South D hub for Bargain Chemist
A DISCOUNT pharmacy chain has been given approval to set up a distribution hub and store in South Dunedin.
The Dunedin City Council has granted resource consent to Bayview Pharmacy 2018 Ltd, which is owned by Bargain Chemist NZ, to establish a warehousing and distribution facility at 500 Andersons Bay Rd, South Dunedin.
The facility would also house a Bargain Chemist retail store open to the public. The application said the existing building — which neighbours Coupland’s Bakery, Super Liquor and Frozen Direct — had been vacated after being used to distribute and sell car parts for the past nearly 15 years. The facility would provide pharmaceuticalrelated products to Bargain Chemist’s network of stores around the South Island.
Bargain Chemist owns more than 20 chemists around the country, including a Dunedin store in George St, and serves customers online in New Zealand, Australia and Asia. The warehouse and distribution hub was intended to meet the demand of its growing network and would provide pharmaceuticalrelated products to Bargain Chemist stores around the South Island, the application said.
Pallets would be received at the site, broken down and stored with wholesale quantities couriered to chemists.
An estimated 70% of the building would comprise the warehouse area and office spaces, a 660sq m total floor area, with a subsidiary retail area making up the remainder.
Staff would pack online pharmaceutical orders directly from storage shelves from the ‘‘pick and pack’’ retail area, in addition to a counter service, dispensary and selfservice options.
The warehouse would be accessible via Colston St and existing shared customer parking off Andersons Bay Rd would be available.
Bargain Chemist did not respond to questions by deadline.