The interminable, never-ending, always dangerous summer of 2020 is over. There are those among us who believed — who still believe — this most infamous season among the most perilous years we’ve witnessed would never end. But it has. As we pick up the pieces, attempt to place and spread the blame, engage in endless
The U.S. retailing community is totally immersed in the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, you would be hard put to find any other segment of American society so completely and effectively involved in this international crisis. Walk into a CVS drug store, a Walmart Supercenter or a Kroger grocery store and you are immediately met by a
DALLAS, Ga. — About a 40-minute drive from Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, in a community that bears little resemblance to the Texas city that shares the same name, a new health care facility has risen, almost overnight, that seeks, with considerable success, to address the problems many Americans face in gaining access to affordable
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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 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
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.