NACDS gears for regional chain event

Alexandria, Va. The annual powwow for regional and smaller-chain operators is almost upon us.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores will host the 2009 Regional Chain Conference on February 1-3 at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort Spa in Chandler, Ariz. The event is specifically tailored to address the challenges facing senior retail executives who operate up to 250 stores.

Among the highlights: peer-to-peer sharing of information and ideas‹a notion that comes more easily to regional chain operators from different parts of the country who aren?t constrained by competitive concerns. Along those lines, the conference will reprise one of its most popular perennial features: the Chain Member Interactive Idea Exchange.

The gathering will also include newly designed information and idea-sharing sessions for chain members and suppliers; education sessions covering pharmacy, front-end and general management issues; and one-on-one business meetings between chain executives and key supplier trading partners.

This year's conference chairman is William Earnest, CEO with Altoona, Pa.-based Kopp Drug. Speakers will include new NACDS chairman Andy Giancamilli, who is CEO of Katz Group North America and its U.S. subsidiary, Minnesota-based Snyder?s Drug Stores. Also addressing conference-goers will be NACDS president and CEO Steven Anderson and Doug Long, VP industry relations with IMS HEALTH.

To view the day-by-day schedule of speakers and program details, visit the conference website: http://meetings.nacds.org/regional/2009/file://localhost/exchweb/bin/redir.asp.