Giant Eagle, Inc

Fred Bencivengo

Recognizing Fred Bencivengo’s extensive leadership in retail pharmacy operations, this profile highlights his role in guiding Giant Eagle through transformative change. His work spans large-scale file acquisitions, workforce expansion, and innovative service models, strengthening pharmacy resilience while advancing patient care, community health initiatives and sustainable growth in an increasingly challenging healthcare landscape.

Leading Through Volume Surges and Margin Pressures

In my role as Senior Director of retail pharmacies at Giant Eagle, no two days look the same. Recently, much of my focus has been on managing the impact of Rite Aid closures. Over the last few months, we’ve purchased a number of their files and the priority has been getting patients into our system, handling the workload, remodeling stores and hiring staff. This transition has been an all-consuming process for my team and me and it has defined what a typical day has looked like in this period. It has been about quickly adapting to new volumes and keeping operations steady while so much change takes place around us.

These operational realities sit within a broader set of challenges that retail pharmacy has been dealing with for years, challenges that have only become more pressing. Rising wages for pharmacists and technicians on one hand and shrinking margins on the other, have made the operating environment extremely difficult. Contracts continue to worsen year after year, reimbursements shrink and negative margins grow. Balancing these pressures while ensuring patients still get what they need is one of the toughest aspects of the role. And this balance becomes harder to maintain with each passing year.

Innovation, Technology and Major Milestones

Even as these challenges persist, there are emerging developments that hold promise for the future. AI and digital health are clearly going to play a role in reshaping the industry. At a recent trade show I attended, AI was the hottest topic and pharmacies are actively exploring how it fits into their models. I believe its potential lies in taking away routine burdens from staff, handling phone calls more efficiently, replacing outdated IVR systems and improving customer interaction. While it is not yet clear exactly how AI will reshape retail pharmacy, it is certain that its influence will be felt, just as it will be across every other business.

"To survive and thrive in this environment, pharmacies must broaden their role and embrace the opportunities that diversification presents."

Alongside these forward-looking trends, there are also large-scale initiatives that have already transformed our operations. The Rite Aid acquisitions stand out as the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken. To date, we have purchased more than 90 files, which meant some stores jumped from 1,000 scripts a week to 5,000 overnight. This required contributions from every corner of the organization, pharmacy, construction, remodeling, HR, and recruiting. We had to transfer files quickly, often four or five stores a night, without months of preparation. It was a massive undertaking, and while there is still work to be done, we are in a much stronger place today than when we began. Even compared to the scale of our COVID vaccination efforts, which were monumental in their own right, this stands out as the proudest accomplishment of my career.

The Future of Pharmacy and Guidance for Leaders

Looking at the next five to ten years, I see consolidation continuing to shape the retail pharmacy landscape unless the reimbursement model changes. The mix of brand and generic drugs will remain a critical factor in margins, and as the balance shifts toward more brand-name drugs, the pressure intensifies. Independents are especially vulnerable, with some choosing not to dispense certain brands at all because of unsustainable losses. At Giant Eagle, our volume gives us some flexibility, but even then, we take on challenges that smaller pharmacies cannot. Unless there are fundamental structural changes, closures across the industry will likely continue.

In the face of all these pressures, my advice to current and aspiring leaders in retail pharmacy is to diversify. I still encounter independent owners who avoid offering vaccines, which I see as a major mistake. Vaccines represent an essential opportunity for pharmacies to stay engaged with their communities and provide value beyond simply filling prescriptions. They are a service that strengthens the role of the pharmacy in community health, and they create opportunities for sustainable growth. Relying solely on putting pills in bottles, as was the case in the past, is no longer enough. To survive and thrive in this environment, pharmacies must broaden their role and embrace the opportunities that diversification presents.