Sharon Sternheim

For Sharon Sternheim, president and chief executive officer of Zitomer Pharmacy, retail health care has always come naturally.

“Pharmacy is in my DNA,” she said. “My father was a pharmacist who owned a small, successful store in Brooklyn. I loved going to work with him as a young girl. I was amazed he knew every one of his customers by their first name. While in high school, I took a part-time job at another Brooklyn pharmacy, and it’s then that I knew I’d always be in the business. 

“After college I met and married Howard Sternheim [he passed away in 2002] who had a handful of Thriftway Drug stores, which he started when he graduated from Brooklyn College of Pharmacy. Together we built the chain to over 25 stores when we sold the bulk of it to CVS in the 1990s.”

Thriftway’s expansion included the acquisition of Zitomer in the early ’80s, giving Sharon Sternheim the opportunity to reimagine what a drug store could be: “I knew at that point that I could take Zitomer and make it the preeminent high-end pharmacy/department store in New York City.”

Today, with one store on Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side, Zitomer still fills prescriptions, but its most distinguishing characteristic is a carefully curated assortment of O-T-Cs and grooming products, accessories, home goods, snacks and seasonal gifts. The merchandising approach is exemplified by the beauty department, which features such iconic brands as La Roche-Posay, Tata Harper and NaturaBisse.