'The toughest part has been the emotional reaction'.(NEWS IN DEPTH: CAN MASS MARKET RETAILING SURVIVE NEW ORLEANS?)(Ron Cavaretta of CVS Corp.)

NEW ORLEANS -- Ron Cavaretta, New Orleans district manager for CVS, has been very familiar with the daily business operations of the stores in his district since moving to the area about nine years ago from New England.

But it took the arrival of Hurricane Katrina for Cavaretta to truly discover his expertise in such areas as building inspections, human resources, counseling" and just being there" for someone in need.

"By far the toughest part has been the emotional reaction in dealing with the losses of homes of customers as well as employees," he reflects.

One of those CVS associates is Louis Perez, an assistant store manager at a store in the …