As an experienced executive with a demonstrated history working within the industry for many years, you may already know Aaron from one of his previous roles or through his past work on various CHFA Advisory Committees.

After graduating from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science Honours, in Nutrition and Nutraceutical Sciences, Aaron started his career at Loblaw Companies Ltd. During this time, he served in senior leadership roles across operations, merchandising, procurement, and retail concept design with a strong focus on the development of a revolutionary health and wellness concept, based on strategic partnerships with natural health and organic product companies.

After almost ten years with Loblaw, Aaron left to become the Co-Founder and COO of GreenSpace Brands.  GreenSpace Brands was one of Canada’s fastest-growing public companies (Profit 500:2019) and grew exponentially during his time there. As a passionate and visionary leader, Aaron enabled a team that grew the company to over 100 employees, overseeing operations, sales, marketing, business development, and innovation.

For the past year, Aaron has built his own consulting company, The Peloton Project, working with entrepreneurs and business leaders, within the industry, to help them accelerate their vision.  As a dynamic and strategic leader, Aaron has focused on helping small and medium-sized organizations identify and execute strategies that enable them to reach their full potential.

“I could not be more excited to be joining the team at CHFA as we continue to support the evolution of our industry.  I have dedicated my career to the Health Food industry through varying roles with larger retailers, small format development, and most recently, by playing a founding role in one of Canada’s fastest-growing start-ups.  The opportunity to give back to the industry that has given me so much, through such challenging times, is a true honor.”  Aaron Skelton

Aaron sees tremendous potential and opportunity for the future of CHFA during an unprecedented time of uncertainty.  With a history of developing engaged and successful teams, through the creation of strong and supportive organizational culture, Aaron is looking forward to onboarding with the staff and connecting with members to achieve the vision and mission of our association.

As Canada started the school year, access to COVID-19 testing and influenza immunization are top of mind for the health and wellness of students, teachers, and their families.

Neighbourhood pharmacies can provide access to asymptomatic COVID-19 testing in convenient locations with extended hours, separate from those experiencing symptoms or who have had known contact with the virus. Alberta is now offering asymptomatic COVID-19 testing in pharmacies, and Ontario is on the path to the same delivery.

“We urge all provinces to empower pharmacists to provide a point of care testing and specimen collection in partnership with laboratories to increase access,” says Sandra Hanna, pharmacist and CEO of the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada. “To alleviate the strain on parts of the health system that are overloaded by COVID-19, it is critical to expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists across the country, so that we can provide the care our patients need when and where they need it most.”

The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada also encourages all Canadians to get their influenza vaccine every year. With the potential of the second wave of COVID-19, it is particularly important to protect against co-circulating respiratory illnesses this fall.

With 11,000 pharmacies conveniently located in every neighbourhood across Canada, families can receive their annual influenza immunization at their local pharmacy. In recent years, community pharmacists provided over 3.2 million influenza vaccinations. Of all Canadians receiving a flu shot, 48% chose to receive it in their pharmacy.

Pharmacies are taking steps to ensure public health guidelines are followed, and physical distancing is maintained. The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada recommends Canadians ask their pharmacist about their process, as many are planning to schedule appointments to ensure the utmost safety for Canadians seeking to get their flu shot.

The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada represents Canada’s leading pharmacy organizations, including chain, banner, long-term care, speciality pharmacies, grocery chains, and mass merchandisers with pharmacies. Our focus is on improving the delivery of care. We advocate for pharmacies’ role in caring for Canadians, both behind and in front of the counter. We aim to advance healthcare for Canadians by leveraging close to 11,000 pharmacies conveniently located in communities throughout the country as integral points of patient care.

SOURCE Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada

Metro Inc. expects to continue to benefit from COVID-19 thanks to strong sales and decreasing coronavirus-related costs as the grocer recently ended its temporary wage bump for employees who worked through the early days of the pandemic.

The grocery retailer’s same-store sales, a key retail metric, for the first four weeks of its current quarter were up about 10 percent at food stores. In its pharmacies, front-door same-store sales were up more than six percent.

“Those are healthy numbers,” said CEO Eric La Fleche during a conference call with analysts Wednesday after the company reported its third-quarter financial results.

Same-store sales for the completed third quarter were up 15.6 percent at food stores and down 2.5 percent in front-door sales at pharmacies.

Meanwhile, additional costs related to operating during COVID-19 started to fall.

