Drug chains write the book on consumer trends

Drug Store News,  June 7, 1999  by Allene Symons

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The kind of books sold in major drug chains speak volumes about today's consumers-their concern for health and nutritional products, parents' quest for positive playthings for their kids and their interest in home entertaining.

For drug chains, the book category has undergone a revision in recent years. The traditional book department, with mainly paperback and occasionally hardcover bestsellers, along with some genre titles, such as romance novels, has shrunk in size for many drug chains thanks in part to steep price competition from discount booksellers, Wal-Mart and other big-box stores. But books with good margins are popping up elsewhere around drug chains-on power wings, on a speed table by the checkout, in the seasonal aisle and especially by the pharmacy or in a patient waiting area.

Healthy titles

Nutritionally themed books got a big boost in 1994 with the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which allowed the use of third party literature to present information about the scientific or medical aspects of nutritional products and their benefits.

Retailers and manufacturers could not make claims relating to products-such as taking St. John's Wort to alleviate depression-but books could make those claims. "The statute permitted the retailer to use books to educate consumers'" said Ken Rajman, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Garden City Park, N.J.-based Avery Publishing Group. "That opened a great door for us. It enabled us to bring our product, which talks about the beneficial effects of these products, into the retail marketplace."

At first, it was thought that these self-help books would complement the pharmacist, but as Rajman noted, the pharmacist is busy so often it's in place of the pharmacist.

Another publishing imprint found in chain drug stores is Prima Health, which will launch a new 16title line this month called The Natural Pharmacist.

This line was designed specifically for pharmacies, explained Ben Dominitz, president and publisher of Prima Health, a division of Prima Communications Inc. of Rocklin, Calif. "We felt the rigor of publishing for this market should be different from the bookstore or health food [market]. Instead of adapting books from those markets, we started from scratch."

The new paperback series will be priced at $6.99 and $7.99. Slated for July is a larger paperbound volume called the Natural Health Bible, to be priced at $19.99. This has an optional lectern display with a browsable reference copy on top. Dominitz said several accounts have requested the lectern for patient waiting areas.

Avery Publishing Group is another publisher focusing on health topics with a paperback line of nutritional supplementation books with titles covering gingko, melatonin, St. John's Wort and other nutritionals, along with books on menopause, heart disease, diabetes and other disease states.

Among titles in the line are "Complete Guide to Herbs" and "Ginkgo Biloba and Memory," as well as titles about disease states, such as "Everything You Need to Know About Diabetes"; "St. John's Wort and Depression" and "Feverfew and Migraines."

Among Avery's titles al ready found in drug chains is "Prescription for Nutritional Healing," which covers vitamins, minerals and herbs, illnesses and disorders, and what Rajman calls "complementary approaches," such as chiropractics and acupuncture.

Avery's latest paperback series is called "FAQs." It takes a single-serve approach and retails for $2.99 each. The series uses a question-and-answer format to explain about specific nutritional products. Titles range from "All About Herbs" to "All About Echinacea & Goldenseal"; other topics include antioxidants, B vitamins, ginkgo biloba, glucosamine chondroitin, omega-3 oils and two of the latest products on the market, MSM (methylsulfonylmethane, a sulphur nutrient also used for degenerative bone or joint problems) and SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine, which is said to have an effect similar to St. John's Wort on depression). So far the series includes 31 titles and will be up to 56 in print by the end of the year. Some retailers rotate titles in this series based on consumer response, noted Rajman.

"We're finding that the typical book department in drug stores speaks to consumer interest in fiction and nonfiction bestsellers. Our goal was to augment what the retailer is trying to achieve in its merchandising schemes," said Rajman, who added, "We also have a longer shelf life."

Inventory turners

Book Margins takes a different approach to prolonging shelf life. This vendor of value books specializes in in-and-out promotions and offers two health-title series, a value cookbook line and paperback romances.

According to vice president of sales Danielle Gross, Book Margins is best known for its 2-for-$5 value romance paperbacks. These have a big following among older female consumers but Gross also noted that another market for this genre-perhaps surprisingly-is young female executives. These paperbacks come in value assortments featuring mainly romance titles, but with a few other genre titles mixed in for variety, such as mystery and suspense novels. The paperback romances and other titles in the value mix sell best on speed tables, said Gross.