Cumberland Drugs was a pharmacy chain that operated stores in Quebec (with majority of them in the Montreal area) and Eastern Ontario. Founded in 1967, Cumberland Drugs was sold in 1997 upon the retirement of Morrie Neiss (none of his heirs were interested in carrying on the family business), selling most stores to Jean Coutu, Uniprix and Essaim/Obonsoins (now Proxim). Cumberland Drugs' headquarters in

Dorval Dorval () is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montré ...

were on Dorval Ave. The flagship store in

, Quebec, Canada on Herron Blvd. is now a Jean Coutu store. In 1987, the company had forty stores across Quebec and Ontario. In 1988, the company acquired six Montreal locations when it bought the Kane's Super Drugmart chain, which supported Cumberland's move into the city's French-speaking areas. At the time, the dominant pharmacy chain in the city was Le Groupe Jean Coutu. Around 1990, Cumberland's sale of retail, non-prescription glasses was challenged in court by the Quebec Order of Optometrists, in an apparent test case where the professional association was trying to block the sale of these inexpensive vision assists which did not require professional vision assessment, a case that the company initially lost in

Quebec Court Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

, which was overturned by the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

. Also in 1990, the chain was one of seventeen in Quebec which was caught up in a

price-fixing Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...

investigation by the Bureau of Competition Policy affecting birth-control pills and prescription narcotics.

Executive history

As of 1987, the company's President and chief executive officer (CEO) was Morrie Neiss; Paul Lamontagne was the company's chief operating officer (COO); Michel Gagnon was the companyes

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

(CFO). Neiss, Lamontagne and Gagnon were also members of the

Board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

, Neiss being its Chairperson.

References

{{Canada-company-stub Retail companies disestablished in 1997 Defunct retail companies of Canada Canadian pharmacy brands Retail companies established in 1967