In this Issue

Shopko Pharmacy had an excellent 2016, led by total prescription growth and increased days of supply, with continued growth in 90-day fills as a percent of prescription fills. “A key driver of our growth was our passion for providing personalized service in all of our pharmacies, with short wait times, expert medication advice and chronic disease counseling,” Darren Singer, Shopko’s SVP, health and wellness, told Drug Store News.

Albertsons is proving that the sum can indeed be greater than the parts. Following the 2015 merger of Albertsons and Safeway — both of which had long and distinguished records of providing health-and-wellness services — the combined company is continuing that tradition. It has expanded several of its pharmacy- and health-related offerings as it shares best practices across the company and introduces new programs companywide.

If you could pick only one headline regarding CVS Health over the past year, the conversion of all 1,669 pharmacies and 79 clinics acquired from Target in 2015 to CVS Pharmacy locations would be a good one. To be sure, those efforts are paying off. In the former Target pharmacy locations, script counts are up, CVS Health president and CEO Larry Merlo told analysts during a February earnings call.

Ahold Delhaize entered 2017 as a newly combined global retail powerhouse that is pursuing a range of initiatives to advance pharmacy and health-and-wellness strategies in the United States. The merger of the European-based Ahold and Delhaize formed Ahold Delhaize last July, producing a giant entity with 6,500 stores in 11 countries.

A pioneer in supermarket pharmacy retailing, H-E-B has been operating in-store pharmacies since the 1950s, when it opened its first full-scale supermarkets, some 50 years after founder Florence Butt opened the C.C. Butt Grocery Store in Kerrville, Texas, with a $60 initial investment. But over the past decade, the Texas-based supermarket and pharmacy powerhouse also has been at the forefront of the movement among supermarket pharmacy operators to expand their stores’ health-and-wellness outreach beyond the pharmacy and into the food aisles.

Genoa CEO John Figueroa has been in the business for 26 years, but he told Drug Store News that the pharmacy chain’s business model is “the most exciting model I’ve ever been a part of.” Genoa’s integrated care model — which centers on pharmacies on-site at community mental health centers — has him excited for several reasons, among them the company’s growth in the past year and the interest that payers have begun to show in the adherence boost exhibited by patients served by Genoa pharmacies.

Purveyors of health products have been riding the baby boomer wave for some time now, and it doesn’t appear to be cresting any time soon. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the number of Americans ages 65 years old and older is projected to more than double from 46 million today to more than 98 million by 2060, and the 65-and-older age group’s share of the total population will rise to nearly 24% from 15%.

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)

Masculine grooming choices are soaring — beard services are up 20%, men’s hair lightening 110% and men’s coloring 8%, according to Kline Pro, which also found men are especially interested in products for thinning hair, finishing and shine. The brands men look for include Layrite, Baxter and Jack Black.

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)