Rex: a celebration of new realities

Drug Store News, Oct 9, 1995 by Jay Forbes

On Tuesday night, Sept. 12, in Oak Brook, Ill., the band struck up a few welcoming notes, and the 11th Annual Drug Store News REX Awards Banquet was open for business. Music and food not withstanding, the focus of this year's REX was on the resurgence of the drug chain channel.

Just a few hours earlier in a thought-provoking presentation by Britt Beemer, president of America's Research Group, a room of attending chain drug executives and suppliers heard factual confirmation of some surprising information - consumers were shopping chain drug stores more than ever before, and expanding their purchases in those outlets. This in the aftermath of several years of chapter 11s, mergers, acquisitions, pharmacy margin decline and, of course, the challenge of Wal-Mart.

In fact, the survivors within the chain drug channel are looking mighty good, emerging stronger than ever after trial by fire; and the resiliency of our market has been tested and found more than equal to the task.

This year's REX Best Regional Chain, for example, Arbor Drug, hung in to outlast arch rival Perry Drug, to watch Kmart stumble in its own backyard, to see one-time deep discounting threat F&M fighting for survival and to stay the course against powerhouse Meijers. Under the skillful entrepreneurial talents of Gene Applebaum and superb execution by Max Ernst, Dennis Wozniak and an extremely able buying and merchandising team, Arbor, with record sales and earnings, is clearly "the little engine that could."

Revco, last year's REX Comeback Chain of the Decade, and this year's REX Large Chain of the Year award winner, epitomizez, the spirit and resiliency of chain drug retailing. Through the management efforts of CEO D. Dwayne Hoven, a self-effacing visionary who provides clear focus and direction, to the operational talents of Carl Bellini, and the competitive intelligence of Jim Mastrian, this chain has virtually re-created itself Revco and Arbor truly represent outstanding examples of chain drug stores that have survived fierce competition to become more vital than ever before.

Sharing the evening with them at REX were such outstanding performers as CVS, Eckerd Drug, Walgreens and combo category management leader H. E. Butt. These chains, along with the likes of newly revitalized Rite Aid, powerhouse American Stores, strategically driven Thrift Drug and many energized regionals like Big B, Genovese, Harco and K&B, underline the vitality of drug chain retailing today.

With the impact of deep discounting blurred, the growth of warehouse stores slowed, mass merchandising (with a few exceptions) beset by problems and traditional supermarkets under-performing in the core areas of pharmacy cosmetics and health and beauty aids, manufacturers have become increasingly interested in the newly re-energized drug chain channel.

Among those are many of this year's Rex category champions. These award-winning suppliers are prioritizing their relationships with those chain performers, willing and able to enter into what category management guru Win Weber refers to as "collaborative alliances."

If this year's REX sent a message, it was that the chain drug industry has a bright future, a strong association to support it and a great publication, Drug Store News, to serve it. It's been a rocky few years and problems still remain, but I think we're going to have some fun in '96 and the years to come.

Thanks to all the supplier and chain REX award winners for leading the way toward a new beginning.