In this Issue

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.”


BOULDER, Colo. — Now 10 years operating its unique footprint in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy has been revving its growth engine lately. Pharmaca is targeting three new store openings in 2011, and between three and six new stores each year through 2015 — a pace that would put the chain at 44 locations in time for its 15th anniversary. “We will be expanding outside of the states in which we currently operate in the future,” said Mark Panzer, Pharmaca president and CEO.


Pharmacists who intervene with diabetes patients are having a clear and positive impact on clinical outcomes, a new study from Walgreens found.


In a presentation last month, two Walgreens healthcare leaders unveiled the results of a groundbreaking pilot project on pharmacy-based diabetic care. Walgreens launched the project, called Dimensions, at its worksite pharmacies in 2008.



SALT LAKE CITY and RALEIGH, N.C. — As health-related links and applications for smart phone users explode in popularity, Kerr Drug now is offering seniors and their caregivers a simple way to get immediate help in an emergency. The chain has begun offering a new rapid-response and health service system to seniors via a one-touch cell phone link.




Dollar sales for energy drinks were up 8.2% in drug stores for the 52 weeks ended Oct. 31, 2010, according to SymphonyIRI Group. Energy shot dollar sales in the channel fared even better, with sales surging nearly 12% for the same period.


Despite occasional controversy, demand remains strong for the beverages, and the segment is poised to become even more significant as its appeal broadens beyond its original target consumer group.


WHITESTONE, N.Y. — Call him “Stewie Rah Rah.” He doesn’t mind. Stewart Rahr, the man in the bright yellow sunglasses who led Kinray to become the nation’s top independently owned pharmaceutical wholesaler, soon will have more time for his other interests.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — It’s a 53-store collection of independents that serves as a model of neighborhood pharmacy to the nation’s lawmakers. That’s in part thanks to the number of Care pharmacies operating in the nation’s capital and in part due to the franchisee-owned group’s proximity to the headquarters of the National Community Pharmacist Association, which is located across the hall.


“[That proximity] really is an opportunity for us to represent independent pharmacy,” said Michael Wysong, Care CEO. 


NEW YORK — Macy’s stepped up its approach to holiday shopping this season with its first-ever grab-and-go “Gift Shops.” In 400 Macy’s stores nationwide, new main floor Gift Shops offered a one-stop gifting destination featuring limited-edition gifts exclusive to Macy’s, including ready-to-gift techie gadgets, apparel, accessories, beauty finds and chic home goods.