Rx moves front and center at revamped Brookshire store

LAFAYETTE, La. —The Brookshire Grocery Co. this month unveiled a newly remodeled 62,000-sq.-ft. Super 1 Foods store in which it relocated an expanded pharmacy to the front of the store. New exterior signage calls attention to the presence of a pharmacy that is now prominently positioned.

Jim Cousineau, VP pharmacy operations with the 150-unit Brookshire Grocery chain, said the changes will allow the store to stock a wider selection of health and beauty products, and devote sections to diabetes, sleep and therapeutic aids and supplies. New drop-off and checkout areas were added, as well as additional office space for a fully equipped health services and consultation center. Another new offering will be durable medical equipment, which Cousineau noted can be costly for customers and oftentimes is a merchandise category not carried in supermarket pharmacies.

“This will be the first store in our company with a ‘drug-store-within-a-store’ concept,” Cousineau said earlier this month. “We have relocated the pharmacy near the front entrance and doubled the size of the department.”

In addition to the increased visibility, the retailer is expanding its service offering and will offer Medicare and Medicaid billing on durable medical equipment and Medicare billing on the diabetic supplies. “We want to help people obtain the equipment they need through these billing options,” Cousineau said.

Brookshire Grocery operates stores in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.