Cumberland Drugs was a pharmacy chain that operated stores in

Quebec 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 thirtee ...

(with majority of them in the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

area) and

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It sh ...

. 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 Uniprix is a pharmacy chain founded in 1977 and based in Saint-Leonard, Montreal, Quebec. It operates under four brands: Uniprix, Unipharm, Clinique Santé and Uniclinique (inside clinics). Combining its four brands, Uniprix is the second-lar ...

and Essaim/Obonsoins (now

Proxim Proxim (also known by its corporate name Groupe PharmEssor) is a Canadian group of pharmacists located in Quebec and to a lesser extent in Ontario and the Maritimes provinces. The average Proxim drug store is , similar to the typical size of a B ...

). 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

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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 In software engineering, a test case is a specification of the inputs, execution conditions, testing procedure, and expected results that define a single test to be executed to achieve a particular software testing objective, such as to exercise ...

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 President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) was Morrie Neiss; Paul Lamontagne was the company's

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

(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

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References

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