Technology Magazine July 2019 | Page 228

BARTELL DRUGS

Kari Escobedo , SVP , IT at Bartell Drugs , shares her business insights and plans for the digital transformation of America ’ s oldest familyowned pharmacy brand

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D igital transformation is change , and in the world of the enterprise , change is unrelenting . From a single location purchased by 21-year-old pharmacist George H Bartell Sr in 1890 , Bartell Drugs has become the United States ’ oldest family-owned drugstore chain – an iconic brand in the Pacific Northwest . Achieving constancy and longevity through a great depression , a great recession , two world wars and myriad upheavals that mark almost 130 years of history , the brand is an American success story . Walking the line between the traditional and the futuristic , while always delivering the highest quality of service to its customers , Bartell ’ s is making strides towards a bold digital future . “ We want to bring Bartell ’ s into the modern digital world and ensure that its brand and products will still be here serving our communities a hundred years from now ,” says Kari Escobedo , Senior Vice President ( SVP ) of IT at Bartell ’ s . Escobedo , along with new CEO Kathi Lentzsch and other Sr Executives are

JULY 2019