Save Mart closing pharmacy

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Re: Save Mart closing pharmacy

Post by storewanderer »

lake52 wrote: August 12th, 2022, 4:06 pm
You hit the nail on the head here, Kaiser has
40% of the market share in Northern California. You cannot use a retail pharmacy with Kaiser.

Sutter, the second largest health care provider is trying to mimic Kaiser’s in-house pharmacy function via CVS. You also have a population that is young and tech savvy, increasing the likelihood of utilizing online pharmacies.

You have the same amount of competition with half the customer base. Ultimately, the smaller chains are without the corporate backing that a chain like CVS has with Aetna and are more prone to failure.

Reno is a bit more “traditional”, but keeping pharmacies open just in Nevada doesn’t seem worth it either for these mainly Northern California chains.
Raleys kept the majority of its pharmacies open in Nevada.
Raleys closed 4 pharmacies in Nevada:
Reno-South Virginia Street-Food Source- that store is now closed
Reno-Silverada-Sak N Save (Scolaris)- that store is still open.........
Reno-Keystone- that is what looks like an okay performing Raleys but still had the mid 90's interior; the building is very old and very run down. The remodel that is needed, will be very difficult. But it will have to be done, because the store is well positioned (only other competition nearby is a terrible Save Mart, one of the dirtiest and sketchiest stores in town).
Elko

Of the stores where they closed pharmacy, two were the discount format which the chain isn't real interested in at this point. Keystone is a bit of a question mark why it was closed, but it is the lowest income neighborhood Raleys operates in within the Reno area (excluding Sak N Save). Elko I suspect was closed because it was just too far out/difficult to oversee. That closure left Elko in a mess as the only pharmacies in town were CVS, Smiths, and Wal Mart (and a small Walgreens-operated pharmacy at a miner's clinic, no store). Albertsons since added a pharmacy to its Elko Store.

The issue here in Nevada is Save Mart bought Albertsons/Sav-On combo stores. They proceeded to convert 2 to Food Maxx and those did not have pharmacy any longer (one kept pharmacy open for months during conversion then ultimately closed). Of the other locations all had pharmacy, and only one shared a shopping center with a drugstore. Many of them are not exactly in close proximity to a drugstore either. Close, but not exactly convenient.

This move will only further marginalize Save Mart in the Reno market. Save Mart is already not popular here; an efficient and friendly/relaxed pharmacy was one of the few things to like about Save Mart. They run some good ads every now and then, moreso lately than in the past. Bakery/deli are fine but many customers don't seem to be using those departments. Meat/produce are weak. Take that pharmacy connection away, and they don't have much left other than well located but run down stores and higher than average pricing.
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Re: Save Mart closing pharmacy

Post by reymann »

i'm wondering if at some point save mart makes the decision to sell off the remaining nevada stores to safeway. i'm surprised the keystone store has remained open for as long as they have.
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Re: Save Mart closing pharmacy

Post by storewanderer »

reymann wrote: August 12th, 2022, 11:57 pm i'm wondering if at some point save mart makes the decision to sell off the remaining nevada stores to safeway. i'm surprised the keystone store has remained open for as long as they have.
Now that they closed pharmacy they just seriously devalued the stores and I question who would buy them. Kroger should have bought them 10 years ago when Save Mart hit rock bottom but didn't and it is a real shame. Also I do not think any legitimate operator would want Keystone, South Carson, or North McCarran. Also I do not think the expected buyers would want either Food Maxx unit. At this point there is pending development surrounding many of these stores Save Mart has in Nevada and they should be on the upswing just due to having more people around the area.

