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Elephant Pharm CEO sees expansion ahead
Oakland Tribune, Jul 29, 2007 by Blanca Torres
Years before Kathi Lentzsch joined Elephant Pharm; founder Stuart Skorman had tried recruiting her to work for the company several times; She finally agreed when Skorman decided to replace himself as chief executive; Just befor...
Q: Why do you think Elephant Pharm could be a national chain?
A: The traditional drugstore business is one of the last retail segments that has not changed in 50 years. ... Customers are hungry for something new. Customers want things that are better for them today. Whole Foods has proven that. I know that applies to the health industry as well, and it's one of the reasons I think our customers have shown us how much they like what we're doing.
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Also, if you've been in Walgreens or a Rite Aid or one of those stores lately, how often do you want to hang out in one of those stores? We found that most customers head to the pharmacy and get out of there as quickly as they can. They pick some things up out of the convenience of being there, but they're not there for an enjoyable shopping experience.
In our stores, they come in and they want to hang out. They're in our stores 40 to 45 minutes because we actually have product in the front of our stores that our customers covet, they want it. Instead of a cheap frame, we have a nice frame. Instead of Twinkies, we have PowerBars. Instead of Ajax, we have Seventh Generation.
Q: You've worked for various companies. What made you decide to leave when you did?
A: Every company was different. In some cases, I had burned myself out. I wasn't very good at balance. I had given 200 percent and I knew I was at a point where it was best for me and best for the company for me to take a break.
On other occasions, I was looking for a bigger challenge. I always wanted to run a company or have my own business. Ifrom Business 1
come from a family of entrepreneurs. I was trying to build a path that would get me there. Sometimes, it was just an opportunity that was put in front of me that seemed like the right thing at the right time.
Q: How is your role at Elephant Pharm different or similar to other experiences you've had in your career?
A: It's the first time I've been a chief executive and a president. I have the responsibility for everybody, which is humbling on one hand and empowering on the other. It's something that I take very seriously and something I've wanted to do for a long time. And, in this case, I have the opportunity to build a business that is a place people actually want to work for as opposed to a lot of businesses people want to leave.
I would like for us to be in the top 100 companies to work for, and I think we're on our way.
Q: For people who aren't familiar with Elephant Pharm, what do you think would draw them in?
A: The single biggest thing is that we pride ourselves on really caring about our customers. A customer can come into the store and get one-on-one help, and it's everything from practitioner advice to pharmacist consultations to actually being able to try various products.
You go into a traditional drugstore and that's not going to happen. We have the free classes, free consultations, free mini- facials, free makeovers. All of those things create contact between the customer and somebody from our store.
Contact Blanca Torres at (925) 943-8263 or btorres@cctimes.com. Read her blog, Shop Talk, at cctextra.com/blogs/shoptalk.
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