Saving historic structures still doesn't always address the aesthetics of the newly constructed drugstores. The chains say they are trying to be good neighbors, and when forced by city zoning regulations and sometimes extreme public pressure, they have adapted their architectural designs. But that's only natural, says John Ransom, who tracks the health industry for Raymond James Financial. Drug chains are businesses that are going to do what's in their financial interest, he says. It's up to the local governments to require businesses to fit in architecturally.
Independent pharmacies are hard to find.
That's in large part because you have to be a big guy with the muscle of numerous stores to cut the better deals with health maintenance organizations. Cash payment for dru gs has largely gone the way of soda fountains. More than 80 percent of prescriptions are at least partially covered by health insurance. Over the past 20 years, managed health care has cut deals for lower drug prices, and thus driven down pharmacy profits from 40 percent to 2 percent. To gain more leverage with HMOs, many drugstore chains grew by merging.