In the Face of New Challenges, Granby Pharmacy Endures

In an era when large stores like CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and Rite-Aid are gobbling up market share, the independent, locally owned endures through a combination of old-fashioned and new-age business practices.

First, the old. The pharmacy, owned by licensed pharmacist Mike Keating, has served the community since 1948. The business is run by his three daughters Beth Galloway, the pharmacy’s manager, and Colleen and Jean Keating, both pharmacists.

The relationships that the staff have forged with its customers go well beyond just business transactions. The pharmacy, according to Galloway, is a part of the health care delivery system and the familiarity that the pharmacists have with their customers is helpful, if not critical, in maintaining their overall wellbeing.

“We know people,” Galloway said. “It helps in the health care profession.”

“There’s a misconception out there about independents that we are more expensive, which just isn’t true.”

Those relationships enable the pharmacists to talk to customers about all aspects of their medications, including changes in prescriptions, dosages and medicine side effects, while providing a comfort level for the customer.

But those relationships are becoming a thing of the past as a result of lower reimbursement rates for smaller pharmacies and the expanding mail-order pharmaceutical business, which is forcing independents to close their doors in increasing numbers.

“It’s not like we’re a deli,” Jean Keating said. “We like to put our expertise to use. It’s why we went to school. It’s frustrating because we want to do more.”

A Booming Nationwide Trend

The mail-order business has been particularly devastating for the independents, which account for 41 percent of the retail prescriptions filled in the U.S. in 2007, according to National Community Pharmacists Association. In Connecticut, for example, state employees have recently been required to use mail-order pharmacies, which costs less for the employer, but cuts down on the interaction between pharmacist and patient.

“We’re frustrated that [the mail order requirement] is mandatory and most people aren’t given a choice,” Jean Keating said in a recent interview. Granby Pharmacy can partake in the program, Keating said, but at a reimbursement rate that would actually cost the business money. “We’re not dealing with a level playing field.”

So to remain competitive, Granby Pharmacy has adopted new business practices to maintain its piece of the market.

“We have to think outside the box,” Galloway said. “We market in new ways; we never had to market before.”

The pharmacy has created its own Facebook page and a Twitter account; it connects to the community by offering Bear Paw soda to benefit the Granby Memorial High football team, selling tickets for the community theater production, selling products by local artists and extending business hours to accommodate customers.

The Granby Pharmacy is nimble enough to make same-day special orders if a customer is looking for something that he or she can’t find.

It’s also in the process of expanding its coverage of Medicare B medical equipment.

“We’re trying to help people stay in town to get crutches and wheelchairs,” Galloway said. “It’s a matter of safety.”

Changing with the Times

The pharmacy offers home delivery service and will make house calls by appointment for flu and shingles shots. There is also the refill synchronization program, which the pharmacists coordinate with doctors, that sync up customers’ multiple prescriptions so that they all run out — and are eligible for refills — at the same time.

“We’re trying to change with the times,” Jean Keating said.

One thing that Granby Pharmacy hasn’t really had to do is engage in price wars with its competition.

The pharmacy's prices on everyday items, such as over the counter medicines and band aids, are comparable to the larger stores, Galloway said. Where the larger stores, like CVS, have an edge are on "flyer" items — things that are on sale — that are lower than Granby Pharmacy's.

Prescribed medications are often the same price, if not less expensive, at Granby Pharmacy, Jean Keating said.

“There’s a misconception out there about independents that we are more expensive, which just isn’t true,” Jean Keating said, noting that prescription co-pays remain the same regardless of the pharmacy. “We’ve been here a long time. We want to stay here. It’s not complicated.”

The local, family-owned touch still resonates with many of the pharmacy’s customers.

“They’re neighbors,” Peter Havriluk said as to why he chooses to go to Granby Pharmacy. “It’s a family-owned business. The dad’s a pharmacist. The daughters are pharmacists. It’s small town. We don’t want the big boxes here. I certainly don’t.”

Granby resident Gail Sindland agreed.

“We’ve been with Mike [Keating] for years,” Sindland said, also noting that her insurance company required her to fill some prescriptions elsewhere. “We wish we could do all of our work here. They’re knowledgeable and kind and you get that down-home flavor.”

For more information, visit www.granbypharmacy.com.

You can find more articles from this ongoing series, “Dispatches: The Changing American Dream” from across the country at The Huffington Post.