Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a “gradual reopening” on Saturday.
In a statement, the company said it is “taking time with each store to ensure systems are working and ready to serve customers.”
“We ask for patience as we work with each store to ensure it is operating fully to meet the needs of our customers, and therefore we will not be communicating which stores are opening and when,” the statement reads.
The company said its store systems are “complex” and connect with multiple third-party providers, “all with different requirements.”
“We are continuing to work with our third-party cybersecurity experts to bring our systems online in a safe and secure manner,” the statement reads.
“This is a time-consuming process and, rather than delay until all services and systems are fully available, we have opened our core services in some stores to meet the health-care and everyday needs of our customers as soon as possible. We will be bringing other services and systems on board as soon as our reconnection work is complete, and they are fully operational.”
CTV News was able to make a purchase at the London Drugs at Broadway and Cambie Street in Vancouver Saturday afternoon, before the company made its phased reopening public.
The company did not specify how many stores had reopened, nor did it provide a timeline for when the reopening would be complete.
The retail and pharmacy chain closed all of its 79 locations across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba on Sunday, April 28, in response to a “cybersecurity incident.”
Since then, stores have remained closed. Phone lines to the stores were out of service Monday as part of the investigation into the incident, but were restored Wednesday afternoon.
London Drugs said pharmacists are on-site at all locations “to assist with emergency prescriptions and other urgent care.” Canada Post locations within stores are also “accessible,” the company said.
Including April 28, Saturday is the seventh consecutive day that London Drugs stores have been closed for at least part of the day.