NEW YORK As Bartell approaches its 125th anniversary, making it the oldest retail pharmacy chain in the United States, it has shown that slow is the way to grow, even as such younger chains as Walgreens and Rite Aid appear on street corners throughout the country.

At a time when the economy is hurting and retail chains in various segments are going out of business, many retailers selling food and drugs are actually growing rather than retrenching. For example, mass merchandiser Costco, also based in the Seattle area, plans to open a store in New York later this year, and supermarket chain Price Chopper has been opening stores in upstate New York. This doesn’t mean the national economy is doing well, but it does show that even in the worst of times, sellers of food and drugs still have a part to play in keeping the country moving.