Champions Soul Pattinson Chemist
Chemist in Wollongong

For over 130 years, the company has been providing pharmacy services, professional protection and value for money to the community through Member owned pharmacies. In 1872, the first Soul Pattinson Chemist in Pitt Street was an one room shop and within a year larger premises were needed and the pharmacy moved down the road to 158160 Pitt Street. Due to the pharmacy being destroyed by fire in 1886 another was built in its deposit aptly named the Phoenix Building, entire with a phoenix on top of the fore facade. This building is still standing and is one of the nation’s busiest Soul Pattinson stores. Over the last 132 years, the face of Soul Pattinson has changed, evolved, but the contemporary values of quality, integrity and reliability have remained constant. AI is an integrated health care services company with four core business operations pharmaceutical, distribution, manufacturing, retail pharmacy brands and hospital and medical distribution. It was established as a chemists’ cooperative in 1910 and listed on the ASL in 1997.

Practically everything in the pharmaceutical field in those days was imported by wholesalers and retail prices were very high. Because he believed his son's name sounded more honorable than his own, he traded as Washington H. The first Soul Pattinson Chemist in Pitt Street was an one room shop and within a year larger premises were needed and the pharmacy moved down the road to 158160 Pitt Street. Alliband continued as manager for some years and he and his sister Sophia became close, life long friends of Levy Pattinson and his wife. There had been an outbreak of bubonic plague in Sydney. It was decided to form a public company and give shares to the public. It remained as the warehouse until 1960 when it was sold behind a new factory and warehouse was acquired at Kings grove. He was ably supported on the wholesale and manufacturing side by John Spence and William catcher, the warehouse manager. He had served two years of his apprenticeship prior the war and completed his apprenticeship and examinations post war. It was decided to purchase premises in the main shopping area of Hunter Street, Newcastle. In spite of the government inquiry findings and in spite of the fact that Boots had been invited to open in New South Wales, the government introduced legislation in 1940 prohibiting any fresh pharmacy company from starting in New South Wales and pegging existing company pharmacies to the number of shops in operation at that time. The Pharmacy Act prohibited further expansion, putting a terminate to the company’s quick growth, and for the after fifteen years there was virtually no expansion of business on the pharmacy side except for renovating existing shops. Unable to magnify rapidly due to the legislation changes, the company instead pursued its policy of deposit improvements and promoting new lines. Washington H Soul Pattinson required to devise a way to maintain and build on its triumph the concept of agencies emerged as the company’s life force in the 1950’s and 1960’s. With the demise of retail price maintenance in the hasty 1960’s, the agency business expanded rapidly. In 1961 a property was purchased at Kings grove from Kings grove Laboratories and the warehouse and factory transferred from Wentworth Avenue into these new unused premises. Manufacturers immobile the price of their product and refused to supply any retailer who cut the price, so prices were the alike in all retail outlets for all patent medicines and toiletry lines. The Washington H Soul Pattinson branches and agents took maximum of this stock, but the company was impatient to continue expanding and began to look further afield. In 1969 the Pharmacy act was amended allowing the company to begin moving it’s branches. In addition the company decided to adopt supermarket style techniques in its deposit layout. By the end of the 1970’s the company was still facing pressure from supermarkets and department stores. The range of home brand products was increased to more than 350 and companies such as Avon, Park Davis, Oral B and Gillette entrusted the manufacturing of their products to Soul Pattinson Manufacturing. The number of pharmacies in the group peaked in 1997. A new place design package was developed and rolled out across all stores. Soul Pattinson Chemist has 100 outlets nationally and continues to provide Australian families with trusted advice and traditional pharmacy service.