winding down its operations after having sunk $7-billion. On Jan 15, it got court protection from creditors, approximately two years after its launch in Canada. It will close all 133 stores by May 15, although many may close sooner. The creditors are lining up to grab Target’s remaining assets.

But the franchised pharmacists have the burden of debts. They have invested in their drugstore rollouts by hiring own staff and inventory and they want to sell their patient records to other pharmacies.

Target Canada also added some panic, when it mistakenly posted a message on its pharmacists’ websites as a notice that their patient files were being transferred to Wal-Mart. Stating this, Dan Dimovski, co-owner of the Target Windsor pharmacy and president of the pharmacists’ association, said the message, though removed, has caused uncertainty and stress among Target’s pharmacists.

Walmart Confirms

However, Wal-mart spokesman Alex Roberton confirmed they had acquired the patient records. But they were just three corporate Target pharmacies, he said. But he refused to disclose the purchase amount or Wal-Mart's interest in acquiring patient records from other Target pharmacists.

According to Charlie Scerbo, a Target pharmacist in Winnipeg , Target pharmacists are being approached by brokers representing “national chains” about interest in selling their files. They are hovering around us like a carcass, he quipped. Among the chains believed to be interested in picking up some of the patient lists are Loblaw, Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall.

Target is expected to ask the court to extend its protection from creditors for another three months, until May 15. Target is also ready to increase its fund for its employees to $90-million from $70-million, according to a court filing.

Problematic

The CBC. Ca News reports that many pharma franchisees were disappointed right from the beginning of their operations. Many shared their experiences of Fax machines and telephones not working or the location not being conducive to serve existing customers.

The pharmacists are regretting that their anticipation of joining the second largest retailer from North America had become the worst nightmare they never anticipated.

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