Exit of Ryan, Maione to have big impact
Two game-changing personnel shifts were announced last month: one stunning in its inexplicable surprise, immediate impact and long-term implications; the second unfortunate and perhaps, in the end, inevitable.
Opinion
Drug chains find themselves in a difficult spot
As recent developments in several countries attest, traditional drug stores confront an array of challenges that have the potential to weaken their competitive position vis-à-vis other community pharmacy operators and threaten their financial viability.
NACDS Annual Meeting a major triumph
Over three very special days at the end of April, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores staged one of the memorable retailing conventions of recent times, a thrilling and productive spectacle that brought together the leading retailers and suppliers in America and gave them both the stage an
Evidence supporting pharmacy’s health care impact mounts
Research-based findings supporting retail pharmacy’s capacity to improve the lives of patients and limit overall health care expenditures are finally beginning to attain critical mass.
Competitive environment takes a turn
The severe economic downturn that began in December 2007 has altered consumers’ thinking in ways that a number of recent studies conclude will have long-term implications for retailers.
Suydam shows how to run a trade group
Linda Suydam, president of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, will retire by year’s end after eight years as head of the proprietary medicines organization. At the association’s annual meeting last month in Aventura, Fla.
Health care reform still has long way to go
So far community pharmacy has come out reasonably well in the battle over the reform of the nation’s health care system.
Duane Reade acquisition a good move for Walgreens
and Duane Reade is the city’s dominant drug chain. Moreover, that dominance has, in recent times, come to extend beyond any market share figures (Duane Reade currently
Chain, independent Rx exhibit spirit of unity
A recent edition of The New York Times carried a story about the plight of independent pharmacies in America. Appearing under the headline, “For a Drugstore, ‘Nice’ Isn’t a Panacea,” the article does a good job outlining the strengths of independents and the challenges that they currently face.
Walgreens reenergized under Wasson
To those who have come to know and admire Greg Wasson, the just-announced Walgreens acquisition of Duane Reade comes as no surprise. Indeed, in the year that has passed since Wasson was named chief executive officer of the Walgreen Co., he has thrown off surprises and excitement like a pinwheel.
Things to watch for as the year unfolds
Here are seven events guaranteed to be resolved, debated, dismissed or disregarded in the chain drug industry over the course of 2010. 1.
Rx should prepare for a long haul
The political landscape that retail pharmacy advocates will have to traverse has grown considerably more complex in recent weeks with the surprising victory of Republican Scott Brown in the race for the Senate seat that had been held by Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, for 47 years, and t
CVS Caremark is clearly Ryan’s creation
Like most successful business executives, Tom Ryan is ambivalent about praise.
Regional chains can still make an impact
The sale of most of the assets of Snyders Drug Stores to Walgreens and the planned closure of the balance of the corporately owned outlets in the chain once again brings to the fore the difficulties regional operators confront in an era when the community pharmacy business is national in scope and a
NACDS remains the industry’s hub
Chain drug retailing has changed dramatically in the first decade of the 21st century. Nowhere have those changes been more evident than in the character and content of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.