Drug chains: how they fared

Drug Store News, Dec 13, 1993

A special report from Drug Store News and Information Resources Inc.

As every chain drug retailer knows, competition for HBA, OTC and GM dollars today is foerce and growing fiercer.

Ther is seldom a day in the chain drug industry doesn't complain that mass merchandisers, food/drug combination stores, tradaditional supermarkets, new kinds of specialty shops and even Avon and Mary saleswomen are gobbling up more and more of the business.

So that is why Drug Store News always closes the year with a special report on sales trends in the core HBA, GM and OTC categories, which include cosmetics, toiletries and over-the-counter remedials. According to Drug Store New's report on annual chain drug sales, these categoties account for 30 percent of annual ales, second only to pharmacy's 36 percent.

This year, we have added a new dimension to our service. We are looking at category trends with scanning data provided by Information Resources Inc., A Chicago-based marketing research and software company.

With IRI's help, we have charted growth trends and share trends for 49 core categoties.