The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Annual Meeting, held at the end of April in Palm Beach, Fla., is now little more than a distant memory. The retailer and supplier attendees have returned to their daily chores, and the glow that routinely follows a successful industry meeting has begun to dissipate, crowded out by
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is about to convene its Annual Meeting, that laudable and impressive gathering of mass retailers and suppliers that highlights every spring. This year’s event is, if possible, even more critical for mass retailing’s future, given the forced infection-imposed hiatus that curtailed recent gatherings. Yet this year’s Annual Meeting
Walgreens (along with CVS, Rite Aid and several regional mass retailers) has been in the news recently, though not for the usual reasons — and not under the most favorable circumstances. Along with other newspapers and periodicals, The New York Times has lately put Walgreens in its cross hairs, with attention-grabbing headlines such as these:
Imagine, if you can, a drug store without a pharmacy. Once upon a not-so-distant time, many chain drug stores opened without pharmacies, calling themselves health and beauty aid stores. It didn’t take long, however, before these operators recognized that the one feature that set a drug store apart from other convenience retailers was, yes, a
The new year has been under way for about a month now, and speculation about the upcoming 12 months already abounds. Not to be left at the starting gate, here’s a look from Chain Drug Review’s headquarters into what just might happen between now and December 31 and what will remain anyone’s guess. To begin,
The new year has gotten off with a stunning development, at least for those with no inside knowledge of chain drug retailing. Heyward Donigan, Rite Aid’s chief executive, announced she is leaving the company she joined three years ago. Her announcement came at a time of transition for Rite Aid, a period of uneven performance
No discipline in chain drug retailing has changed as suddenly and dramatically in recent years as has the role of the pharmacist. Yet ironically, as retail pharmacists have become more critical to the chain drug store, the role of the pharmacy counter they once ruled has diminished. Once upon a time, the primary — indeed,
NACDS Week, the New York City weeklong series of meetings and dinners that unofficially ushers in the Christmas holiday season, has just ended. As always, it was an appropriate occasion, representative of the season, at which old friendships were revived and new ones launched. It was, as these events inevitably are, a happy, rewarding time.
Once upon a time, the leaders of America’s largest drug chains — Tom Ryan, Dan Jorndt, Alex Grass, Harvey Rosenthal, Dave Bernauer — were widely recognized and universally admired, not for who they were but for what they accomplished. Much of the respect they earned emanated from their willingness to interact with other members of
Like the flowers that bloom in the spring, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Total Store Expo is once again upon us. Depending on when you’re reading this piece, it is either beginning, in progress or recently ended. The venue is Boston, the cradle of Democracy. The dates: August 27 to August 30. The
Walmart’s Bentonville headquarters office is once again open for business, and the retailer’s home office associates are returning to the desks, cubicles and spaces they had diligently occupied before the now-legendary pandemic disrupted their routines, schedules and lives so many months ago. The significance of this event far outweighs the renewed shuttling of bodies and
Ask 100 people to name the two best Beatles songs and you’re likely to get 200 different answers. The point is, identifying the best of anything is not all that easy. To the contrary, it’s a daunting assignment. Which brings us to the subject for today. Can anyone here name the best retailer? Or the
Two stunning news stories, breaking simultaneously, woke up the sometimes comatose world of mass retailing as spring 2022 slipped, almost without notice, into summer. First of the two was the once unthinkable: Revlon, once the doyenne of the mass market cosmetics business, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. To those in the know, both inside
Here, somewhat belatedly, are some final thoughts about the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Annual Meeting, held in late April in Palm Beach, Fla. In terms of overall impressions, it must be said at the outset that this much-anticipated event was all its strongest supporters had hoped for — and one which even its
