STOP & SHOP SETS NEW PHARMACY INITIATIVE

MATTHEW W. EVANS

QUINCY, Mass. -- A quietly evolving movement toward wellness solutions and convenience for the Stop & Shop shopper here has prompted several initiatives in the retailer's non-food aisles, according to John Fegan, the chain's vice president of pharmacy operations.

And not all of those moves, which are in some ways anchored by the pharmacy department, are confined to the aisles. Although he did not want to reveal details about the Ahold-owned chain's proposed expansion of the number of its pharmacy drive-through windows in an interview with SN, he did say that plans for building more than the two existing windows are in the works.

He said the drive-throughs are not labor-intensive and position the chain well against competing drug stores that have the same feature.

"When you have the drive-throughs, the person who just needs their prescription and does not want to come into the grocery store can get their prescription and go home," he said. "But now when they come back and they get their bread or milk or meat, they can also get their prescription in the next trip. So they've got their choice. They can use the convenience factor just for drive through or the convenience factor of shopping the whole store. This gives consumers the whole package."

Of the chain's 203 stores in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, 143 contain pharmacies. Sixty of those pharmacy stores contain an expanded HBC section, called "health/wellness HBC sections." Within the last year, a dozen or so of those 60 -- mostly situated near the home office with the original prototype located in Danbury, Conn. -- have gotten a "health and nutrition center." The health and nutrition center initiative is new. It's in the early stages and evolving, according to Fegan. "We haven't come up with a formalized name for it; we use the term 'health and nutrition center."' Differentiating the health and nutrition centers from the expanded health/wellness HBC sections is food. "More of the natural food than anything else," said Fegan.

He described the new HBC departments as "more of an expanded set. They represent a broader choice of homeopathy and vitamins, and include health-related information pamphlets. The other stores wouldn't have that."

All 60 expanded HBC units -- with the dozen that contain nutrition centers with food tie-ins -- are anchored by the pharmacy, according to Fegan. The number of stores with both areas, called "health and nutrition HBC sections," is on the rise. "The health and nutrition HBC department is right in front of the pharmacy department," he said. "We will continue to expand the number of health and nutrition HBC centers wherever we can, as we have the opportunity."

The health and nutrition HBC program involves cross merchandising products to involve the whole store. In addition to merchandising Quaker Oats in front of the pharmacy, Fegan mentioned that teas are placed in HBC.

He said it was too early to tell how the dozen stores with the health and nutrition centers are doing. About the stores containing only the expanded HBC sets, however, he added, without giving specific numbers, "They are doing very well in comparison to the stores that don't have them."