What's with all the new drug stores?

General Questions
#1

Over the last 4 years I’ve noticed a tremendous amount of new drug stores opening up.Mostly Walgreens and Oscos. Not just opening, but entire new buildings being built for them. And the strangest thing is, these stores are being built very close to each other.
Heres an example:

Here in Milwaukee if you drive westbound on Greenfield Avenue, starting at 70th street there is a Walgreens.Then at 84th street & Greenfield there is another Walgreens. Then at 108th & Greenfield there is another Walgreens WITH ANOTHER WALGREENS DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM IT!:confused: Then at 150th and Greefield there is a Walgreens, and another Walgreens at 165th and Greenfield!
On a good traffic day you can drive from 70th & Greenfield to 165th & Greenfield in about 15 minutes. Thats 6 Walgreens drug stores on the same street in 15 minutes! A Walgreens every 2.5 minutes!!:eek: And if you turn either left or right at 108th & Greenfield, you get to a Walgreens on 108th Street in less than 3 minutes!! WTF!!
And between all those Walgreens there are other drug stores, a couple of Oscos, K-marts, Stones Pharmacy, etc, so it’s not like there was a lack of drug stores to start with.
I’ve been inside every one of those Walgreens at one time or another, and they rarely have very many customers inside.
Also, the Milwaukee area has dropped in population, so it’s not like there is more people who need pharmacy sevices.
I’ve also noticed this going on in other areas of the city and state. What’s going on???

#2

Two giant drug stores 14 blocks apart? Ha! That’s nothin’.

I’ve got more RiteAids and Duane Reades (not tyo mention mom&pops and other chains) in a five block radius of my apartment (E 51 Street, NYC) than they’ve got aspirin bottles. I don’t get it either. They’ve sprouted like weeds in the past 3-4 years. After all, how much shampoo can people use?

(When I first moved into my 'hood I used to tell people it was the dry cleaning capital of the world – every block had at least two or three of them. The dry cleaners are still here, but now I tell 'em it’s the drug store capital; there are about as many of them these days.)

#3

I live in a rather average size suburban town. At least two completely new drugstores have gone up here in the last few years. I think its very strange two. There are three CVS drugstores within a 3 mile radius of my house, as well as two Genovese, a Rite-Aid, and probably a few others which are slipping my mind at the moment. However, most of the smaller mom and pop drug stores have gone out of business in the last 5-10 years. Since they didn’t have flashy marquees and name recognition, I tend to forget they even existed sometimes.

I wonder how this ties in with the fact that I keep reading about how there is a shortage of qualified pharmacists in the US, though?

#4

Here in Louisiana drug store can sell alcohol. We also have drug stores on about every block, sometimes they are next door to each other. My MIL works a Rite Aid and she says about 80% of their sales are alcohol. This may be different in NYC.

My guess is that they are using the McDonalds business tactics, the old “we don’t want anyone to live more than 5 minutes away”

#5

Here it’s Eckerds. There are four within a ten minute drive from my house (and each other), plus a new CVS and a Kroger Pharmacy, and add another five minutes to that drive and you’ll find at least two more drug stores. Two of the Eckerds were built in the past three years, and are stand-alone stores.

My husband and I have been very puzzled by this - at least we know we’re not alone.

#6

Market share.

Drug stores are teeming up with prescription drug plans, and fighting over creating ubiquitousness. You’re right, it’s sorta like McDonalds, only more so. Here in NYC there’s also a forced rationalization of moms-and-pops that died out everywhere else 25 years ago.

The balloon may already be starting to burst. Rite Aid overextended itself wildly, with possible fraud charges from its sweetheart deals to by real estate from the CEO’s family. Dunno how CVS, Walgreen, Osco are doing. For a long time the Eckerd division of Penney’s was the only part of that company which made any money (and it did so hand over fist) but I think that’s stopped, too.

Of course, if you’re not under a managed prescription plan, the prices at the chains are often higher than the mom-and-pops - but I’m sure that’s just coincidental :p.

#7

CVS (or, the drug store formally known as Revco) is the biggie here. There’s a few Rite Aids. Walgreen’s is just appearing. Eckerds is making a comeback. There’s one Eckerds store that appears to be stuck in the early 70’s. It’s actually kinda creepy going into it because the decor is so outdated.

#8

What’s with all the new drug stores?

OK, I’ll say it. They need them to sell all the new drugs.

Ba-dum-bum!