Table of Contents
By David Pinto, founder of Racher Press
Total Store Expo, NACDS’ annual summer gathering, ended less than a month ago, and the appraisals, pro and con, are even now pouring in. Not to be outdone or outgunned, this column will attempt its own appraisal, the result of both personal attendance at the Boston event and comments from other attendees, again both pro and con.
Let’s begin with the positives, of which there are many. For openers, let’s reiterate the simple truth that any event hosted by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores is virtually guaranteed to be successful. So it was with TSE (Total Store Expo, for the as yet uninitiated). In terms of the quality of the people attending; the relevance of the subjects discussed; the timeliness of the meeting; and the enthusiasm of the crowd, both retailer and supplier, the three-day session was, as it invariably is, an unqualified success.
To elaborate further, for three crowded days and enjoyable evenings the attendees participated in or witnessed thought-provoking business meetings and evening events that brought together buyers and sellers in an environment that emphasized communicating and exchanging thoughts, opinions and ideas.
To elaborate still further, the NACDS staff was, as always, exceptionally attentive to their duties (to paraphrase Gilbert & Sullivan). The result was a meeting that flowed smoothly and effortlessly from one event to the next, from one learning experience to another.
Finally, and almost as an afterthought, there was the exhibit space. In these crowded times when the exchange of knowledge sometimes overwhelms the exposure to merchandise, it becomes all too easy to overlook the fact that drug chains and other mass retailers (which NACDS represents more effectively than perhaps any other trade organization) are in the business of selling products to consumers. For anyone needing a reminder, Boston in August was the place to be to discover or rediscover all that’s new, exciting, challenging and, yes, disappointing in the products being presented to mass retailers.
Negatives? There are always a few. Some attendees grumbled that the meeting should not have been scheduled around a weekend (this is an all-too-familiar gripe that will never disappear). Another familiar complaint (this one from suppliers) was the gripe that not enough important (in the eyes of some suppliers) retailers were in attendance. Overlooked in this whiny condemnation was the impressive number of truly important retailers who did show up — and departed convinced that they were right to do so.
Finally, and typical of these events, were the suggestions by some front-end suppliers that the meeting had become too pharmacy oriented. Perhaps it has. But the meeting merely reflects that current state of mass retailing in America: The pharmacy has never been more critical to the success of the mass retailing industry.
The bottom line: Any member of the chain drug industry, whether buyer or seller, who chose to skip Boston last August made a judgmental error that might affect their business going forward. The hope here is that that mistake will not be repeated next year. ▪
