NACDS Small Chain Conference turnout sets record

Drug Store News, March 2, 1992 by Allene Symons

NEW ORLEANS -- A record number of small-chain executives from 66 drug chains--up from 50 chains last year--convened in the Crescent City to garner new strategies, ranging from evaluating third-party contracts and financial posturing to pharmacy recruitment and loss prevention.

Vendor attendance also reached a new high. A revised conference format provided for quarter-hour scheduled meetings between retailers and suppliers, and no doubt beefed up the roster to 30 different suppliers against 25 last year.

The formal agenda highlighted key industry issues, largely the negative impact of regulation on chain drug stores, and offered a pro-active forum for exploring ways to brace the bottom line in a time of change.

To this end, NACDS chairman Philip Beekman of Hook-SuperRx Inc. remarked in the opening business session: "As an industry and as individual store owners, there is a necessity of alliance-building for ourselves and for our future."

He noted that chain drug store sales increased around 10 percent in 1991 and although mass merchandisers are making deep inroads, "We see very positive indications of growth in the future," said Beekman, adding that "it will demand higher productivity levels with lower margins."

Managing regulation

NACDS president and ceo Ronald Ziegler addressed two of the issues concerning drug store chains: the movement for a single, six-year pharmacy degree (against which small-chain members adopted a resolution at last year's meeting), and the impact of regulations such as mandatory counseling on drug store chains.

"Pharmacy care. . . is a chameleonic word. It takes on the coloration of whatever the speaker wants it to mean," said Ziegler. He noted that chain drug stores are wrongly labeled as driven only by the economic side of regulation, yet chains have "taken the lead" in many facets of pharmacy care ranging from patient counseling to drug utilization review as well as implementing the automation for administering such services.

On the single-vs.-multiple degree issue, Ziegler noted that such regulation would hurt chain drug stores more than other segments of pharmacy. "If a single degree comes into use, it will lead to an increasing manpower problem," said Ziegler, who cited the current shortage of 15,000 pharmacists in the U.S.

In a related issue raised in general session, Ziegler challenged APhA's representation on the ACPE accrediting board. Noting that of the board's 30,000-plus members, around 18,000 are practicing pharmacists while another 13,000 are students. Ziegler said, "It is time that we in pharmacy began to address this. There's no reason that APhA should have [as many as] three appointments to the accrediting agency."

Alliance on schedule

The new conference format of retail-supplier meetings brought mixed reviews. Some vendors, such as John Moscone of Eveready, liked the arrangement: "The chains were there at the meetings and that was very positive." DuPont's Robert Wilson agreed, saying, "the format was excellent. . . it was well worthwhile spending the day here."

Drug store executives mingled outside meeting rooms while awaiting appointments, but some questioned the short-meeting format. Grant Anglemeyer of Judd Drug Stores in Elkhart, Ind., disliked the down time and explained, "I would rather have waited my turn than to make an appointment, leave and come back for the next one."

Some retailers used the down time to swap ideas; many told Drug Store News that such exchange is the most valuable feature of the small-chain conference.

Along with lively presentations covering marketing and financial strategies, the breakout sessions offered a chance for smaller groups to pool ideas on pharmacist recruitment and loss prevention.

A number of retailers, however, said they would prefer a program with less structure and more opportunity for retailers to informally talk one-on-one.

One executive from a southeast chain--who thought this kind of exchange was somewhat limited at the New Orleans show--said, "I came away with five good ideas last time, enough to pay for my NACDS membership for years, but I'm coming away with less this time."

Yet, the new format suited some retailers, like Stan Brooks of Pelton's Drug Stores in Pelton, Conn., who said, "It was a good balance between formal and informal settings."

PHOTO : Jerry Rosenberg of Peterson Drug Co. (l) with Penn Keller of Valco Drug Stores (c) and Danny Kantor of Drug World (r).

PHOTO : Bill Latvis and Margaret Urquhart of Wellby Super Drug Stores poised to talk with vendors.