The most stunning aspect of the recently held NACDS Regional Chain Conference, convened on the west coast of Florida on February 1, was the absence of many of the industry veterans around whom the conference revolved in years past. Tony Civello, until recently the head of Kerr Drug, was absent, having sold his drug chain
A small group of chain drug industry veterans met recently in Cleveland to discuss the lamentable state of innovative and creative merchandising in chain drug retailing these days. The group, consisting of some dozen retailers, suppliers and association executives, concluded that a variety of factors — most notably industry consolidation and the tendency among retailers
The cataclysmic changes within the chain drug retailing community, whatever their ultimate implications for America’s largest drug chains and for the industry in general, are putting the country’s regional drug chains more glaringly in the spotlight. Indeed, not only are America’s smaller drug chains more professionally managed and operated than they have yet been, they
Which events were most significant for chain drug retailing in 2014? As usual, that is not an easy question to answer. In many ways, 2014 was a remarkable year for the chain drug industry, one in which the character of the business was changed, probably irrevocably. The industry assumed a global character for perhaps the
