Wednesday, March 14, 2001
The pharmacy owner says his competition isn't the big drugstore chains but mail-order plans.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
CORNERSBURG -- A small pharmacy has moved away from a neighboring Rite Aid store, but its owner said he hasn't surrendered in his three-year battle with the retailing giant.
Family Discount Drugs has moved just down the street to 3307 Canfield Road but a court battle against the 3,800-store chain continues, said Bill Ronci, owner of Family Discount Drugs.
He had the option in January of renewing a lease on his former store at 3525 Canfield Road for five more years. Rite Aid bought the plaza that housed his store in 1998, unsuccessfully tried to buy him out and then opened its own store next door in 1999.
"I hated to move away from them because I was picking up business from them," Ronci said.
He said he knew, however, that Rite Aid would not renew his lease in five years and the building just down the street was available. So he moved into the former Conva-Med Pharmacy.
Effect on sales: Ronci said his store's sales are up nearly 20 percent since Rite Aid opened. He attributes the gain to people being angry with Rite Aid for picking on a smaller retailer.
A Rite Aid spokeswoman could not be reached to comment.
Ronci, who owns two other area pharmacies and two gift shops, sued the Camp Hill, Pa.-based drugstore chain last year for actions that he claimed were designed to shut down his store and for water damage sustained during construction. Rite Aid was proposing changes in the parking lot and to his receiving dock in the rear that would have hampered his business, he said.
Having Rite Aid next door would not have bothered him if it wouldn't have taken such actions, he said. Ronci is confident that the personal touch of his stores and competitive pricing of his stores is enough to make his small chain successful.
Competition: He said his biggest competitor is the increasing number of health insurers who are using mail order for long-term prescriptions.
"The mailman is becoming your pharmacist. What's wrong with this picture?" he asked.
Owners of small pharmacies also are having trouble competing for pharmacists, he said. He sold his Warren store to Walgreen in October partly because he couldn't retain pharmacists.
Because of the shortage that has hit the industry, larger chains are offering pharmacists $10,000 to sign on and $10,000 more if they stay six months, he said.
He said he has been able to keep his staff at his stores in Cornersburg, Boardman and East Liverpool because they are longtime employees who like working there. The pharmacists in East Liverpool used to own the store and Ronci's brother, Dan, works in the Cornersburg store.
Ronci employs nine full-time or part-time pharmacists and more than 50 people overall. He also owns Boardman Gift Gallery and Smart Card, both in Boardman. He bought the Family Discount Drug chain in 1985.
Ronci said sales at his new store in Cornersburg have been strong since he moved in January. He said he bought the building and so he owns the buildings that house all of his pharmacies. He improved the store by moving the drive-through to the other side of the building, adding new lighting and fixtures and paving the parking lot.