PAC FAIR, Gold Coast , Qld
We got the chance to visit possibly
one of the largest pharmacies in
Australia when we called on Giant
Chemist Pacific Fair, Giant by
name and gigantic by size we were
astounded by the huge assortment
of products and services they have
to offer.
How long has Giant Chemist
Pacific Fair been operating?
We’ve been operating for 15 years,
but we were forced to close for
10 months to enable the major
renovations/redevelopment of
Pacific Fair Shopping Centre to take
place, after which we relocated to a
different level in November 2014.
Who are your main types of
customers?
We have a truly diverse range of
customer “types”, mainly because
we are situated in such a prevalent
tourist area, meaning the majority
of our daily customers are made up
of tourists, especially during the
peak tourism times. These tourists
can range from local day visitors
(often from Brisbane or the Tweed)
to interstate and international.
Having said that, we do have a
tremendous support from a very
loyal local customer base, both
young and old, male & female, who
appreciate the bright, wide spacious
aisles, the wide diversity of products
and services at competitive prices,
and such a variety of friendly health
professionals all under the one roof.
What is it about your store that
is distinctly different from other
pharmacies?
I believe the single biggest defining
feature of difference about our store
is it’s shear size, and the variety/
range of products and services we
offer within. In our original location
upstairs we were a store of 1900
sqm. When the redevelopment
occurred, after being closed for
56 Complete Health
10months we relocated to our new
site downstairs of 1300sqm.
We deliberately kept the vast
majority of the space for our
“front of store”, reducing the back
office space more significantly,
so as to give it the same feel and
appeal of our previously well
loved store upstairs, with a few
minor improvements in design to
maximise productivity, such as the
inclusion of our Rowa dispensing
robot, which can also be seen
“doing its thing” from the waiting
room of the medical centre located
within our store.
This GIANT footprint is what has
defined us and enabled us to offer
such a diverse range of goods and
services.
Within our store, we have a
fully bulk billed medical centre
with QML pathology, we also
have a designated naturopathic
and herbal dispensary which is
always “manned” by one of our
friendly naturopaths, we also have 2
dedicated private consulting rooms
and of course our dispensing robot
fondly named (by one of our loyal
customers) “Percy the Pill Picker”.
The size of the store enables us to
go all out in each department, so for
example our natural health section
is as large as many health stores,
our sports nutrition department
and shoes departments are also,
more like a “store within a store”
concept which also means we have
the ability to portray an element of
expertise within those departments
by assigning extremely experienced
team members to focus on the
particular category and effectively
“take ownership” of their own
domain, their “store within a store”.
What are the changes in peoples
buying habits you have noticed
over the past couple of years?
In my opinion there has been more
change in retail buying habits
over the last few years than in the
decade or two before that. Whereas
we used to be thought of first and
foremost as the primary Healthcare
Professional that was the most
accessible, it has unfortunately
now become very much more “all
about the price”, and so whilst we
remain extremely competitive on
price (you have to be nowadays),
we really do focus on emphasizing
the value added benefits of visiting
our store, of having such a wide
range of products and services
on offer all under one roof, with
highly skilled professionals right
across the spectrum available to
offer personalised advice and good
old fashioned service, something
our customers do truly appreciate,
especially in an age where “self-
service” is “becoming the norm”
more and more.
It’s important not to make
everything only about the price, but
rather to offer range and diversity
and real added value that is clear
and welcomed by all even if they
didn’t initially know they were
looking for it. Social media has
much to do with retail shopping
habits nowadays, in that it’s not
considered as “cool” or as worthy
of a “selfie” to be shopping in a