In this Issue

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.

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.

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.

How to engage patients waiting to be seen by a doctor at a doctor’s office or hospital has been an age-old problem. Ez WaitingRoom provides a clear-cut answer. DSN spoke with CEO Ed Young about his vision to forever change this experience, and how drug store retailers fit into the equation.

DSN: Please describe ez WaitingRoom — what is it and how does it work?

Although 2016 saw the Food and Drug Administration approve only 22 new drugs compared with 45 approvals in 2015 and the lowest tally since 2010, many in the pharmaceutical arena remain optimistic that this year will see a reversal of that trend.

The passage of the 21st Century Cures Act last winter and the number of drugs already approved by the FDA this year, they said, give hope to 2017 being a banner year for innovative new therapies hitting the market.

This could be the year.

Movement again is occurring in Congress on legislation that would confer professional provider status on pharmacists serving millions of older Americans in many parts of the country. Undimmed by a change in presidential administrations, the ascendancy of Republican lawmakers in both houses of Congress and the ongoing polarization and bitter divide of Washington politics, support for passage of a provider status bill remains strong on both sides of the aisle, following its reintroduction early this year.

Bartell Drugs has more than 60 stores sprinkled throughout the Puget Sound region, with each location featuring its own distinct neighborhood vibe and products. It’s a chain with an eye on growth and innovation, and a string of initiatives in the works, yet it never loses sight of its deep Northwest roots.

There is no question that one of the top nonprescription categories contributing to both sales and foot traffic right now is allergy. According to IRI data, sales of nasal sprays — the category that captures all of the latest nasal corticosteroid Rx-to-OTC switches, such as Flonase and Nasacort — are up 10.2% to $1.2 billion across total U.S. multi-outlets for the 52 weeks ended Feb. 19.