The chain drug store community is breathlessly awaiting the completion of Walgreens Boots Alliance’s acquisition of Rite Aid, a transaction due for finalization by midyear. The anxiety has less to do with any possible restructuring of chain drug retailing in America — this transaction pales in size compared to some that have preceded it — than with the way it is expected to alter the chain drug ­community.

More specifically, the government is expected to determine how many drug stores Walgreens will have to divest for the acquisition to proceed to completion. Estimates vary widely — Walgreens has publicly expressed the belief that fewer than 1,000 drug stores will have to be sold or closed, while other parties put that figure at 1,000 and higher. Point is, the possibility exists that some third party — CVS is often mentioned — will get the opportunity to bolster its store count by being available to purchase some of the stores that must be divested.

Obvious here, as in many other instances, is the close competitive battle that chain drug retailing in America has become. In two competitors like Walgreens and CVS, chain drug retailing has offered a competitive situation that is unequaled in any other mass market segment.

For contrast, Walmart and Target battle in the discount segment, but that competition is hardly of the dramatic nature of the Walgreens-CVS tussle. In grocery retailing, many battles are evident, but those primarily concern regional companies fighting over one or two markets. Only chain drug retailing pits Walgreens against CVS — with so much at stake.

What makes this competition so dramatic is the fact that both these drug chains rely heavily on basic merchandise for survival. Prescription drugs are, of course, the backbone of each retailer, accounting for about 70% of total store sales. Beyond that, the two core categories are health care products and beauty care.

How these two drug chains fare in the health and beauty categories going forward will determine, to a large degree, how ­successful they are.

Compounding the situation is the fact that retailers in the other mass segments also rely on health and beauty products for substantial sales. Discounters like Walmart and grocery retailers of all sizes have increased their commitment to the various health and beauty categories to attract shoppers and advance sales.

That being the case, the final resolution of the Walgreens-Rite Aid transaction will affect the entire mass retailing community, with the possibility that it will upset the balance that currently exists between Walgreens and CVS.

Which brings up the corollary proposition: The lines which have traditionally separated one retail trade class from another are continuing to blur.

The classic separations — drug chains’ dependence on health and beauty products, grocery stores’ reliance on food, the discounters’ strength in apparel — no longer exist. All retailers today sell basic food items and apparel. And most offer pharmacy services, along with auxiliary products in the health and beauty categories.

So it’s become more difficult for one retailer to differentiate itself from another. And increasingly, health and beauty categories are becoming the easiest way to try.

But trying doesn’t guarantee success. Simply carrying the newest items or increasing the space devoted to these categories in one way guarantees consumer loyalty — or, indeed, consumer interest. And truthfully, Walgreens and CVS have significant leads in their understanding of health and beauty care, their dedication to the categories, and their willingness to offer customers the services these categories require if they are to ensure customer loyalty.

Put another way, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and the entire chain drug community have positioned themselves as health and beauty authorities, while non-drug store competitors are playing catch-up, much as they are in the prescription drug business.

All of which brings us back to the upcoming completion of Walgreens’ acquisition of Rite Aid.
How it ultimately shakes out will determine, to a significant degree, the nature of the mass market health and beauty businesses going forward — and, even more significant, which retailer has the advantage going into the last half of the second decade of the 21st century.