By George Anderson
Wayne Harris, Eckerd's chairman and chief executive officer, is looking for answers after the drug store subsidiary of J.C. Penney announced weaker than expected operating results last quarter.
According to a report in the St. Petersburg Times, Eckerd's operating profits were down more than 25 percent in the second quarter despite registering a sales increase of 2.3 percent.
Mr. Harris' assessment of his performance and that of his company was succinct. "Shame on me and shame on us."
Eckerd has not delivered on its promises, according to the St. Petersburg Times report. The company is behind schedule on plans to remodel existing stores, expand into Arizona and Colorado, and create superior customer service through technology initiatives such as automating pharmacy services and a new inventory management system.
The chain has also lost out to bigger competitors Walgreen's and CVS, which have acquired higher traffic store locations and executed better to create higher levels of customer satisfaction.
The chief executive of J.C. Penney, Allen Questrom, provided this assessment of the drugstore subsidiary's performance. "We screwed it up. We fogged out and thought we were doing better than we were."
Moderator's Comment: What does Eckerd need to do to get itself growing profitably?
Allen Questrom's comments suggest, perhaps, Eckerd's management and rank and file got complacent. Our question is -- how could a company with competitors such as Walgreen's, CVS, Wal-Mart, Publix, etc., find anything to be complacent about?
Wayne Harris is widely respected in retailing circles. He's earned it. But, he will have to get the troops moving again and soon, if we are reading between the lines correctly, to be credited with turning around Eckerd as he was brought in to do several years back. [George Anderson - Moderator]