An Example of Remora Marketing That Launched the National Chain Drug Store Boom

by: Geoff Ficke

An Example of Remora Marketing That Launched the
National Chain Drug Store Boom

Before the middle of the 20th century there were no national chain drug stores. The neighborhood pharmacy was typically owned by a local druggist. There were multi-door local groups of stores in some big cities. For the most part these pharmacies filled physician’s scripts; operated a soda fountain and carried only a minimum inventory of basic over-the-counter Health Aid products. The multi-aisled, heavily stocked, promotional stores we know today were still in the future.

Milton Eckerd opened his first pharmacy on Erie, PA in 1898. The original Eckerd Drug Store was operated as a stand-alone store for years. It wasn’t until 1952, when Milton Eckerd’s son Jack bought three stores in Florida that Eckerd evolved into something that could be called a “chain”. This was only the first step for the ambitious Jack Eckerd. He was about to start an expansion that would forever change the face of American drug store retailing.

Jack Eckerd quickly realized that with a large and growing number of stores, he could Buy, Market, Merchandise and promote a much greater range and inventory of goods in front of his pharmacy dispensing windows. The “front” of a drug store was about to become a traffic and profit generator for the first time. In order for this Business Model to take off Mr. Eckerd needed to drive a much larger head count into his stores.

This need for foot traffic lead Eckerd Drug Stores to create a classic example of a remora Marketing Strategy. The remora is the little fish that rides along the oceans currents snuggly on the back of ferocious sharks. As the great predatory shark makes its kills and feeds, the remora enjoys cleaning up the bits and pieces that are too small for the host to bother eating. Eckerd Drug Stores became the remora to supermarket sharks.

Whenever a chain supermarket announced a new location Eckerd Drug Stores would rush in and lease space adjacent to the food retailer. Supermarkets work on very thin margins, are heavily promotional and require huge flows of foot traffic to stay profitable. Jack Eckerd recognized that by employing a type of retail remora strategy his stores would profit greatly from the convenience of being situated so close to such heavy consumer traffic.

By 1961 there were over 1500 Eckerd Drug Stores and the chain was taken public. Eventually Mr. Eckerd sold his chain to JC Penney and retired to a life of public works and philanthropy. The stores were later sold off in geographic divisions to Jean Coutu of Canada, CVS and Rite-Aid. Mr. Eckerd endowed Florida Presbyterian College in St. Petersburg, FL, today renamed Eckerd College in his honor.

The simple, but pioneering remora Marketing Strategy that Jack Eckerd perfected helped the advance of mass merchandise consumer product marketing. Before the growth of Eckerd Drug Stores, merchandising in pharmacies was primitive. The advent of the national chain model enabled manufacturers from diverse industries such as Cosmetics, Oral Care, Wellness, Health Aids, Gift Cards, and convenience Foods and small Household Goods to greatly expand distribution and drive down costs and retail prices. Consumers no longer simply went to the pharmacy for a prescription refill, they shopped while they waited for completion of their service.

While the Eckerd name no longer adorns the stores he created, Jack Eckerd will always be a legend in the retail world. His skills as a businessman, visionary and marketer are legendary. He changed the way products are sold in ways that affect each of us to this day. He also used the vast wealth he accumulated in so many positive ways. A life well lived!