16
F
Dec
2018
Feature
Unconventional
route to success
The CEO of the Advantage banner group has
a habit of proving himself wrong — but in a good way
Steven Kastrinakis talks
with Heather Saxena about
the humble expectations
he had when he started his
pharmacy career.
S
TEVEN Kastrinakis didn’t set out to
become one of the most influential
pharmacists in Australia.
In fact, when he graduated from Monash
University in 1990, he didn’t think he would
ever be able to afford to buy a pharmacy.
But it took Mr Kastrinakis just two years
to prove himself wrong. In 1992, he and
pharmacist John Kardis bought a pharmacy
90 minutes from Melbourne in Victoria’s
Gippsland region.
“That was a milestone in itself,” says
Mr Kastrinakis.
It never crossed Mr Kastrinakis’s mind
that what they would do next would lead him
to become the CEO the Advantage banner
group with a membership of 230 independent
pharmacies and a turnover of tens of millions
of dollars.
In 2001, he and Mr Kardis joined up with a
group of pharmacists in the region to form their
own marketing and buying group, originally
known as the Gippsland Pharmacy Group.
The impetus was a need for locally focused
marketing, something banner groups couldn’t
provide at the time.
“We thought it would be great if we could
just get our people, our stores, to be engaged
to do the purchasing, and even to do their
own catalogues.”
OFF TO A GOOD START: Steven Kastrinakis,
right, and John Kardis, left, in their early years.
The group also started working with
suppliers and service providers who wanted
to work with pharmacies in a regional pocket
so that they could measure the outcomes of
promotions and events.
It wasn’t uncommon for 50-90 people to
turn up to fragrance and cosmetic nights. A
talk about menopause at the local town hall
featuring a local TV identity attracted more
than 460 people.
“Even though we didn’t have the advantage
of branding back then, we were able to do
promotions, clinics and talks at local town halls