Rexall (Canada)

With around 400 locations Rexall is the second-largest retail pharmacy company in Canada, making it one of the major rival pharmacies to Shoppers Drug Mart.[3] Rexall is not related to the defunct American drugstore chain with the same name, which also had locations in Canada until 1977.

The company manufactures many personal care products with Rexall branding that are sold in its locations. It also operates Rexall Direct, a national mail-order pharmacy, and Rexall Health Solutions, a division focused on providing specialized clinical care and complex medication management services in transitional care settings.

Rexall Canada was founded in 1904 in the early days of the United Drug Company and quickly established itself as a major retail pharmacy chain. At the same time, Tamblyn Drugs was establishing itself in Toronto, Ontario, and would eventually become Pharma Plus. These two companies would later merge and form the Rexall Pharmacy Group.[8]

McKesson Canada Corporation purchased Rexall in December 2016 for $3 billion from the Katz Group of Companies.[9] At the time it was estimated that Rexall had an average annual revenue of approximately $2.0 to $2.5 billion.[10] In 2018 the president of Rexall at that time, Beth Newlands Campbell, announced that the Pharma Plus brand would be discontinued and all stores would be converted to Rexall in order to create a more consistent look to the chain.[11]

The company was in partnership with Air Miles, which Rexall accepted as a loyalty program. In May 2020, Rexall discontinued its partnership with Air Miles as a loyalty program at its stores and created its own loyalty program called Be Well, with which customers can collect points in order to redeem in-store items, similar to Air Miles.[12]