College students have broad array of needs

Drug Store News, Feb 20, 1989

College students have broad array of needs

Ah, college.

Remember entering that bleak little dormitory room for the first time and confronting two cots, two dressers, two desks, one chair and a roommate who had already claimed the good mattress?

Although that scenario isn't as common as it used to be, with more and more undergraduates living off-campus rather than in dormitories, some things never change: like learning to do your own laundry, changing your own sheets occasionally and at least attempting to rearrange the mess when you can't find your bed anymore.

Learning to live on one's own is an education in itself. Kids who, back home, never set foot near the washing machine or broom closet quickly become experts on cleaning supplies, from laundry soaps and scouring powders to "anything with a handle," as one assistant store manager put it. They struggle with curtain- and picture-hanging and devise ways to fit a lot of belongings into a tiny space. Often on fixed incomes, they watch for specials on toothpaste, shampoo and saline solution. And they look to drug stores to fill many of these needs.

Drug Store News talked to drug store operators in university and college towns around the country to see how they cater to this large group of consumers. We found that some offer special services, such as check-cashing cards and note-taking services. Others advertise in campus newspapers to lure the college crowd.

Virtually all pinpoint students' needs and fine-tune their mix accordingly.

Since students' favorite pasttime seems to be eating, they offer large arrays of soda pop, beer and wine, candy, cookies and crackers, cereals, soups and cake mixes, with constant promotions. Some have microwave ovens, so students can heat foods on the premises.

In the fall, they sell prodigious amounts of toothbrush holders and soap dishes, as well as, not surprisingly, school supplies. Because as much as half the student body may live in off-campus housing, housewares and hardware are popular departments, where students seek out laundry bags, irons and ironing boards, clotheslines, household chemicals, wastebaskets, nails and towel hooks. Small electronics like alarm clocks, study and clamp-on lamps, calculators, and tape recorders are also in demand.

Toward spring, they stock up on beach gear like sunglasses, suntan lotions, hibachis and beach chairs and towels, as well as on tennis balls and fans.

For some stores, storage containers and garbage bags move well, especially toward year's end, when students are thinking of storing or shipping belongings.

And all during the school year, drug stores reap strong sales in contraceptives and personal hygiene products (with home pregnancy test kits representing a growing segment, some managers said), dental care, skin medications, cosmetics, contact lens care, shampoos, deodorants and cough-cold products.

Interestingly, almost every chain interviewed named birth control pills as the top prescription among students.

But lest anyone think students have changed over the years, one item remains a perennial favorite among students: water guns.

PHOTO : Stores that cultivate a hometown feel and make students comfortable, such as Rix Dunnington near Harvard, have an edge merchandising in college towns.