By Yom Kippur, New-Pharm will close on Saturdays

New-Pharm Drugstore Ltd. owner Rami Shavit announced that the chain would complete its plan to keep all stores closed by Yom Kippur in two months. He announced the intention to close the chain on Saturdays in December 2007 shortly after acquiring it through New Hamashbir Lazarchan Ltd. (TASE:MSZB).

Seven of the eighteen New-Pharm stores that opened on Saturdays already no longer do so. The Hamashbir department store chain has been closed on Saturday's since 2005. Shavit said that the policy to close the stores on Saturday was part of the company's labor policy to enable employees to enjoy the weekend with their families. "We consider opening stores on Saturday to cause direct harm to the company's employees, hence the importance of the measure," he said.

Although Shavit predicts short-term harm to New-Pharm's revenue from the measure, he believes that it will prove to be financially worthwhile in the long term.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 20, 2008