A MAJOR pharmacy chain has confirmed an expansion, including an in-house wellness center to rival a struggling industry.
As huge names like CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens, one chain looks to massively leap frog the competition.
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Bayshore Pharmacy, located in the Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey, is introducing a series of wellness workshops as the company sees an opportunity to not only educate, but to enrich.
Richard Stryker, 60, is the second-generation owner of Bayshore, and he believes that the amount of conflicting reports is something his company can fix for customers.
The service will launch in only a few days, educating attendees on vitamins, supplements, diet and exercise.
It will also feature regular workshops designed to teach people how to reduce stress, prevent illness and lead healthier lives.
The first class, which is free, is scheduled for April 28, per the outlet app..
Stryker aims to turn his pharmacy into wellness hub with a dozen or more sessions a week, eventually costing between $15 to $20.
He said: “There’s so many conflicting reports out there.
“We’re just taking what we’re trained to do and putting it together into a cohesive package of information, so that way people can get what they need.”
Stryker wants to ease the stress on his customers, who are finding more and more that doctors have less time to counsel patients.
He continued: “We spend time with patients when they’re in the store, but it’s a few minutes and, more often, it’s because patients say, ‘Well, I don’t want to bother you. I don’t want to get in your way.'”
With the industry around Bayshore downsizing, this could be a chance for the store to serve the community in a more direct way.
SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY
And it seems like the community is in favor of this addition, mostly for the reasons that Stryker outlined.
Gary Foulks, 75, of Middletown, has been a longtime Bayshore customer, but has found his doctor is less receptive to his increased prescription order as he has gotten older.
Gary said that the typical response is that “Your doctor is upset because you’re listening to all this stuff.
“Stop watching that stuff and go with what works.”
Stryker is in a good position to help those who need it.
His father co-founded the pharmacy in 1964, and the younger Stryker pitched in at a young age before eventually joining as a pharmacist.
INDUSTRY STRUGGLES
The margins in the pharmacy sector are thin, and still grow thinner by the day.
The strong levels of competition, alongside changing consumer trends has made it very difficult to survive.
The shift to generic drugs has cut profits for companies, as they are less expensive than name-brand ones.
More than 90% of drugs filled in the U.S. are generic now.
CVS closes 900 stores
CVS Health is finishing up its three-year plan to close 900 stores.
CEO Karen Lynch said it has shut down 851 so far, The Associated Press reported in August 2024.
The company announced the plan in November 2021, saying that the closures would lead to a retail presence that ensures it has the “right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers and for the business,” per CNN.
The shutdowns amount to almost 10% of CVS’s footprint, in response to the shifting of “consumer buying patterns.”
The closures are part of a wider change in strategy of the company’s almost 10,000 locations.
Some stores have been removed to include more health services, such as primary care, and an “enhanced version” of CVS’s HealthHub layout.
“We remain focused on the competitive advantage provided by our presence in thousands of communities across the country, which complements our rapidly expanding digital presence,” Lynch said in 2021.
The shutdowns cost the company approximately $1 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to CNN.
Also, the rise in mail order drugs has hurt companies.
U.S. consumers spent $166 billion on mail-order drugs in 2021, up 35% from 2016.
Mahmud Hassan, a finance and economics professor at Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick said: “The margins are shrinking every day, constantly, so it is becoming really difficult for those smaller businesses to survive.
“They have to be innovative to attract people to their business by adding more niche services, niche products.”
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