London Drugs president and chief operating officer Clint Mahlman is thankful for customer support after a cyberattack forced them to close all stores for nearly a week.
Mahlman spoke with C-FAX 1070's Al Ferraby on Friday morning about how challenging of a situation it has been for him and London Drugs staff.
A cyberattack forced a week-long closure of the company's 79 stores across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba on April 28.
He says that it has been a "devastating and difficult time", but the support and understanding of customers has been almost overwhelming.
Mahlman singled out the support from customers on Vancouver Island and Greater Victoria and told Ferraby that it is what "kept staff going" in those stores.
The most difficult part about reopening was "rebuilding... the data network and data input structure that took decades to build... in about a week" according to Mahlman.
The president says this was "by far" the most challenging situation the company has faced. He mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires cutting off supply chains as other situations that they have overcome in recent years.
As of May 7, all London Drugs stores are up and running but Mahlman says "it doesn't mean all systems are running perfect yet".
Listen to the full interview here: