People in Moscow recognize Apteka 36’6 pharmacy’s trademark and unique style in an instant. The general director of this large pharmacy chain is XX year-old Anastasia Vavilova. With a sociology degree at Moscow State University, her dream was to become an HR manager, but she wound up finding her place in the pharmaceutical retail business. The Leader spoke with her about developing this new business concept in Russia.

The Apteka 36’6 pharmacy chain appeared in 1997 as a retailing branch of the Russian holding firm Vremya. Anastasia Vavilova, now general director of the company, was in charge of this project from the beginning. Having started out with a test pharmacy only four years ago, it now has nearly 40 pharmacies in Moscow, including all-night drugstores and one hypermarket, with new pharmacies appearing every month.

Where did you learn your business skills?
At ZAO Vremya we worked closely with Western consulting companies. One of my functions was to provide statistics on all company projects, which was very useful in terms of seeing all sides of business: financial, judicial, marketing. I got an insight into what business is in the Russian market and where the stumbling blocks can be.

How did you come up with the idea of creating the pharmacy chain?
There is a pharmacy chain in England called Boots, which is more than a hundred years old it became our model. We decided to create a chain of pharmacies under a single name, so we invited an English company to design our trademark.

What kind of image did you try to build?
From the research we carried out, we learned that when people think of a pharmacy, they associate it with being sick. It is a place where you are not treated nicely, where have to stand in long lines in order to bend down to a small window at the end. Yet, we observed that people tend trust the advice of a pharmacy worker more than that of a doctor. This is a Russian paradox.

We wanted to change people’s perception of pharmacies. A pharmacy is not just a place where you go when you are ill, but it is a store where it’s pleasant to stop by on the way home to see if there is something new, to buy toothpaste or find a present. And we succeeded in creating this image.

Was it easy to break the old perception?
After opening the first three pharmacies, we realized that, although prices were adequate, people were afraid to enter our stores, as they were not used to the level of service we offered. At that point we came up with the idea of setting our prices below market ones. Within two months our sales increased four times. People believed us. Once people came and saw the level of service, low prices and variety, they became loyal customers.

Do you open your pharmacies on the basis of already existing ones?
Not any more. We take a new area, install the equipment and open a pharmacy. This is easy to say, but there are 1,000 small details behind it. This is a peculiarity of the retail business.

When you enter a pharmacy you won’t see all the minute details I do: whether the floor is clean enough, if the employees’ hair is done neatly, if the price stickers are placed correctly, what are the direction signs and whether there are enough, whether the shelves are clean, whether the lighting is done correctly, what are the temperature and the humidity levels in the room, what is the quality of consultation, if music is playing everything that contributes to creating a unique atmosphere. If one minor detail is missing, you won’t know what it is, but your general impression might be such that you don’t want to come back again.

How do you manage personnel?
The first month after the first pharmacy was opened, I went there and found empty shelves, dirty floors, stained uniforms and rude customer service. We realized that the most important thing is motivating personnel. We designed a system of work evaluation tied to the amount of sales and drafted very specific job specifications. We conducted regular checks to see whether the set guidelines were being followed, giving employees grades based upon the results. We set up our own personnel-training center. We designed merchandising and sales study guides that help us train the employees.

Do you face strong competition?
Not at present, but we expect strong competition in the future and we have a two-year head start. We are ready to face competition, and it is good that there will be some, as without it life is boring. When there is somebody to compete with, it spurs you to develop.

It is not often that a woman holds such a high position in business. How do you feel about women in business?
I was in charge of the project from the beginning. Although men usually occupy the top positions in the pharmaceutical business, maybe it is a good peculiarity of our business that we have a feminine look. A pharmacy should be as beautiful as a woman: accurate, neat, smiling regardless of mood, attentive to details, flexible and ready to settle conflicts ﷓ features that are peculiar to women. If one would ask me what the gender of our pharmacy is, I would say they are all girls. Probably because my vice president, who is also a woman, and I gave the business a feminine look.

Do you encounter any special difficulties because you are a woman?
Not as many because of my gender as my age. I am 28 now, and I started out in business very young. I don’t only work with foreign partners, but I have to work with constructors, deliverymen and storehouse workers, and it is often difficult to position yourself correctly. But over the last few years I learned a lot and I can work equally well with anyone.

Of course, when they see a young woman they don’t take me seriously at first. The trick is not to pay attention to this and in 10 minutes they begin to perceive you correctly. At the same time, I should say, being a woman gives me a certain advantage ﷓ you can get good contract conditions just because you can smile or make a joke.

What is it that makes your company so successful?
I think that the success of our company comes from the fact that we try to work for the common good. Everything is totally directed toward company unity. Being scattered physically ﷓ there is the office, the storehouse, the pharmacies ﷓ the most important thing is to keep everyone close-knit. Every employee should feel themselves a part of one big 36’6 family.

Personally, I do everything excellently or I do not do it at all. I have tried to nurture this tenacious quality within myself, and this is the ideology of everyone working here. Whatever we do, we do 110 percent, or we don’t do it at all. I hope this feeling will stay with us for a long while.