McLane Co. will help fred’s Pharmacy to improve efficiencies by acting as the company’s main distributor. 

Beginning in October, McLane Co. Inc. will be the main distributor for fred’s Pharmacy.

With more than 650 locations across the Southeastern part of the U.S., this new service agreement allows McLane’s nationwide reach and expertise to consolidate the work of fred’s 60-plus previous distributors.

The multi-year contract includes distribution of key product categories tailored specifically to fit the needs of fred’s unique format of a discount retailer and pharmacy.

“McLane is well-known in the industry for offering supply chain efficiencies and additional benefits of scale of a single source of supply for key consumable categories,” said CEO, fred’s Inc., Michael Bloom. “Partnering with McLane as an alternate distribution source allows us to improve our efficiencies and overall direct-to-store process including our ability to improve service, assortment and freshness; and ultimately grow sales and profit.”

fred’s recently participated in McLane’s value-add Center for Category Innovation (formerly Lab Store) process, where the retailer was able to benefit from McLane’s proprietary sales database and category managers to identify and capitalize on key merchandising trends and market-specific product mix and planograms.

“fred’s has uniquely positioned itself to be a successful pharmacy retailer with a broad value based assortment in the Southeast,” said Tony Frankenberger, president at McLane Co., Inc. “It’s a privilege to be chosen as a supply chain provider for fred’s, and further help the company reach its goals.”