August 12, 2019 by David Pinto
David Pinto
August 12, 2019, Opinion
A recent event affirmed a retailing revolution. Representatives from some of America’s leading mass market retailers gathered in New York City to accept awards for the contributions they have made to their companies and the retailing community. What was remarkable — or perhaps not so — was that these award winners were all women. They
May 14, 2019 by David Pinto
David Pinto
Opinion
In an ever-changing retail universe, a world where today’s bright hope is tomorrow’s used-to-be, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Annual Meeting, held each spring, remains the standard by which retail meetings are, or should be, judged. To borrow a well-known phrase, to those who regularly attend the NACDS Annual Meeting, no explanation is
September 4, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
chain drug retailing, CVS Pharmacy, David Pinto, regional drug chains, Rite Aid, Walgreens Boots Alliance
2017, Issue 09-04-2017, Issues, Opinion
The current year is two-thirds finished, and the good news is most notable by its absence. Sales are soft, earnings elusive. Hot new items are few and far between. Growth is nowhere to be seen. Meaningful executive job shifts have been all but absent. Mergers and acquisitions have failed to materialize — and even those
August 19, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
Amazon, chain drug retailing, CVS Health, David Pinto, digital retailing, grocery retailing, mass retailing, Rite Aid, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walmart
2017, Issue 08-21-2017, Issues, Opinion
In the aftermath of the failed Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) acquisition of Rite Aid Corp., very little has happened. Rather, it’s like the event itself, or the nonevent, was an ending, a development so sudden and final that nothing else could happen. WBA continues to gather momentum, adding sales and stores in the U.S.
August 7, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
David Pinto, NACDS Total Store Expo, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Total Store Expo
2017, Issue 08-07-2017, Issues, Opinion
The Total Store Expo, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ annual front-end and pharmacy event, is once again upon us. Now in its fifth iteration, it has already been successful in replacing the Marketplace Conference, an NACDS meeting that had outlived its original purpose and had no legitimate second act to call upon. But
July 3, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
Albertsons, Amazon, chain drug retailing, CVS Pharmacy, David Pinto, Walgreens Boots Alliance-Rite Aid merger, Whole Foods Market
2017, Issue 07-03-2017, Issues, Opinion
The biggest stories to come out of chain drug retailing thus far in 2017 are non-stories. Indeed, it’s grocery and discount store retailers that are making all the news, while drug chains continue to anticipate the newest developments — or, more likely, wait for them to happen. In the supermarket business, Albertsons Cos. is making
June 5, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
Brian Cornell, David Pinto, Jet.com, Target Corp., Walmart, Walmart International, Walmart U.S.
2017, Issue 06-05-2017, Issues, Opinion
In late May, both Walmart and Target Corp. issued their quarterly performance numbers. Each revealed some surprises, and both left those retailing authorities who still retain some faith in the business a bit more optimistic than they had been. Here’s a look at the numbers: First, Walmart. Most surprising here was the revelation that the
May 15, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
2017 NACDS Annual Meeting, Alex Gourlay, David Pinto, H-E-B, Martin Otto, NACDS chairman, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Walgreens Boots Alliance
2017, Issue 05-15-2017, Issues, Opinion
Alex Gourlay, co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance, was named chairman of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores at the 2017 NACDS Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., last month, succeeding Martin Otto, who is H-E-B’s chief financial officer and chief merchant, in that post. In his initial remarks as NACDS chairman, Gourlay emphasized
April 22, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
2017 NACDS Annual Meeting, chain drug industry, chain drug retailers, David Pinto, drug store sales
2017, Issue 04-24-2017, Issues, Opinion
New formats are popping up throughout the chain drug industry, as retailers seek to overcome the sales malaise that has ensnared the industry this year. To recapture lost momentum, chain drug retailers are testing new store sizes, new merchandise assortments, new product locations within stores and new store concepts, sometimes all at once. It’s far
April 3, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
chain drug retailing, chain drug stores, CVS Health, David Pinto, mass retailing industry, pharmacy retailers, Rite Aid, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walgreens-Rite Aid deal
2017, Issue 04-03-2017, Issues, Opinion
April is here — and still no resolution on the pending acquisition of Rite Aid Corp. by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. As time stretches out, this indecision bodes ill for an acquisition that was until recently viewed as an agreement with benefits for both parties. Now, confusion is apparently overtaking certainty — and there is
March 13, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
chain drug retailers, David Pinto, drug store merchandise mix, retail shelf space
2017, Issue 03-13-2017, Issues, Opinion
Once upon a time, the basic drug store merchandise mix was a simple affair, a half-dozen major brands in each product category, a handful of popular sizes, a small assortment of line extensions. No longer. Today’s drug store shelves are crammed with both major and supplementary brands. Indeed, sometimes off-brands dominate. Line extensions sometimes dominate.
February 27, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
chain drug industry, David Pinto, Rite Aid, Rite Aid acquisition, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walgreens-Rite Aid merger, WBA-Rite Aid deal
2017, Issue 02-27-2017, Issues, Opinion
The major question in mass retailing this year, as the industry concludes the second month of 2017, is when — and indeed whether — Walgreens Boots Alliance’s acquisition of Rite Aid will be fruitfully concluded. As anyone who really cares knows by now the deadline for finalizing the Walgreens-Rite Aid merger has been extended to
January 16, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
Albertsons, America’s drug chains, Bob Miller, CVS Health, David Pinto, Doug McMillon, George Riedl, Helena Foulkes, John Standley, Larry Merlo, Ornella Barra, Rite Aid, Stefano Pessina, Walgreens, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walmart
2017, Issue 01-16-2017, Issues, Opinion
Going into the new year, several key personnel questions await answers, foremost among them the age-old problem of determining who, in 2017, will emerge as the most influential senior staffers at America’s drug chains. The determination is made more difficult by the fact that, as of this writing, Walgreens’ acquisition of Rite Aid remains unresolved.
January 2, 2017 by David Pinto and Chain Drug Review
Albertsons, chain drug industry, chain drug retailing, CVS, David Pinto, Fred's, mass retailing business, Rite Aid, Target, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walmart
2017, Issue 01-02-2017, Issues, Opinion
The new year is finally here. On balance, 2016 was a year best forgotten. Very few events of a positive nature will be remembered. On the other hand, many unsettling moments would best be reviewed at another time — if at all. As 2017 dawns, several important questions remain to be resolved, a few of