Unlearning the drug store business

Chain Drug Review, July 23, 2007 by Stuart Skorman, Chris Murray

This series will explore in detail some of the changes that could and should occur in the new drug store industry of the 21st century.

A pleasant place to be

Imagine, for the sake of argument, that customers are allowed to reshape the drug store industry at will. What would they want to see?

First, drug stores are not pleasant places to be. Customers do not enjoy going to drug stores; they go because they have to go there--because it's the closest place to pick up their prescriptions or they can save a dime on their Bayer aspirin this week.

Customers would like to change the sterile environment of current drug stores to something more friendly and warm. The harsh lighting and Muzak would be changed, employees would be friendly and knowledgeable, there would be an energy and excitement that does not exist today, and not all of the stores would be identical. If customers had their vote, drug stores--through their product mixes, store decoration and even the language they use--would reflect their different neighborhoods.

One of my offices is in the Mission District of San Francisco; drug stores in that area should be influenced by the Latino culture there (there is a wonderful new chain in San Francisco called Farmacia! that caters to Latinos). In other parts of the city drug stores would reflect Italian, Chinese, Japanese or just typically American cultures.

And the stores should be fun. They should be appealing to children, to teenagers, to seniors. They should have a warmth to them.

It may seem silly to make drug stores nice places to visit. Yet, during my first year at Elephant Pharmacy, the pharmacy that I founded in Berkeley, Calif., possibly the most satisfying part of my whole job was to see how much the customers loved the store. They looked forward to their visits.