In this Issue

MIAMI — Navarro Discount Pharmacy recently celebrated the opening of its 30th store in Homestead, Fla., in the Homestead Pavilion Shopping Center. The store further differentiates the retailer from its competition and caters to the Hispanic market with its mix of ethnic products, such as chili peppers, piñatas and Jumex nectars.


The National Community Pharmacists Association recently unleashed a new front-end program that has seen more than 20% growth in test pilots. 
Driving that program is 35-year retail veteran Gabe Trahan, NCPA senior director of store operations and marketing. Drug Store News caught up with Trahan to discuss the kinds of tools that can be 
accessed as part of the new program. 


DSN: What are the primary elements?


NEW YORK — Duane Reade continues to raise the bar and reshape how consumers shop consumables at drug stores with its revamped 24-hour location at 52nd Street and Broadway in New York.


To better reflect the needs of the neighborhood, which is brimming largely with tourists and business travelers, Duane Reade transformed the former 3,100-sq.-ft. Duane Reade Express store into a 20,000-sq.-ft. health, beauty and daily living destination.


In late December, Drug Store News caught up with ECRM president Mitch Bowlus to find out what was in store for the company’s highly successful series of Efficient Program Planning Session meetings and the constantly evolving MarketGate technology that helps drives them.


DSN: Mitch, this recession continues to hammer consumers, yet it seems that ECRM continues to grow. How has your business managed that?


The role of the pharmacist has evolved considerably over the past decade, and few things exemplify that evolution more than pharmacists taking an active role in patients’ medication therapies and consulting with them one-on-one.


NEW YORK — Everybody talks about “Health & Wellness” and “Product Innovation.” But what do those words actually mean to the consumer?

Rather than take off for Christmas, the editors of Drug Store News took a look at the year ahead and the stories, issues and trends that will make headlines in retail pharmacy in 2012.

Since the inception of retail-based health clinics in 2000, the concept has grown to more than 1,300 locations throughout the United States and, in more recent months, has celebrated several significant milestones that prove clinics are not only an integral part of the U.S. healthcare system but also are a viable model for retailers when handled correctly. The real question now: Are we on the brink of clinics version 2.0?