On the home front, Genovese cares

Drug Store News, Nov 19, 1990 by Al Heller

On the home front, Genovese cares

George Bush spent this election season draped in the patriotic aura of soldiers overseas as he campaigned for his party's candidates.

Leonard Genovese, chairman of 94-store Genovese Drug, spent the same time conceiving a program that would supply our military in Saudi Arabia with essential health aids: sun screen, lip balm, vitamins, insect repellent, mouthwash and other items suggested by American Red Cross.

"The more we heard on the news [about the troop buildup], the more concerned we got," advertising manager Jeanine Higgins told me. "We knew we needed to do something."

Genovese sought ideas at a regular weekly staff meeting in October, reached a consensus and appointed Higgins, who is also liaison with the Marine Corps' Toys For Tots program, the head the effort.

The chain enlisted 20 manufacturers to donate product that it will send to nearly 2,000 service personnel by Thanksgiving. "Most sent new merchandise, others said to credit inventory. Some items are full size, others are trial size. Each service person will get a variety package of about 10 items," Higgins said.

Genovese ran full-page ads in late-October issues of Newsday and The New York Times, plus local radio commercials, urging consumers to drop off completed mailing labels (which were part of the ads) at collection boxes in the stores, or to mail them to the corporate office.

"More than 500 names were referred within a week of the ads' appearance, some with letters that would bring tears to your eyes," said Higgins. "If we get more than 2,000, we'll go back to the manufacturers for more." Donors include: Bristol-Myers, Chesebrough-Pond's, Church & Dwight, Dennison, Dentax, General Foods, Gibson Greeting Cards, Gillete, Gould, Helene Curtis, Kimberly-Clark, Lever Bros., Neutrogena, Performance Labs, Pfizer Oral Care, Planter's, S. C. Johnson, 3M, T/I Pharmaceuticals and Richardson-Vicks, USA.

The packing will be staged at corporate offices. Although store-level workers and customers have volunteered to help, about 35 to 40 headquarters staffers will pack.

Responding to a query about how this effort could further the chain's goodwill and build store visits, Higgins said: "That was certainly not the purpose. This was designed not to be a self-serving mission. If nothing else happens but these boxes go out and some people in Saudia Arabia smile, that's fine."

The six-store Drug Emporium franchise, owned by American Drug Center, Hampton Roads, Va., has coordinated a similar program. Drug Emporium has shipped over $14,000 worth of donated merchandise to U.S. military in the Persian Gulf.

Donors were: Murine, Vaseline Sun Care, Sunglass Products, Western Publishing, Dr. Scholl's, American Greetings, and Howell's Motor Freight, which donated the ground transportation to the embarkation point in Pennsylvania.