Shoppers Drug Mart owner retires

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This article was published 26/05/2021 (1453 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A familiar face behind the counter at Steinbach’s Shoppers Drug Mart is retiring, but he isn’t hanging up his white coat just yet.

Pharmacist-owner Hans Epp’s last official day on the job was May 22.

In an interview, Epp said he never imagined he’d spend the last year of his career clad in personal protective equipment and participating in the largest vaccine rollout in Canadian history.

The 58-year-old said the past year has been a difficult one, owing to the evolving nature of retail restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Epp has been a pharmacist for nearly 37 years. He grew up in Steinbach and began his career at an early age, apprenticing under Wes Reimer at Reimer Pharmacy.

“I did everything from stock control, sweeping floors, cash register at the front, even helping out a little bit in pharmacy,” Epp said.

He continued on there as a pharmacist after completing his training in 1984. Two years later, the store became a Shoppers Drug Mart and Epp became associate owner. The store was one of the first rural Shoppers locations in Western Canada, and Epp, at 24, one of the franchise’s youngest store owners.

In high school, Epp excelled at math and science and thought he’d become a dentist. One day, while paging through a University of Manitoba catalogue, the pharmacy program caught his eye. The chance to provide health care unconstrained by appointments appealed to him.

“You’re always available, you’re always accessible, and just able to serve people every day.”

In those days, pharmacists worked behind a raised platform. Interactions with patients were limited. As time went on, patient counselling became a larger part of the job, ushering in more approachability.

Before long, Epp also traded his pencil and paper for a keyboard and monitor.

“Now it’s very difficult to function without computers. They’re integral in everything that we do.”

Seven years ago, vaccination services arrived at Manitoba pharmacies.

“That was a game-changer for us,” Epp said, “because our relationship with the patient did get elevated.”

Pharmacists went from providing “cognitive services” like medication reviews to administering injections.

“When I graduated, I never thought at all that I would be doing vaccination services,” Epp said.

Epp also recalled the 1991 arrival of GST, which required store staff to remove the tax from price stickers and charge it at the checkout.

In 1996, Epp became director of the Bethesda Regional Health Centre pharmacy. He also served as a consulting pharmacist for local long-term care facilities.

When big box stores arrived in Steinbach, Epp expanded his store’s hours of operation to midnight six days a week, which he said was a way to maximize convenience while remaining closed on Sundays. Then, last December, the province deregulated Sunday shopping and the store transitioned to seven-day operation.

A few years ago, Epp became a certified travel health specialist, deepening his expertise on the vaccinations and medications needed to safely travel the globe.

It’s been a quiet year on the travel front, but Epp will continue to offer travel health services as a consulting pharmacist, even after he retires as store owner. He may also work a few regular shifts in the pharmacy.

Carolyn Capell will take the reins of the Steinbach Shoppers. Capell owns and operates two other Shoppers locations in Selkirk and Winnipeg. Epp said it will be business as usual in Steinbach, with no changes planned.

Looking back on his career, Epp credited mentors like Reimer and Dr. Rick Hamm, and local support from the now-defunct Steinbach Downtown Retail Merchants Association.

He said good relationships with suppliers and support from Loblaw Companies Ltd., Shoppers’ parent company, were also important.