In this Issue

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.


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.


NEW YORK — When one thinks of holiday shopping in New York, often Macy’s and Fifth Avenue are the first to come to mind. But the tented holiday markets sprinkled throughout the city during the holiday season are not to be underestimated. Located in such prime spots as Union Square and Columbus Circle, these makeshift shopping villages house snacks and sweets, arts and crafts, and much more. Drug Store News recently visited the tents in Union Square to unearth some of the more interesting items that easily could find a home on the shelf at mass:

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.

PITTSBURGH — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration last year initiated programs that will breathe new life into sales of smoking-cessation products. The surgeon general issued a report titled “How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease,” and the FDA will be mandating that tobacco manufacturers have smoking-is-bad-for-you messages on packaging. 


BALTIMORE — If the government paid for drug cost incentives for Medicare patients with congestive heart failure, the program could recoup those costs and more by spending less on expensive hospitalizations for patients. 


That finding was one of several to emerge from research conducted by pharmacy students at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. The four students presented their findings on elderly drug adherence at the annual meeting of the Gerontology Society of America in New Orleans.