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Stew Turley recently passed away, a victim of deteriorating health and advancing age. To those who knew and worked with Turley, no explanation of the man’s impact and influence on chain drug retailing in America during the last half of the 20th century would suffice to explain the impact the news of his passing had on our industry. To avoid explaining his impact and influence, on the other hand, would be a gross injustice.
Turley guided the Tampa, Fla.-based Eckerd drug chain for much of the second half of the 20th century. Not coincidentally, his tenure coincided with a period of unprecedented growth at Eckerd while, by extension, leading the transformation of chain drug retailing in America from a mom-and-pop generated business to a true American retailing enterprise, Put another way, the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s were destined to be remembered as perhaps the first time in the industry’s history when a chain drug transaction made headlines throughout the country and was taken seriously by mass retailers who had previously not paid much attention to the goings-on in the chain drug retailing community.
Simultaneously, Turley made a transformative appearance as an industry leader and spokesman at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the formal and formidable center of chain drug retailing in America. In so doing, he played a key role in transforming NACDS from an organization known primarily for its social presence and achievements to an association noted for its significant impact on the governmental and industry issues of the day.
Turley performed this task by utilizing both his unique vision of chain drug retailing and NACDS as more than simply another industry with a trade association and the strength of his personality and convictions to influence, guide and support his peers in chain drug retailing who did not necessarily, and by no means universally, share his vision of the future.
When Turley finally stepped aside, relinquishing his roles at Eckerd and NACDS simultaneously, chain drug retailing was the loser — losing initiative, momentum, direction and certainty that our industry was more than it had been when Turley stumbled upon it, almost by accident, during the waning years of 20th century America. To say that the industry missed him, and does to this day, would be a criminal misstatement of the facts; as a leader and direction-finder, chain drug retailing never previously knew the likes of Stew Turley. And possibly never will again.
As an important (at least in our office) aside, Turley’s influence on Chain Drug Review and MMR as industry-leading voices for our industry cannot and should not be minimized. His opinions, ideas, lessons, personality and warmth found their way into these pages more frequently than those of his peers.
Now, all these years later, they continue to do so — at a time when they are especially appropriate and necessary. Thanks again, Stew. You’re gone — but you’ll never really leave.
