Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

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Super S
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: December 9th, 2021, 6:59 pm
SamSpade wrote: December 9th, 2021, 5:34 pm
Update round 2:
La Grande, Madras, Pendleton also to Safeway.
Sunnyside, Wash. to Rite Aid.
Baker City, Ore. to Albertsons. This is the community with a Safeway and Albertsons across the street from each other in a town of less than 10,000 people.
This was really a no good deal. Walgreens implied they were going to be operating these pharmacies or moving files to a nearby Walgreens. Not closing 1 of 2 pharmacies in town and selling the prescriptions to the Safeway that is left (and probably can't handle all the volume). I wonder how this even got past FTC as a transaction. I guess if Bi Mart had outright closed their pharmacies and put the files out on the open market, the only option to bid in a number of these cases would have been Safeway too...
The move in Baker City is a bit odd. I can't remember if they have a Walgreens, but I thought they had a Rite Aid. But then again, the fact that Albertsons (after a short stint as Haggen) can stay open directly across from Safeway is odd in and of itself.

Since we are talking about Bi-Mart, I wonder if they might be planning to convert some of these locations to their Cascade Farm and Outdoor format, which presently has only three locations. This format might work better in some of the more rural areas if business falls off after the pharmacies close.
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by SamSpade »

Baker does have a Rite Aid. It is adjacent to Safeway.
The only other pharmacy in this community is probably at the hospital.

I think the Albertsons has the drive through, which certainly would be a plus. It is also next door to Bi-Mart.
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by SamSpade »

Lingering effects in rural Oregon as Bi-Mart closes pharmacies. Also, more interview/context from Bi-Mart that basically said the pharmacy would put their 80 store chain out of business if it continued. :o :shock: :!:
PBMs and taxes also cited.

Rural Oregonians struggle to get medications as pharmacies close

I believe the 3 remaining pharmacies in Baker City are:
Albertsons (with drive through window)
Safeway
Rite Aid
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by Super S »

I am kinda curious if the closure of pharmacies has hurt the sales overall at any Bi-Mart locations. The ones I go to in Vancouver, WA still seem as busy as before, but I have noticed that they seem to be really ramping up on running TV ads lately, where in the past they tended to only advertise heavily around Christmas. I am not sure what is going on with their Cascade Farm and Outdoor stores, it seems like their growth has stalled.

Bi-Mart fills a niche in many of the smaller towns in Oregon, even without a pharmacy. But I have to wonder if some people have the impression that Bi-Mart is closing the whole store and have shifted to other stores.
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by Alpha8472 »

Pharmacies increase sales because people constantly ask the pharmacist for advice on what to buy. The pharmacist suggests what to buy and sales drastically increase: vitamins, cold medications, stool softeners, fiber, nausea medications, skin care, suncreen, lotions, cream, acne treatments etc.
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by babs »

Super S wrote: May 9th, 2022, 1:41 pm I am kinda curious if the closure of pharmacies has hurt the sales overall at any Bi-Mart locations. The ones I go to in Vancouver, WA still seem as busy as before, but I have noticed that they seem to be really ramping up on running TV ads lately, where in the past they tended to only advertise heavily around Christmas. I am not sure what is going on with their Cascade Farm and Outdoor stores, it seems like their growth has stalled.

Bi-Mart fills a niche in many of the smaller towns in Oregon, even without a pharmacy. But I have to wonder if some people have the impression that Bi-Mart is closing the whole store and have shifted to other stores.
There's a new Cascade Farm store opening in Hood River soon
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: May 9th, 2022, 1:41 pm I am kinda curious if the closure of pharmacies has hurt the sales overall at any Bi-Mart locations. The ones I go to in Vancouver, WA still seem as busy as before, but I have noticed that they seem to be really ramping up on running TV ads lately, where in the past they tended to only advertise heavily around Christmas. I am not sure what is going on with their Cascade Farm and Outdoor stores, it seems like their growth has stalled.

Bi-Mart fills a niche in many of the smaller towns in Oregon, even without a pharmacy. But I have to wonder if some people have the impression that Bi-Mart is closing the whole store and have shifted to other stores.
What I find interesting is CVS did not go after these Bi-Mart pharmacies and did not go after Bartell. I am not sure what opportunity CVS has to get a strong entry into the Pacific Northwest at this point, maybe if Rite Aid goes bust they can finally do it.

CVS could have run the pharmacies inside Bi-Mart just like they do Target.

I think the problem is pharmacies do generate foot traffic. Even a slow pharmacy generates 100+ customers a day and a busy pharmacy generates many more than that. Bi-Mart may have not properly estimated that minus pharmacy folks won't come in as often. The other problem is whenever you give the customer one less reason to visit your store, the customer starts to forget about you. The customer who used to have to go in every month to pick up a prescription but now has to go elsewhere no longer walks part way through your store passively every month to pick up a prescription and no longer passively sees what else you have to offer in the distance. The issue is without that exposure the passive customer who needs something two weeks later doesn't remember your store and just goes elsewhere.

I think Bi-Mart made a tough decision. The financial situation with the pharmacies sounded dire. But they may not have estimated the customer traffic losses that would result from closing. It may have been better to insist a larger chunk of pharmacy counters remained operational in the store by the purchaser of the pharmacies. It seems like they didn't have much leverage against the buyer...
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: May 10th, 2022, 12:18 am
Super S wrote: May 9th, 2022, 1:41 pm I am kinda curious if the closure of pharmacies has hurt the sales overall at any Bi-Mart locations. The ones I go to in Vancouver, WA still seem as busy as before, but I have noticed that they seem to be really ramping up on running TV ads lately, where in the past they tended to only advertise heavily around Christmas. I am not sure what is going on with their Cascade Farm and Outdoor stores, it seems like their growth has stalled.

