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Healthy Profits Aging boomers and growing health awareness power a new breed of health-care stores.

By Gayle Sato Stodder

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You can't buy happiness. But if a new trend in retailing hasany merit, perhaps you can buy better health. That is, you and themillions of people nationwide who have health and mobility problemsor who care for people who do.

This new breed of store combines the products and services of anold-fashioned medical equipment dealership with merchandising savvyand a level of service that makes Nordstrom look uninterested. Theformats range from intimate boutiques to sprawling superstores, butthey share a common goal: Changing the way Americans shop foreverything from wheelchairs to blood pressure monitors.

"These are not the dingy surgical supply houses most of usthink of when we think of medical supplies," says MarieGriffin, editor in chief of Drug Store News. As thepopulation ages, people are going to need more help--recoveringfrom hospital stays, coping with mobility limitations, dealing withchronic illnesses, and living with a panoply of major and minorhealth problems. Yet most people don't know what kinds ofhealth aids are available to them, let alone where to findthem.