Top Retailers

NEW YORK Look for more changes in the look and feel of the Walgreens drug store.

It was easy to like Vern Brunner.

Independent Pharmacy Cooperative
CEO/EVP: Donald Anderson
Corp. Offices: Sun Prairie, Wis.
Number of Members: 3,300
Web page: www.ipcrx.com

It could have been so much worse.

That conclusion, apparently, is what investors drew from Walgreens’ sales and earnings report for the second quarter ended Feb. 28. And it was enough to push the company’s stock price up sharply and burnish the investment outlook for other drug retailers: even Rite Aid’s stock price responded with a nice up-tick.

The retail pharmacy universe just got a little bit smaller.

Despite Drug Fair’s turnaround efforts in recent years, the regional player has fallen victim to the current economic crunch, filing for bankruptcy protection and agreeing to sell the majority of its assets to Walgreens.

In a week where too much was made of MinuteClinic’s seasonal closings, Take Care Health Systems’ announcement that it will focus on providing greater year-round services is not only a nod to the strong future of the clinic model and its further expansion, but also its expanded role in healthcare reform.

It also should be noted that Take Care Health continues to open up clinics at a very "Walgreens-like" clip; in fact, new clinic openings are announced nearly every day.

When one of the retail pharmacy industry’s best-known merchandising gurus is pulled away from the front end of the store and put in charge of purchasing and new cost-saving efficiency programs behind the pharmacy counter, you know big changes are afoot.