Special Reports Archive

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — While pharmacy obviously continues to be an important part of the business, Lewis Drug — which has larger store footprints of 40,000 sq. ft. to 50,000 sq. ft. — is placing an even greater emphasis on the front end, said Mark Griffin, president and CEO of the 33-store chain.


SEATTLE — You can say Bartell is getting into the travel business.


Bartell, which had an estimated $353.4 million in sales in 2009, began operating travel clinics eight years ago and now has them at 10 of its 59 stores. They were the brainchild of pharmacists Jolene Kalmbach and Sharon Woodward, who got the idea after noticing that patients’ doctors often lacked necessary expertise in travel medicine and that commercial travel clinics were overbooked.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Kerr Drug, North Carolina’s regional pharmacy power, had a busy year in 2010. After shedding 11 stores in the Charleston, S.C., market in 2009, the 90-store chain turned its full focus to serving the healthcare needs of North Carolina’s population.


It was, in retrospect, a wise move. Kerr has launched a series of initiatives in pharmacy care, store design, community health services and iPhone technology at a breathtaking pace, easily sustaining its reputation as one of chain pharmacy’s leading innovators. 


MEDINA, Ohio — The family-owned-and-operated Discount Drug Mart added a line of wigs to its already deep presence within durable medical equipment for oncology patients. Discount Drug, which generated $530.6 million in 2009, is in its second year as an accredited provider under Medicare Part B.

MIAMI — With new leadership at the helm, Navarro Discount Pharmacy continues its goal of catering to the needs of the Hispanic community in the Miami area. Navarro is the largest Hispanic-owned drug store chain in the United States, with 28 locations that cater to the Hispanic market through their product offerings and services.


The company, which garnered about $320 million in sales in 2009, tapped in late 2009 former Bigg’s executive Steve Kaczynski to serve as CEO, and has since further bolstered its management team as part of its expansion strategy.


GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. — When you get north of Syracuse, N.Y., you enter a special part of Retail Pharmacy America known as “Kinney Country,” where people know their neighbors and everybody knows their neighborhood drug store.


PINE BLUFF, Ark. — USA Drug grew up in Arkansas, home turf of Walmart. But to characterize the 140-unit drug store operator as David to Walmart’s Goliath doesn’t do justice to this feisty retail innovator, which wields plenty of clout across the nation’s midsection, under a variety of store banners.


POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — A customer visiting any of Fruth Pharmacy’s 25 stores in West Virginia and southern Ohio will find many of the same products and services one would find at any national chain pharmacy; but on top of that, the chain offers a highly personal approach to retailing.
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The thing that sets Fruth apart is excellent customer service,” Fruth Pharmacy president Lynne Fruth told Drug Store News. “It’s kind of a mix of the best of what the bigger chains can provide with that small-hometown service.”