Opinion

President Donald Trump — nobody saw that coming.

Except maybe one man Drug Store News interviewed for our January 2011 cover story: Stewart “Stewie Rah-Rah” Rahr, the freewheeling billionaire-philanthropist and former owner/founder of Kinray, the largest privately-held drug distribution company at the time he sold it to Cardinal Health for some $1.3 billion.

President Donald Trump — nobody saw that coming.

Except maybe one man Drug Store News interviewed for our January 2011 cover story: Stewart “Stewie Rah-Rah” Rahr, the free-wheeling billionaire-philanthropist and former owner/founder of Kinray, the largest privately held drug distribution company at the time he sold it to Cardinal Health for some $1.3 billion.

Picture a train that's left the station and is picking up speed. That's my analogy for how the health and wellness trend is impacting supermarkets.

Health merchandising is an important trend for all retail channels, but it's particularly crucial for the grocery channel. How it’s playing out will be the focus of this ongoing blog.

You don’t have to be a huge baseball fan to realize that this year’s World Series has two of the Major League Baseball’s prolific Zen leaders at its helm: Joe Maddon of the Chicago Cubs, and Terry Francona of the Cleveland Indians. Both men are “Zen-like” leaders who embrace the moment, thrive under pressure, and allow the game to come to them. What is their secret in influencing effectively, while tapping into the special skills of their team?

About 20 years ago, I took a job as senior editor for Drug Store News. My first beat assignment was the OTC business and about a dozen retail companies, including CVS Pharmacy. Back then, CVS had just won the right to buy Revco, and it was making regular headlines in Drug Store News-FIRST — the weekly news-fax (remember those?) edition of DSN that would later become our daily e-newsletter DSN A.M. — as it completed the biggest integration of stores and systems in the history of the retail pharmacy business.

These wise words were often shared by my late father. (The greatest mentor I could have ever asked for!) In fact, one of my favorite stories was based on this very premise.

South Korea is much more than Psy’s pop single “Gangnam Style” or the TV series “M*A*S*H,” which lasted three times longer than the actual Korean conflict. It’s one of the most remarkable modern economic success stories. The Eighth United States Army, about 29,000 strong, has long had a front row seat, but most Americans have not. Starting with the ’88 Olympics coming out party, South Korea has arrived. For U.S. OTC brand owners, it’s inevitably an A-list market.

A few rules of the road:

What motivates people as pharmacy customers is a complex topic. Why do some consumers remain loyal for years while others disappear? Why are some diligent at picking up prescriptions while some neglect to at all? While individual consumers have unique motivators for continuing to visit a particular pharmacy and for medication adherence, understanding overarching behavioral patterns can contribute to healthier individuals and increase pharmacy business success.