Stores servicing Missouri students share headaches & joy - Marketing in College Towns - includes related information

Stores servicing Missouri students share headaches & joy

Columbia, Missouri - Three colleges with starkly different personalities call this city home: Mizzou, or the University of Missouri, Stephens and Columbia Colleges.

Here, Revco, Gerbes Supermarket-Pharmacy, a chain of 21 midwestern supermarkets, and D&H Drug Store, one of Columbia's largest independents, all relate to the joys and headaches of servicing over 25,000 college students, faculty and employees.

There is the population tide that parallels the academic year. "The whole town is affected when the students go home for the summer," said Jim Forrester, chief pharmacist and co-owner of D&H. "It seems like in the last five to ten years more people are going to school year-round, but we do notice when it is break time, so everyone in town is geared towards winter and spring breaks."

The 33-year-old store has been around since before most of the students it serves were born. D&H is on a heavily traveled street halfway between Columbia's thriving downtown and the city's largest mall; it is equally accessible to students and Columbia residents.

Forrester, there 14 years, said D&H is well situated for the college rent students, but he cannot rely on them for the bulk of prescription business because many obtain medicines at the campus health center.

As an independent, he knows he must be different to draw traffic. That includes delivering to all local campuses, staying open until 10 p.m. seven days a week, and carrying small sizes of detergents and other daily essentials. D&H also advertises heavily, including local television spots. "We do a lot more advertising than other independents because [being a college town], turnover of people in town is much higher, so we have to keep our name out there," said Forrester.

"Of course there is a convenience factor, but price-wise, we're really not that different," he contended, also noting the importance of his personal service.

Other pharmacists interviewed in Columbia agree that condoms and birth control pills are two of the market's hottest products. Larry Zwygart, chief pharmacist at the Gerbes supermarket, said that is only partly due to the students. "The condom market itself has changed. More people buy condoms than used to."

He conceded, however, that "the big joke around here is stocking up (on condoms) for football weekends."

At Revco's Columbia store, where the condom display is extensive, pharmacist Roel Arredondo says he is often asked for recommendations. As for birth control pills, he says: "Sure, we're more expensive and not as accessible as the student health center, but it is easier for the college rent students to come here. Most cycles I have noticed start on Sundays. Sundays are my birth control prescription days. I take out a few boxes and set them on the counter, and that is all I do on Sundays.

Forrester concurred: "The amount of birth control pills prescribed when I came to Columbia was just unbelievable."

Students employed

"A lot of our part timers are university students," said Revco's Arredondo. "They have a good feel for what to order and what is going to sell."

He said that the cold and flu seasons hit university students hard. Many university students pick up antibiotics and cold medicine from "behind the shelf and over the counter."

"I feel like mom sometimes. A lot of the younger ones have colds and but, gee, mom and dad used to have this certain brand at home, so what do I get? Loyalty to a certain product stems from what mom bought."

At Gerbes, service is a major draw. The store is open 24 hours, and includes a post office, check cashing desk, and video rentals all under one roof. "There are three different universities and hospitals. People have totally different lifestyles and being open 24 hours is the only way to satisfy all of them," said store manager Jim Hoffman.

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