NACDS Annual Profile Tracks Declining Number of Stores

The 2009-2010 Chain Pharmacy Industry Profile is a valuable compilation of data on retailing, business functions and healthcare services coming from pharmacies. NACDS, the sponsor of the publication, also includes detailed data on employment and tax revenues, state-by-state, making the not-too-subtle point to state governments of the value of its members’ business.

By NACDS calculations, the number of pharmacy stores (of all types, not just chains) has dropped to 53,658, continuing a trend that started last year (Table 2). In 2008, unlike 2007, almost every type pharmacy category declined. However, NACDS notes that store counts have been changing (mostly because of the decline of independent pharmacies); back in the early 1990s, the count of all pharmacies peaked at 58,600.

See Table 1 for the ranking of top chains (along with a count of the number of stores they have).

Other data points:

• The back-end/front-end sales ratio for chains is now prescriptions, 68.5%, non-prescription, 32.5%.
• The average pharmacy reimbursement across all payers in 2008 was $71.69 per prescription. Of that, manufacturer net profit is $9.02 (12.6%); retail net profit is $0.86 (1.2%); and wholesaler net profit is $0.41 (0.57%).

The report is available for purchase at the NACDS website, nacds.org. PC