The Pharmacist is Out: Supermarkets Close Pharmacy Counters

[Mambo#5]

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Nothing new, but good article.

 

[Mambo#5]

Nothing new, but good article.

 

[Mambo#5]

The Pharmacist Is Out: Supermarkets Close Pharmacy Counters

 

[Sine Cura]

Raley’s Supermarkets, a West Sacramento, Calif., chain of about 120 stores, last year shut down a third of its roughly 100 pharmacies and transferred prescriptions to nearby Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid stores. Those grocery pharmacies had low prescription rates, were losing money and didn’t merit high operating and labor costs, according to Raley’s.

“There is the benefit of having a pharmacy relative to the grocery-sale lift and the convenience factor of having both in the store, but the economics do not work,” said Keith Knopf, chief executive of Raley’s.

Profitability for grocers has become harder to achieve in recent years, and pharmacies play a less important role today in attracting customers, Mr. Knopf said. Raley’s is cutting hours for the remaining pharmacies to improve profits and create efficiency. Pharmacies make up roughly 20% of Raley’s total sales.

If pharmacy really made up 20% of total sales (seems rather high considering Raley's geographic footprint), it makes sense for these regional grocers to bow out. Not worth the labor and inventory costs. Only a matter of time before the rest are closed