Franchise Opportunities In The Pharmacy Business

The Providence Journal:

The consolidation of the drugstore industry pushed hundreds of independent pharmacies out of business during the last 20 years.

Unable to fight off bigger competitors, many pharmacists running neighborhood shops closed their businesses or sold their prescription files to one chain or another.

But some independent pharmacists continued on, competing against the big chains just as business owners do in other retail sectors. The independents dispense 1.6 billion prescriptions annually, about 42% of all prescriptions, according to the National Community Pharmacists Associations in Alexandria, Va.

But independent-minded people in some retail sectors - such as the restaurant, automotive and hotel industries - have an alternative to going it alone that hasn’t always been a viable option for pharmacists: franchising.