Keeping that Keystone Store open has done Save Mart no favors for its reputation in the Reno market. However that store serves quite a few people with no vehicle and closing it would certainly create a "food desert." Physically it is in terrible shape, it is a lousy neighborhood, and it is a terrible store. That store is an embarrassment and should be shut down. It was not a great store as Albertsons, but Albertsons had a lot more staff, more offerings, better hours, and better pricing. Save Mart in its initial few years of operation was absolutely terrible. They have had more than a few store director changes there and some have gone in and cleaned the store up fairly well, but it usually falls back down again after a few months. Tough store, tough neighborhood, no win situation. If someone wants a store in that space they need to just start over with a new building. Save Mart has not done its remodel to this store yet (or South Carson, or North McCarran). It is more than obvious these unremodeled stores do little volume. The Keystone Store would be an ideal conversion to Save Mart's "Maxx Value Foods" format. The store gets little traction in its fresh departments (though deli sells quite a bit of hot food), drug department they seem to have largely given up on due to all of the theft, and sales of liquor and packaged foods are quite strong.
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Re: Save Mart closing pharmacy

Post by veteran+ »

"How does Arizona rank for healthcare?
Hawaii is the top state for health care. It's followed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and California to round out the top five.
...
Health Care Rankings."
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Re: Save Mart closing pharmacy

Post by Alpha8472 »

Independent pharmacies and small chain pharmacies have it very hard these days. They lack the huge number of prescription customers that CVS or Walgreens gets. If you have more customers the more money you make. The more customers you have the better the chance that you will sell more vaccinations and insulin. These are the 2 biggest money makers.

Blood pressure medications and cholesterol medications are mere pennies compared to insulin or vaccinations.

These small chain pharmacies stock some insulin and vaccines that they never sell and that ends up being a loss of thousands of dollars at the end of the fiscal year. The pharmacy will go into debt. That is why even Target sold their pharmacies to CVS. They need a huge pool of customers who will stop by pick up prescriptions and maybe get a vaccination at the same time. If you are a CVS customer can go to any Target and pick up your medications. This brings in tons of customer traffic. Previously, Target pharmacies were few and far between. You would have to drive far and wide to find a Target pharmacy. Having a CVS pharmacy really increases sales.

Maybe these small supermarket chains should do a similar deal with a large pharmacy chain? It will be a win for both. Maybe a Rite Aid inside of every small chain supermarket might help out these small chains.
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Re: Save Mart in Reno

Post by SamSpade »

Off Topic
storewanderer wrote: August 13th, 2022, 12:32 amKeeping that Keystone Store open has done Save Mart no favors for its reputation in the Reno market. However that store serves quite a few people with no vehicle and closing it would certainly create a "food desert." Physically it is in terrible shape, it is a lousy neighborhood, and it is a terrible store. That store is an embarrassment and should be shut down. It was not a great store as Albertsons, but Albertsons had a lot more staff, more offerings, better hours, and better pricing. Save Mart in its initial few years of operation was absolutely terrible. They have had more than a few store director changes there and some have gone in and cleaned the store up fairly well, but it usually falls back down again after a few months. Tough store, tough neighborhood, no win situation. If someone wants a store in that space they need to just start over with a new building. Save Mart has not done its remodel to this store yet (or South Carson, or North McCarran).
It is amazing to look at the time warp this Save Mart and the Raley's on the other side of the freeway interchange are. Neither must be good performers for the companies. You're saying many Reno grocers are in this state? Sad.

What is Reno's (and Sparks) economic driver these days to allow for all this competition? Is it really the casinos / lodging / entertainment industries like Las Vegas?
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Re: Save Mart in Reno

Post by storewanderer »

SamSpade wrote: August 14th, 2022, 12:07 am
Off Topic
storewanderer wrote: August 13th, 2022, 12:32 amKeeping that Keystone Store open has done Save Mart no favors for its reputation in the Reno market. However that store serves quite a few people with no vehicle and closing it would certainly create a "food desert." Physically it is in terrible shape, it is a lousy neighborhood, and it is a terrible store. That store is an embarrassment and should be shut down. It was not a great store as Albertsons, but Albertsons had a lot more staff, more offerings, better hours, and better pricing. Save Mart in its initial few years of operation was absolutely terrible. They have had more than a few store director changes there and some have gone in and cleaned the store up fairly well, but it usually falls back down again after a few months. Tough store, tough neighborhood, no win situation. If someone wants a store in that space they need to just start over with a new building. Save Mart has not done its remodel to this store yet (or South Carson, or North McCarran).
It is amazing to look at the time warp this Save Mart and the Raley's on the other side of the freeway interchange are. Neither must be good performers for the companies. You're saying many Reno grocers are in this state? Sad.

