Signs of the times

The top picture is of the pharmacy in our local shopping center. It’s permanently closed.

The next picture is the why… somehow the mall management struck a deal to let in the new kids in town, who are offering lower prices, bigger selection, and longer hours. We already shop at another of their branches.

Even though the closed pharmacy is owned by a big corporation with stores everywhere, this feels like a classic big guy overthrows little guy story. The stores are relatively small, and they only have health and beauty… none of the household items that make an American drugstore so useful. And since the money is in beauty products, and nutritional supplements, you have to walk past a couple of too-eager salespeople (it’s sexist to say salesgirls, although I’ve never seen a male one) in order to get to the Band-Aids or athlete’s foot powder. We’ll see what happens, but we expect Chemist Warehouse will continue to destroy the competition, whether local or corporate.

Chemist Warehouse is better. They do stock a slightly wider range of stuff, they’ve dispensed with the salesgirls, and they’re definitely cheaper. But if a Walgreens or CVS were to show up in NZ, I think it would be a whole different ballgame.