Top Retailers

85% — that’s more or less the combined market share for the companies that make up the 2011 DSN PoweRx50, approximately $185 billion of the total $218 billion retail pharmacy industry. Numbering almost 50,000 stores among them, or more than 8-of-10 of all the pharmacies in the United States — BAM! — the DSN PoweRx50 indisputably reflects the true titans of the retail pharmacy industry.


A fresh new vision has come into view at Duane Reade as the Walgreens-owned retailer expanded its fresh food and grocery offerings. In its Union Square store in Manhattan, shown here, consumers are greeted by an expansive food offering that includes an island of such on-the-go meals as oatmeal, sushi, sandwiches and salads; baked goods with a self-service coffee bar; and an array of frozen foods. The concept also prominently features the store-brand DR Delish line of premium snacks and beverages.


The time is now to move any breast-feeding products from the floor of the baby care aisle to eye level — as Walgreens has done here — because mom’s interest in the category received two big boosts earlier this year.


Many analysts have voiced concern that despite numerous indications of a slow, but healthy, economic recovery in the United States, growth in the number of jobs has lagged, even as it has exceeded economists’ expectations.


But another indicator that the economy is picking up speed is U.S. sales growth at Costco Wholesale, the members-only mass merchandiser based in Issaquah, Wash. For fiscal 2010, sales at the company’s 424 U.S. stores — which the company officially calls warehouses — were $59.6 billion, compared with $56.5 billion in 2009.



A new partnership with Gold Standard/Elsevier has solidified Thrifty White Pharmacy’s efforts to bring big-city services to its small-town customer base, which is spread across five states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Iowa and Montana. 


The Maple Grove, Minn.-based chain of 84 stores recently licensed Alchemy, a new drug database and decision support solution, for all of its pharmacy and telepharmacy dispensing systems. The new partnership will enable the chain to streamline its prescription filling process and provide drug information to pharmacists instantly.


Target is branching out.


Buoyed by surging profits and customer satisfaction scores, the Minneapolis-based giant is reaching into Canada, preparing a new small-store format for urban areas and going after a bigger share of the nation’s grocery dollar. Target also is spending billions on store renovations, aggressively leveraging a new loyalty card program and growing its commitment to health at its pharmacies and in-store clinics.


CVS/pharmacy has expanded its highly successful ExtraCare loyalty program with the launch in January of the first-ever beauty club program for the retail pharmacy channel. The CVS/pharmacy ExtraCare Beauty Club provides ExtraCare cardholders, who register their cards, with additional rewards on beauty purchases and other beauty-specific benefits. 


Health and wellness is a major focus for grocer Albertsons, and that also holds true for its youngest of customers. 


Enter Healthy Kidz Club.