Mills Pharmacy to Add Gourmet Market and Cafe

, the locally owned pharmacy that has been operating in Birmingham for 65 years, has a new location and expanded services.

“The neighborhood pharmacy that caters to the neighbors with a variety of products that you can’t find at the typical pharmacy,” is the mantra owners Pierre and Hany Boutros are espousing as they prepare for the final steps of the renovation and moving process.

Almost everything has been moved next door to Mills Pharmacy's new home, a 12,000-square-foot, renovated space at 1740 W. Maple Rd. It is more than twice the size of the former location, a difference Pierre and Hany say will allow them to accommodate more of their neighbors than before. Plus, Pierre said, the new pharmacy will be more than a place to buy painkillers or refill prescriptions.

“We’re going to have an upscale gourmet food market, a café, a full-seated coffee bar that also sells juice, organic, tea and smoothies. On the retail side, (we'll have) a full apothecary that sells European products that are organic and non-organic, herb and non-herb,” said Pierre.

The gourmet market will occupy half of the store and feature a variety of domestic and imported specialty foods, such as wine and cheese. It will feature a variety of ice cream products.

Keeping customers coming back with service, technology

According to Pierre, who’s owned the shop with his brother Hany since 2003, keeping customers coming back to Mills — and not chain competitors — is simple.

“What makes an independent business survive is the personal touch with people and with the service that we offer,” he said. "I don’t think anyone else can offer that. We know all of our customers by their names and we know their kids’ names.”

Mills Pharmacy has been serving the residents of Birmingham since 1946, with practices, such as delivering medications, to "put the customer first," Pierre said. Many of those same practices still exist, said longtime Birmingham resident Barbara Williams.

“Mills Pharmacy is one of the very few places that actually takes the time to get to know their customers," she said. “Every time I come in, I am greeted by the friendliest staff of workers."

Pierre said Mills is always strives to provide customers with the best technology and service. The pharmacy has been home to a state-of-the-art compounding lab, which creates custom medications that can’t be purchased over the counter.

”It’s called custom-made medication, and it’s for people who are in need of medication that cannot be bought over the counter. So, I custom make it for you according to your doctor's orders,” Pierre explained.  

“We cater to many autistic children who can’t swallow tablets, so I custom make their medications into a liquid gel or a lollipop,” he said. “We also do veterinary medications.”

A partnership that works

Working alongside each other nearly every day for the last eight years, the Boutros brothers said they're enjoying every moment of their partnership.

“We pretty much complement each other," Hany said. "We think differently, but it creates a synergy and we share that loyalty to the customer.”

Pierre and Hany Boutros have wanted to incorporate their concept of a retail pharmacy, compounding lab, a full market and café for many years, and now that things are falling into place the two brothers’ are ecstatic.

“It’s like a dream come true, and we made it happen,” Pierre said.