STATER BROS. EXPANDING PHARMACY PROGRAM

WENDY TOTH

COLTON, Calif. - Stater Bros. Markets here has decided to make in-store pharmacies a standard part of its new store format. The chain opened two new locations last month and plans to open three more later this year.

"Pharmacy is a natural way to enhance our stores," said Jack Brown, chairman and chief executive officer, Stater Bros. The chain has more than 160 stores.

The stores that opened last month are in Apple Valley, Calif., and Adelanto, Calif. The three future stores with pharmacies will be in the California towns of San Jacinto, French Valley and Palm Desert.

Pharmacies are located in the front of each new store, Brown said.

Stater Bros. also plans to retrofit pharmacies into a few existing stores over the next year. "We have not determined the number of stores yet," Brown said.

Currently operating 23 in-store pharmacies, Stater Bros. got into the pharmacy business after purchasing 43 stores from Albertsons, Boise, Idaho, in 1999. "Many of the Albertsons stores we acquired already had pharmacies in them, making the addition of pharmacy somewhat convenient," Brown said

But just after the acquisition, Stater Bros. ran the new stores without pharmacies.

Stater Bros. later hired a third-party company to run the pharmacies but bought the pharmacy leases, equipment and inventory back from the third party in 2005 and began running its own SuperRx pharmacies.