We place priority on customer relations, service and attention to our customer needs. We pride ourselves on being able to build relationships with our customers thus, we’re fondly known as “the store with feelings“
The Birth of Sunset
From our Founder, Ellis’ point of view.
The idea of starting a Pharmacy was germinated on the 22nd December 1963.
While having coffee with a university friend, at the Carousel restaurant which was situated in a circular building nestling next to the Sea Point Pavillion swimming pool, a night Pharmacy was suggested. I thought the name “Sunset” would be an appropriate name as we would open when the sun set. We walked up the road to find a “To Let” sign in the window of the building – Marine Mansions, and as they say… the rest is history.
Sunset Emergency Pharmacy was born on March the 10th 1964 with a start up capital of R800. Our initial rental was R80 per month.
We opened doors at 6pm and closed at 1am. Our first night turnover was R5.29
During November 1964, we converted to a day and night Pharmacy, and shortly thereafter moved into the newly built Sea Point Medical Centre.
It was at this time while opening the store for a new day’s business, that a young girl, some sixteen years old, walked by on her way to school. I suggested to her, initially as a joke, that she should come back when she was 20 and I would marry her.
Initially trading hours were from 6pm to 1am. However, in order to accommodate our customers, Sunset Pharmacy trading hours once again changed to 8.30am to midnight.
I took over the Pharmacy on my own during August of 1968 and yes, I did marry that young girl when she turned 20 and who today is my wife for over 52 years.
I decided to study part time in order to learn more about business management and completed a four-year business degree in 1981. I benefited a great deal from the course and learned the importance of three words that have been a great help in the progress of Sunset Pharmacy: PRO-ACTION, DIFFERENTIATION and UNIQUENESS.
Pro-acting to change, be it environmental or government induced; differentiating one’s product from the opposition; and creating a sense of uniqueness within the store. In addition, a major objective was having trained employees who are motivated and well informed as they impact positively on one’s customer base.
A Store with Feeling
Throughout managing Sunset Pharmacy, I often speak to my staff about customer relations and the importance of building an organisational climate that is felt by the customers who visit our store. It is certainly something that we all experience when walking into a store, doing one’s shopping. Is the store service-orientated? Am I recognised? Is there a warm feeling within the store, or am I being left to wonder around without anyone noticing me?
We pride ourselves on being able to build relationships with our customers, and have many employees with skills in a variety of areas, who are present and available to satisfy consumer needs. Whether it be merely for general information or more specifically about some of the 1800 line items kept in store.
Something to think about...
I wrote an article in the past about market perception and competitiveness, where I spoke about the misconception that the ‘large corporate stores’ are always cheaper. Often, it is not the case, and as was mentioned, Sunset Pharmacy offers much more than price alone.
I’d like to leave you with a recent incident. A woman came in one day for a repeat prescription from a ‘large corporate store’. The price was R260. As our professionals spend more time building relationships with our customers, it was quickly noticed that a substitute product with the same active ingredient, but at a quarter of the strength, would be equally as effective although the customer had to take 4 tablets daily instead of one. A call to the Doctor was then placed and the lady, to her astonishment, was only charged R30 instead of R260.