NACDS awards Costco’s Burnett, S-P’s Barshay
PALM BEACH, Fla. —Two highly regarded veterans of the retail and supplier sides of chain pharmacy retailing were awarded the chain pharmacy industry’s highest honors at the finale of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Annual Meeting.
In a brief but emotional ceremony on stage at The Breakers, more than 1,000 NACDS members, associate members and guests paid homage as newly installed NACDS chairman and CVS/pharmacy president Larry Merlo presented the Sheldon W. Fantle Lifetime Achievement Award to Charles “Charlie” Burnett, SVP pharmacy of Costco. The Robert B. Begley Award went to Stanley Barshay, former chairman of Schering-Plough Consumer HealthCare Products.
Burnett, a U.S. military veteran and pharmacy leader since the 1950s, has carved out a distinguished career as a pharmacy pioneer, beginning with stints at FedMart and Save Mart Supermarkets prior to joining Costco in the mid-1980s. Making surprise appearances at the awards presentation were several top Costco executives, including company founder and CEO Jim Sinegal, who credited Burnett with making possible the development of Costco’s pharmacy from its fledgling beginnings to its current status as an innovative pharmacy powerhouse of more than 400 locations across the United States. Burnett is the only individual to receive both the NACDS Harold W. Pratt Award and the Fantle Award.
Begley Award recipient Barshay has been a key decision-maker in the consumer products industry since the mid-1970s. He was cited for “qualities of great personal warmth, generous spirit and longtime service to our industry,” Merlo noted.
“Charles Burnett and Stan Barshay always will mean a tremendous amount to their companies and to this industry, and these awards commemorate their powerful legacies,” said NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, established in 1989, was renamed in 1996 in honor of the late Sheldon “Bud” Fantle of People’s Drug Stores. The Begley Award—established in 1980—is named in memory of former NACDS chairman Robert Begley.