How important, as a gauge of success in retailing, is volume? Not sales, in the traditional sense, but volume, as in annual volume or quarterly volume or weekly volume. To those who follow retail performance, it can be extremely important as a barometer of success. Certainly a retailer whose annual volume is counted in the
In the global retailing community, one U.S. retailer has exerted a stronger impact than any other. That impact has not been determined by size or reach or number of stores or by any of the traditional barometers by which retailing impact or influence is measured. Rather, it is reckoned by knowledge of the retail community,
Mass retailing has long been a gregarious profession. In the main, the people engaged in the mass retailing community, on both sides of the desk, are genuinely fond of each other. With very few exceptions. This truism holds not only for retailers who vigorously compete with each other. It equally effectively describes the relationship between
Perhaps the most startling development to emerge from the pandemic — now that we’re being assured that the worst is behind us — is the emergence, or reemergence, of the regional grocery retailer. It is reasonably safe to say that the local or regional supermarket retailer is stronger and more clearly dominant today than at
Our critics have occasionally pointed out that MMR, a supposedly objective business publication, unduly praises the accomplishments of Walmart, giving that extraordinary mass retailer credit for real or imagined successes out of proportion to any semblance of reality. This is true. But it is a truth heavily supported by the facts. The facts, in this
On a recent Monday in May, The New York Times ran a story in the paper’s Business section appropriately titled “Will the Future of Therapy Be at the Drugstore?” The article dealt primarily with CVS’ apparent decision to test the availability of mental health specialists within the retailer’s MinuteClinic nonemergency health care facilities in 13
Walgreens has inoculated hundreds of thousands of Americans against COVID-19 this year using the vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. But the pharmacy chain has not been following guidance from federal health officials about the timing of second doses. — New York Times, April 6, 2021 It has become fashionable of late for the
Spring is here. Why doesn’t the breeze delight me? Stars appear. Why doesn’t the night invite me? — Larry Hart It has long been the belief in this space that the National Association of Chain Drug Stores is the most relevant retail business association in the United States. Our reasons are too complex, varied and
After prolonged debate and careful consideration, the editors of MMR have determined that Walmart be recognized as the publication’s Retailer of the Decade for the 10-year period that ended on December 30, 2020. (A special section detailing Walmart’s decade will appear in the March 22 issue of MMR.) In many ways, this was not a
Editor’s note: This editorial was written prior to NACDS’ decision to hold this year’s Annual Meeting as a virtual event. With the approach of February, the chain drug industry turns its collective eye toward April and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Annual Meeting, that traditional harbinger of the industry’s spring, time of renewal,
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — For the first time in its 35-year publishing life, the editors of MMR have chosen not one but two Retailers of the Year. One of the retailers chosen is — no surprise here — Target, one of America’s two premiere discount retailers. The other — equally unsurprising — is H-E-B, the
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — MMR’s sister publication Chain Drug Review has honored Larry Merlo, chief executive officer of CVS Health, with its Lifetime Achievement Award. It was not a difficult decision. In 10 years as CVS’ CEO, Merlo has remade the company, leading it into the next generation of health care while simonizing its appeal to