With two of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s pharmacies back under local ownership, its former owner — now a partial owner — hopes it can get back to providing exceptional customer service.

Both Simpson’s Pharmasave in Virgil and Pharmasave Simpson’s Apothecary in Old Town were sold on Oct. 18, with partial ownership returning to Sean Simpson.

After initially selling the stores to SRx Health Solutions, a Toronto-based pharmaceutical company, in 2023 for an undisclosed amount, Simpson approached the Boggio Family of Pharmacies, a Niagara-based pharmaceutical business, to buy the stores back together. 

Aaron and Kyle Boggio were happy to join in on the venture. 

The Boggios are now two of six major shareholders of the company, including Sean and Stephanie Simpson and Connor and Morgan Gates, both with the Boggio Family of Pharmacies.

Before talking to the Boggios, Simpson approached SRx about buying the stores back. With their permission, he then approached the Boggios, he said.

Simpson would not share the percentage of his stake in the company, nor that of the other shareholders. He also did not disclose how much he and the Boggios paid to buy back the pharmacies.

The Boggio Family of Pharmacies, in operation since 1983, has several locations across the Niagara region — now including the two in NOTL. 

“I’ve known the Simpsons for many years. I actually did an internship with them back when I was coming out of pharmacy school,” said Aaron Boggio.

“I know their values align with our values at Boggio Family Pharmacies and they are strong supporters of the community.” 

Despite giving up ownership of Simpson’s Pharmasave, Simpson never really left the company, assuming the title of pharmacy liaison after the sale.

However, he wanted to increase his share in the company after noticing a decline in the quality of customer service at the pharmacies and supply issues after the new owners took over, he said. 

“It got to a point where it became very apparent to me that the business was going to suffer if something wasn’t done,” Simpson said. 

From there, Simpson asked permission to buy back the company and reached out to the Boggios to go into business together. 

“I’m very confident now with the group, especially our local roots and local presence, that I think is going to help us get back to the service standard that we are known for and what people expect from us,” he said. 

Boggio said the former owners didn’t necessarily have the level of care small-community customers expect.

“That’s something that we look forward to bringing back to Niagara-on-the-Lake,” he said. “We are a local owner and we treat our customers like family.” 

With the swap, Boggio said customers shouldn’t expect too much of a change aside from increased levels of customer service. 

“Because we have so many stores locally there’s an opportunity for us to better service our patients, our pharmacies work as a family so we can share stock and do whatever it takes to get the product to the patient who needs it,” he said. 

Simpson said there is no limit to the level of customer service those visiting the pharmacy can expect.

“I’m really looking forward to the next few years and really trying to not only get back to where we were but to exceed that level and raise the standard even higher,” he said.

juliasacco@niagaranow.com