Drug Fair opening has many shoppers' blessings

Drug Store News, May 20, 1996 by Liza Parks

Clifton, N.J. -- When the newest Drug Fair of New Jersey, store number forty-two, opened in mid-April in Clifton, N.J., even the local priest was telling his parishioners they "had to come see this store."

People queued up in long snaking lines as the doors opened for the first time on April 18th, and they were still crowding the store over 12 hours later when it closed.

Drug Store News conservatively estimates that the store may have been generating at least $3,000 in sales every hour.

"Nice start"

President Frank Marfino, so busy stocking product and helping customers that he could have been an incarnation of Sam Walton, said that for a Friday morning, at least two hours before lunch time, it was a "nice" start.

The Clifton store was Community Distributors, 42nd store, a freestanding 12,200-square-foot Drug Fair. Community Distributors Inc., a $235 million a year corporation, operates traditional drug stores under the name Drug Fair of New Jersey, as well as a chain of deep discount drug stores called Cost Cutters. There are now 26 Drug Fair's and 16 Cost Cutters in operation.

The new store is about 25 percent smaller than the average Drug Fair.

The only two departments to have a home on the periphery of the new store are pharmacy, anchoring the right rear wall, and the one hour photo lab, anchoring the right front wall.

Core drug store departments like cosmetics, fragrances, skin, hair care, over the counter products and greeting cards, are in the center of the store merchandised on gondolas, but visible to the shoppers through overhead signs.

Plenty of GM space

Drug Fair stores differ from an average drug store in the amount of space it gives to general merchandise products, with an emphasis on high margin GM departments like greeting cards, seasonals, party goods, toys, books, stationery, and a full line housewares department, etc.

A Drug Fair pharmacy department typically accounts for just a third of sales.

One of the strongest destination departments in the store is the seasonal aisle where Drug Fair displays its best values. It's also the opening aisle, drawing people all the way through to the back of the store.

Impulse items in front

Several core destination categories are also in the back, including cards, hosiery, skin care, hair sprays, pain relievers, first aid and baby needs. Impulse items like snacks, soda and candy are along the wall opposite the entrance, as is milk.

Drug Fair is a private company and does not release sales figures, but based on the number of people Drug Fair had packed into its aisles during Grand Opening Week and the crammed carts they were pushing through the registers, Drug Store News is estimating that Clifton Drug Fair Store did approximately $150,000 to $200,000 its first week.