Some small independent pharmacies in the city are benefiting from a decline in chain stores. But theft and low reimbursement rates are still making life hard.
by Sharon Otterman
New York Times
December 24, 2023
… The chain pharmacy industry nationwide is in significant turmoil. Some pharmacists are staging walkouts or quitting over poor working conditions and aggressive productivity targets. Online shopping has eaten into business. And anti-shoplifting measures, like the locked cases in the Bronx Rite Aid, are raising costs and making shopping at chain pharmacies less convenient.
… And shoplifting is still a problem for many. Drugstores in the city, including chains and independents, experienced twice as many thefts in 2022 compared with 2019, rising from 6,031 to 12,343 incidents. Since 2006, pharmacy theft has risen by more than 500 percent — more than any other category of retail, according to a recent report by researchers at John Jay College.
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