The company spent an additional $107 million in COVID-19 related expenses during the three months ended July 4. About half of that came from a temporary wage increase and bonus for its essential workers that has since ended, while the remainder was spent on things such as cleaning, signage and personal protection equipment.

Metro, along with competitors Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Sobeys Inc., announced in June their temporary wage increases would end June 13. Metro was paying workers a $2 hourly premium starting March 8. It offered full-time employees an additional $200 bonus and part-time workers $100 bonus when the extra pay program ended.

The major grocers’ decision to stop paying their workers simultaneously faced criticism and executives from each company were called before the House of Commons standing committee on industry, science and technology in July. La Fleche and his colleagues said each made their move independently.

“If you assume that half (of the $107 million) is the temporary wage increase, you can assume that half is remaining,” said chief financial officer Francois Thibault.

That remaining half is about $13 million every four weeks, he said. However, since some expenses are now behind the company, such as purchasing protective shields and donations, he expects that figure to be around $10 million to $12 million every four weeks going forward.

The Montreal-based company reported a $263.5-million profit in its latest quarter, up from $222.4 million a year ago, with sales rising more than 10 percent as more Canadians cooked at home due to the pandemic.

The profit amounted to $1.04 per share for the 16-week period, up from 86 cents per share a year ago.

Sales totalled $5.84 billion, up from $5.23 billion.

On an adjusted basis, Metro earned $1.08 per share for what was the company’s third quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents per share a year ago.

Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $1.07 per share, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

In its outlook, Metro said it was impossible to predict how long the pandemic will continue or what it would mean for long-term shopping patterns.

Aleksandra Sagan, The Canadian Press

The retailer has struggled for years to increase sales as it tried to pay down more than $900 million in debt, and deal with the pandemic which forced it to shutter about 40% of its stores.

The company reported a $200 million loss during the first quarter of this year, and in June of this year, it warned that some of its temporary store closures could become permanent.

As interesting it might sounds, the filing for protection came days after GNC paid nearly $4 million in cash bonuses to top executives, including $2.2 million for CEO Kenneth Martindale. Four other executives, including the chief financial officer and chief human resource officer, received a combined $1.7 million in bonuses, according to company documents filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bonuses were paid June 18, five days before the bankruptcy filing. Executives will have to pay back 25% of their after-tax bonuses if the company does not emerge from bankruptcy within a year, according to the filing.

The chain, founded in 1935 in Pittsburgh, is the sixth major U.S. retailer to fill during the pandemic, which has already led to thousands of permanent store closures and billions in lost sales across the industry.

GNC said it had both assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. Annual revenue fell 12% last year to $2.07 billion. GNC has 5,200 U.S. stores and 1,600 locations inside Rite Aid pharmacies.

For years, GNC was the country’s go-to retailer for vitamins, protein powders and nutritional supplements. But by 2015, analysts said it was rapidly losing market share to chains such as Walmart, Target, CVS and Costco that moved quickly into the company’s health and wellness niche.

The rise of e-commerce also chipped away at GNC’s dominance as shoppers turned to Amazon and other discount websites for health and wellness products.

There were other missteps, too. The retailer, which was “best known for its muscle-building formulations” was slow to pivot to natural health, nutrition and wellness products popular among baby boomers, according to David Silverman, a senior director at Fitch Ratings.

Many GNC stores are located in second- and third-tier malls, where traffic has dwindled for years. By 2016, sales and profits had begun to decline. The company was also aggressively buying back shares of its stock with large swaths of borrowed money, which left it deeply indebted at the same time that profits fell off a cliff. That debt casts a shadow over the company’s finances.

Profits, which totalled $219 million in 2015, swung to a $286 million loss a year later. More recently, GNC was facing a $160 million in debt payment due in August, and another $450 million due next March.

”There are typically two reasons for bankruptcy filings – you either run out of cash or you’re unable to meet upcoming debt obligations, and this was the latter,” said Silverman, who downgraded the company’s credit rating in March. “

GNC had liquidity, it was able to manage the COVID crisis fairly well, but it was facing significant [debt] maturities that it was unable to meet.”Shares of the company’s stock tumbled nearly 25% on Wednesday to close at 61 cents per share, down from a peak of $60 in 2013. Shares are down nearly 80% this year.

GNC will continue operating, but it will become a smaller company. It plans to close up to 20% of its 5,800 retail stores, which amounts to as many as 1,200 locations across the United States. GNC also sells its products in an additional 1,200 Rite Aid (RAD) stores.