Retail grocery chain Kroger Co. made what it terms a "significant investment" this week in The Little Clinic LLC, a Brentwood, TN-based chain of retail clinics. The Little Clinic already operates centers inside of 26 Kroger stores, using nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants. It's operated by Solera Capital, a private equity firm that acquired the retail clinic operator's predecessor in 2005.
With the investment in hand, The Little Clinic will begin a "substantial" clinic rollout across the retailer's family of stores. It's unlikely that the pace of its rollout will allow it to catch up with competitors like Wal-Mart, which as of a year ago was beginning a 2,000-store introduction of retail clinics in its stores [1]. However, with Wal-Mart recently hitting a snag [2] as one of its partners fell apart financially, perhaps Kroger and The Little Clinic see an opportunity to gain some sort of ground. All told, Kroger operates a total of 2,486 supermarkets in 31 states.
To learn more about this deal:
- read this piece [3] in The Tennessean
- read this Kroger press release [4]
Related Articles:
Start-up closes 23 Wal-Mart retail clinics [2]
Wal-Mart plans 2,000 retail clinics [1]
Walgreens sets retail clinic expansion [5]
New retail clinic serves air travelers [6]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/wal-mart-plans-2000-retail-clinics/2007-04-25
[2] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/start-closes-23-wal-mart-retail-clinics/2008-01-30
[3] http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880529087
[4] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/press-releases/kroger-and-little-clinic-establish-partnership-offer-customers-convenient-healthcar-0
[5] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/walgreens-sets-retail-clinic-expansion-plans/2007-10-04
[6] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/new-retail-clinic-serves-air-travelers/2007-06-07