Mom n' Pop Pharmacies now in really big trouble.

Wal-Mart Stores said Monday it will offer 90-day prescriptions of some generics for $10, add several women's medications at a discount and lower the prices of more than 1,000 over-the-counter medications to $4 or less.

The move marks the third phase of $4 prescription program, which began in 2006 and has saved customers more than $1 billion, Wal-Mart said.

With the expansion, the company began filling prescriptions Monday for up to 350 generic medications at $10 for a 90-day supply at Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club pharmacies in the U.S.

In addition, the company will add several women's medications to its list of prescriptions available for $9, including drugs to treat breast cancer and hormone deficiency.

For instance, alendronate, the generic version of osteoporosis medication Fosamax, will be added to the list. Company pharmacies will fill 30-day prescriptions of alendronate for $9 and a 90-day supply for $24 at a comparison of $54 and $102, respectively, that women previously paid for the same amounts, the company said.

Wal-Mart also will lower the prices of more than 1,000 over-the-counter medications to $4 or less in its pharmacies, company officials said. The over-the-counter medication price rollbacks represent about one-third of the retailer's over-the-counter medicines. Included in the program are generic versions of versions of Zantac, Pepcid and Claritin.

Since 2006, Wal-Mart's $4 generic drug program has expanded to every state, except North Dakota, where Wal-Mart has no in-store pharmacies. And many company competitors have followed the retailer's lead.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354186,00.html

ohio county wrote:Or, like Kroger's, more pharmacies will choose to compete with them and prices will come down across the board...

30-day prescriptions of alendronate for $9 and a 90-day supply for $24 at a comparison of $54 and $102, respectively,

ohio county wrote:I'm not so sure about that. Of course, many downtowns have tumbleweeds bobbing down the street because the strip malls are building on the periphery of the city. Charleston was lucky to be able to develop all that crummy real estate into the mall downtown. Plus Charleston has all those government buildings. So, yes, small stores are going under. I would dispute to what degree that was caused by Wal-Mart. And, sure, Wal-Mart demands huge volume discounts. But thirty years ago they were just a hokey little department store in Mule Droppings, Arkansas. There was nothing holding back any dismal little dime store from going global.

Stephanie wrote:Big boxes are not Walmart.

I realize you think you know everything there is to know about every subject, but on this one, you're dead wrong.

Those products are manufactured exclusively for Walmart......just like the Rubbermaid products Janet made until her factory closed down a few years ago.....by cutting corners, inferior materials etc to decrease production costs to suit Walmart. If the GE toaster from Walmart is the same exact one sold at Sears......why add that little tag to the packaging? Because the toaster is different. Looks the same, not the same quality, just like those garbage cans.

Big-box store is a term that refers to a style of physically large chain store, and by extension to the company behind the store. The terms superstore, megastore, and supercenter also refer to these retail establishments.

Contents [hide]
1 Characteristics
2 Types
3 Criticism
4 Big box stores in various countries
4.1 Hong Kong
4.2 United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
4.3 Canada
4.4 United States
4.5 New Zealand
4.6 India
5 See also
6 References
7 External links



[edit] Characteristics
Typical characteristics include the following:

Large, free-standing, rectangular, generally single-floor structure built on a concrete slab. The flat roof and ceiling trusses are generally made of steel, the walls are concrete block clad in metal or masonry siding.
Floor space several times greater than traditional retailers in the sector; in North America, generally more than 50,000 square feet (4650 m²), sometimes approaching 200,000 square feet (18,600 m²), though varying by sector and market. In countries where space is at a premium, such as the UK, the relevant numbers are a fraction of that.
Location in suburban or rural areas, often in proximity to freeway cloverleaf interchanges, as opposed to downtown shopping districts.
This design provides space for a large amount of merchandise and serves as an enormous billboard to attract customers. It is particularly favored by volume discount retailers.


[edit] Types
Generally, big-box stores can be broken down into two categories: general merchandisers, such as Wal-Mart and Target, and so-called category killers—such as Home Depot, Barnes and Noble, or Circuit City—which specialise in goods within a specific range, such as hardware, books, or electronics. In recent years, many traditional retailers—such as Tesco and Praktiker—have opened stores in the big-box-store format in an effort to compete with big box-chains, which are expanding internationally as their home markets reach maturity. [1]


[edit] Criticism
Opponents criticize big boxes especially for being visually overbearing, wasteful of open space, and deleterious to community and small businesses. Proponents point to consumer benefits from greater convenience and lower cost of goods, and the ability of such stores to draw in tax-generating consumers from a wide area. In recent years, particularly in Canada, commercial developers have chosen to build big box stores (often grouped together in so-called "power centres") in lieu of traditional shopping malls. Examples include Deerfoot Meadows (Calgary), Preston Crossing (Saskatoon) and South Edmonton Common (Edmonton).


[edit] Big box stores in various countries

[edit] Canada
Apart from major American big-box stores such as Wal-Mart Canada, and Home Depot, there are many retail chains operating exclusively in Canada. These include stores such as Zellers/Home Outfitters, Loblaws/Real Canadian Superstore, Rona, Winners/Homesense, Sport Chek, Canadian Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart, and many others.

The indigenous Loblaw Companies Limited has expanded and multiplied its Real Canadian Superstore (and Maxi & Cie in Quebec) branded outlets to try to fill any genuine big-box market and fend off the damaging competition that a large Wal-Mart penetration would inflict on Canadian-based retailers.

There are currently more than 300 power centres, which usually contain multiple big-box stores, located throughout Canada.


[edit] United States
In the United States, a superstore is usually a type of department store, equivalent to the European term hypermarket. However sometimes it refers to specialist category killer retailers.

Usually associated with large chains such as Target and Wal-Mart, a superstore sells a wide range of products, from toys and electronics to clothing and groceries and even furniture, sporting goods and automotive supplies. These types of stores advertise "one stop shopping", where customers can stop just once at their store and buy everything they need or want. Most superstores are located on a single level, as opposed to many department stores which are often multi-leveled.


Non-traditional exterior of a SuperTarget, Jacksonville.Meijer is generally credited with pioneering the superstore concept in the United States. The first Meijer Superstore opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1962 (In contrast, Wal-Mart didn't open its first Superstore until 1988).

Superstores should not be confused with warehouse club stores, such as Sam's Club, Costco, and BJ's Wholesale Club. While many superstores are as large as some warehouse stores, superstores do not require the customer to purchase large quantities of items. The superstores provide the bulk breaking that warehouse stores lack.

The term "superstore" is also used for some large specialist retailers, such as Home Depot which fills the gap of building supplies in other superstores by supplying just those items in their stores. Another example is Fry's Electronics which stocks mostly high technology/electronics items, with occasional house appliances.

It seems to me that a manufacturer would be taking a big risk of tainting its brand name reputation by doing this unless it did it under an "off brand" name.

ziggy wrote:It seems to me that a manufacturer would be taking a big risk of tainting its brand name reputation by doing this unless it did it under an "off brand" name.

But again, she was there and I wasn't. So I am not challenging her word- only shaking my head at the risk Rubbermaid was taking to its good name.

Is Rubbermaid still around? I am thinking not.

Hell, maybe Wal-Mart should have just bought out Rubbermaid- or at least the Rubbermaid name- and maybe continued buying stuff from the same manufacturing plants, operating under Wal-Mart's under-cutting specs.

Stephanie wrote:
Big boxes are not Walmart.