Over 4 days between June 21 and 24, the 2004 NACDS Marketplace was held in the city of San Diego on the US West Coast. Held under the auspices of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), the Marketplace is a drugstore conference and exhibition that attracts nearly 1,000 retailers annually.
Energy drinks are currently enjoying a boom in the United States, and Sato's Yunker energy drinks were well supported at this venue. The Sato booth's distribution of "Hugo Yunker" samples and tasting campaign attracted a lot of interest. Major hits with chain drug store representatives included the rejuvenated "Satogesic" product, our oral disintegrating tablet "Satab" (developed in-house at Sato Pharmaceutical), and our unique Sato-chan character merchandise. Numerous visitors to the booth expressed great interest in Sato's innovative product lineup. A meeting to foster a closer relationship between the NACDS and JACDS was held during the conference, and the Chairmen of both associations expressed their appreciation to Sato Pharmaceutical for playing a key intermediary role. In July, Mr. James Whitman from the NACDS and Mr. Tony Civello from Kerr Drug will be coming to Japan as guest speakers at the 2004 Sato Drug Store Conference.