Hi,
Something I noticed on Google Maps that got harder to dismiss the more cities I checked.
Search CVS, then search Walgreens. Look at where the pins land on the main commercial strips.
Same intersections. Directly across the street from each other, corner to corner.
The instinct when expanding is usually to find territory your competitor hasn't taken. CVS and Walgreens seem to run the opposite playbook. One shows up at a busy corner, the other follows.
One possible read from the outside: if customers go to whatever is most convenient rather than seeking a specific brand, then being absent from the same intersection might matter more than being nearby.
Nobody announces this. You only see it when you look at both chains on a map at the same time.
Anyone seen this kind of dynamic in other categories?
Why two competing pharmacy chains keep planting themselves at the exact same corners
byu/Due-Bet115 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Due-Bet115
1 Comment
This gets Asked every few weeks or so. Be it pharmacies, Coffee, Burgers, Pizza, Gas. Everyone does it. Basically it’s 2 things.
1. Things take time to build, years occasionally, so there is certainly overlap where companies see opportunity and both start work before the other is finished.
2. And probably the bigger reason, the math just works. These intersections and places are just the best post for a pharmacy. Just like you’ll see a gas station on the entrances and exits of a town, it just works best in these locations. Plus, why would you let your competitors get uncontested ownership on an area.