Kroger may prescribe pharmacy for its c-stores

WICHITA, Kan. —One of The Kroger Co.’s convenience-store divisions is eyeing the possible addition of pharmacies in some locations.

The management of Kwik Shop, one of five convenience store chains now owned by the supermarket and pharmacy giant, reportedly is considering a venture into small-scale pharmacies in some of its stores. The chain operates 126 combination convenience stores and gas stations in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.

At press time, Kroger was referring all inquiries directly to Kwik Shop president Jeff Parker, who couldn’t be reached immediately for comment. But The Wichita Eagle reported in late July that Parker had expressed interest in the idea after looking at Kroger’s one convenience-store pharmacy in operation under the company’s Tom Thumb banner in Florida.

“I think that sounds interesting,” Parker told the newspaper. However, he added, “We have looked at a lot of things like that.”

Parker added that the chain has no “definitive schedule” for adding pharmacies to the stores, according to The Eagle.

Nevertheless, the notion of adding pharmacies may not be such a big stretch for the chain, which noted on its Web site, “We like to explore new ideas. In fact, many ideas come from our customers.”

With a retail footprint averaging more than 2,500 sq. ft., Kwik Shop stores have enough interior space to accommodate small prescription centers. And if the chain does move into convenience-oriented pharmacy retailing, its management will have plenty of expertise to draw from; its parent company is the nation’s sixth-largest pharmacy operator, as well as the second-largest grocery retailer behind Walmart, with nearly 2,000 in-store prescription centers, coast-to-coast market penetration and an estimated $7 billion in pharmacy revenues. What’s more, Kwik Shop stores already carry more than 100 Kroger brand items.

As of May 2009, Kroger operated 764 c-stores under five different banners in 16 states, including the 126 Kwik Shop locations.