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
Thirty-five years have passed since the initial issue of Mass Market Retailers rolled off the press. During that time, the editors of MMR have unfailingly named a Retailer of the Year each January. Our editors had much to choose from, for our definition of mass market retailers included grocery, chain drug and discount retailers. The
As 2020 finally and reluctantly gives way to 2021, the mass retail community is understandably optimistic about the year ahead. As background, much has changed, more perhaps than in any other 12-month period in the history of retailing in America. Foremost among these shifts in consumer shopping habits is the undeniable fact that online shopping,
It’s finally happened: Amazon has announced its intention of entering the pharmacy business. With that announcement, the potential disruption of the retail pharmacy business in America has become, in an instant, a very real possibility. Given Amazon’s well-documented ability to upset the settled order of things, coupled with the online retailer’s proven success rate in
Wednesday, October 7, 2020, will be remembered or fondly recalled by mass retailing aficionados as the day a microcosm of the mass retailing community assembled, virtually, to discuss the past, debate the present and predict the industry’s future. As background, the event was conceived, assembled and choreographed by Scott Emerson, founder and CEO of the