What is Reno's (and Sparks) economic driver these days to allow for all this competition? Is it really the casinos / lodging / entertainment industries like Las Vegas?
These two Keystone Stores are two of the worst stores in the area. Another awful store is the Sak N Save on Silverada (now owned by Raleys). Scolaris still has two very old stores operating also, but they are more just "old" as opposed to falling apart; Probably old enough to have asbestos in the floors because the 40+ year old floors look perfect. Those two Keystone Stores had major remodels in the mid 90's (the Save Mart was expanded on both "sides" by Albertsons; it did not turn out well in my opinion).

Slot machines in the stores have kept many stores open in Reno that would otherwise not be viable as stores (many Longs Stores were also like this). Slowly they have shut down. Slot machines kept the whole Scolaris chain going with many locations many years after the chain's grocery business fell down so low that I cannot see how it possibly turned a profit. When a smoking ban was passed 20 years ago (before then smoking was allowed at the slot machines in the stores) it hurt a lot of stores slot machine areas but the slot machines in many stores especially neighborhoods like Keystone did remain quite profitable.

Some stores in better areas no longer have slot machines inside the store as it is not viable anymore.
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Re: Save Mart closing pharmacy

Post by J-Man »

You cannot use a retail pharmacy with Kaiser.
I assume you meant that you cannot use a retail pharmacy with a Kaiser prescription and pay the Kaiser co-pay price. But there is no reason you cannot take your Kaiser-issued prescription to any pharmacy and pay the regular price. And back when nearly every major supermarket and discounter was doing the $4 generics, they had prices that were definitely lower than what I would pay at Kaiser for an identical medication.

I even challenged Kaiser about that anomaly--why were they charging MORE for a medication for people WITH health insurance when it could be purchased elsewhere WITHOUT insurance for less. Of course all I got was some useless corporate excuse.
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Re: Save Mart closing pharmacy

Post by Alpha8472 »

The supermarket $4 prescriptions brought in a lot of shoppers. Now that those are gone, the pharmacy no longer brings in as many customers. You lose a little on the $4 prescriptions, but you get a shopping cart full of sales.

Supermarkets should bring back those $4 prescriptions. It will increase sales. Kaiser also pays for Flu vaccinations at outside pharmacies starting in October or so. Flu vaccinations are very profitable for pharmacies.
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Re: Save Mart in Reno

Post by SamSpade »

Off Topic
storewanderer wrote: August 14th, 2022, 1:25 am These two Keystone Stores are two of the worst stores in the area. Another awful store is the Sak N Save on Silverada (now owned by Raleys).

Slot machines in the stores have kept many stores open in Reno that would otherwise not be viable as stores (many Longs Stores were also like this). Slowly they have shut down. Slot machines kept the whole Scolaris chain going with many locations many years after the chain's grocery business fell down so low that I cannot see how it possibly turned a profit. When a smoking ban was passed 20 years ago (before then smoking was allowed at the slot machines in the stores) it hurt a lot of stores slot machine areas but the slot machines in many stores especially neighborhoods like Keystone did remain quite profitable.

Some stores in better areas no longer have slot machines inside the store as it is not viable anymore.
I often wonder if this is why Shari's is keeping so many Oregon stores but closing Coco's and Sharis in other states left and right (along with other "American diner" style places at least from what I can see).

There are probably other marginal restaurants that remain as 'video lottery delis' in Oregon. The state did change the laws a few years ago (maybe almost a decade now?) to require a larger percentage of sales from non-lottery operations, but most started selling cigarettes at bargain prices or in the case of a Shari's or Elmer's, I guess the overall sales lift them up enough to keep the lottery / mini-casino side of the place going.
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