Bi-Mart fills a niche in many of the smaller towns in Oregon, even without a pharmacy. But I have to wonder if some people have the impression that Bi-Mart is closing the whole store and have shifted to other stores.
What I find interesting is CVS did not go after these Bi-Mart pharmacies and did not go after Bartell. I am not sure what opportunity CVS has to get a strong entry into the Pacific Northwest at this point, maybe if Rite Aid goes bust they can finally do it.

CVS could have run the pharmacies inside Bi-Mart just like they do Target.

I think the problem is pharmacies do generate foot traffic. Even a slow pharmacy generates 100+ customers a day and a busy pharmacy generates many more than that. Bi-Mart may have not properly estimated that minus pharmacy folks won't come in as often. The other problem is whenever you give the customer one less reason to visit your store, the customer starts to forget about you. The customer who used to have to go in every month to pick up a prescription but now has to go elsewhere no longer walks part way through your store passively every month to pick up a prescription and no longer passively sees what else you have to offer in the distance. The issue is without that exposure the passive customer who needs something two weeks later doesn't remember your store and just goes elsewhere.

I think Bi-Mart made a tough decision. The financial situation with the pharmacies sounded dire. But they may not have estimated the customer traffic losses that would result from closing. It may have been better to insist a larger chunk of pharmacy counters remained operational in the store by the purchaser of the pharmacies. It seems like they didn't have much leverage against the buyer...
My perception as an outsider? I see more independent pharmacies in Oregon and Washington than other states. It's noticeable, and if those guys can keep their doors open in this rough environment where chains like CVS actually own insurers but still survive that means less opportunities for the chains to dig in and get significant market share.

Then for chains I am confident that Fred Meyer is probably the #1 volume pharmacy chain in Oregon and Washington. It is clear those FM locations do an astronomical business - every one I've seen has lines of cars in the drive thru and long lines for pickups in the store. The Target CVS locations don't do much business and seemed to be closed in the evening last time I was up there probably from lack of sales. The Walgreens were always dead when I walked in.

I don't think anyone has a chance to get in. CVS has built stores and nobody has noticed. Walgreens seems to be hanging on by a thread. Freddy owns the pharmacy and drugstore business there and it isn't likely to change anytime soon.
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: May 10th, 2022, 12:27 am
My perception as an outsider? I see more independent pharmacies in Oregon and Washington than other states. It's noticeable, and if those guys can keep their doors open in this rough environment where chains like CVS actually own insurers but still survive that means less opportunities for the chains to dig in and get significant market share.

Then for chains I am confident that Fred Meyer is probably the #1 volume pharmacy chain in Oregon and Washington. It is clear those FM locations do an astronomical business - every one I've seen has lines of cars in the drive thru and long lines for pickups in the store. The Target CVS locations don't do much business and seemed to be closed in the evening last time I was up there probably from lack of sales. The Walgreens were always dead when I walked in.

I don't think anyone has a chance to get in. CVS has built stores and nobody has noticed. Walgreens seems to be hanging on by a thread. Freddy owns the pharmacy and drugstore business there and it isn't likely to change anytime soon.
I also notice a real lack of customer traffic in the Walgreens Stores in OR/WA/ID. Fred Meyer has very high volume pharmacies, also don't forget about Costco and Wal Mart. I think Safeway also has significant pharmacy share in those markets. My guess for 1/2/3 is Safeway/Fred Meyer/Rite Aid. I'm not quite sure what order. I think the average Safeway pharmacy may do higher volume than the average Rite Aid, in OR/WA. My guess is Walgreens is somewhere distant 6th place behind the top 3 plus behind Costco and Wal Mart as well.

The reason the Target CVS units close early is because they only want to run one pharmacist for the day... it is an expense cutting move.
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Re: Bi-Mart / Walgreen's

Post by Alpha8472 »

Running a pharmacy is difficult business these days. It has drastically changed in the past 5 years. Pharmacies used to be seen as money makers years ago.

That was until the insurance companies decided that pharmacies are to be exploited to save money. Insurance companies are reimbursing less and less for medications. They are trying to squeeze out every penny of profit by doing everything they can to not pay pharmacies their fair share.

Low income Medicaid insurance is notorious for paying very little money to pharmacies. You lose money on many prescriptions that are filled. The government payments are money losing for pharmacies. That is why Walgreens and Costco have stopped accepting many Medicaid programs. Costco stopped accepting California Medicaid (Medi-Cal).

Independent pharmacies are surviving because they can pick and choose what insurance plans to accept. Some chains such as CVS are forced by the chain to accept money losing Medicaid. The best and most profitable insurance plans are private insurance plans. Government run plans are money losers.

Independent pharmacies stay alive by having the best customer service and individual care. You get put on hold by Walgreens for an hour on the phone. You might never be able to speak to a person over the phone. Independent and smaller chain pharmacies focus on better staffing and attentive employees who go above and beyond to ensure customer loyalty.

Money is made not by filling cheap blood pressure medications that bring in pennies. Money is made by vaccinations which bring in hundreds of dollars. Also expensive insulin make tons of money. The problem is that if your pharmacy over orders insulin, those thousands of dollars of insulin will expire and the pharmacy takes a huge loss. That is probably why Bi-Mart was saying the pharmacies were money losers.

Too many Medicaid customers, too much unsold insulin, too many expired medications, not enough vaccinations, etc. To make a pharmacy profitable you have to sell vaccinations, sell those expensive insulins, sell those expensive specialty medications, move those drugs, recommend over the counter products to buy, etc. It is all about balance and keeping a budget. If your employees are unmotivated and understaffed then of course you won't sell as many vaccinations and you lose out on money.
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