OLIVE BRANCH, Miss — People across the country and the mid-south are finding it harder to find certain prescriptions and lines at the drive-thru are getting longer. While people are frustrated and scrambling to get their needed prescriptions, locally-owned pharmacies are booming and reminding folks to shop local.
Getwell Pharmacy located at 8831 Goodman Rd, in Olive Branch opened its doors right before the pandemic hit. The owner, Rick Chambers said he was struggling to keep up with the competition in the beginning because the national drug stores are located on nearly every corner. He explained the only way he and other independent drug stores are able to stand out from the rest is through excellent customer service.
"We are starting to see customers migrate away from bigger box pharmacy change just simply because of service and the wait times," Chambers said.
Just in the past three months, Chambers said about 40% of new customers came from people leaving national pharmacies. According to the National Community Pharmacist Association, pharmacists' workload is steadily increasing throughout the pandemic causing employees to leave the industry. NCPA reports 90% of community pharmacies are having trouble staffing open positions.
Chambers said the key to a boom in his business is creating a personal experience for each customer. He's doing something most popular pharmacies aren't -- delivery and extending his hours to make sure customers are able to get their prescriptions.
"If there are frustrations, complications, or other issues that don't deliver on your expectations please know there are other options, even local options that people don't think of first because they are smaller and aren't on tv all the time," he said. "But they are very good options to meet and or exceed the expectations you want in a pharmacy."
Besides local drug stores being able to give better customer service, Chambers said most local pharmacies won't have trouble getting folks their medication because national pharmacies are locked into more rigid vendor and supplier agreements. He explained just last month two national drug stores transferred their customers to Getwell Pharmacy because they didn't have the medication the customers needed. Chambers said it's because local shops aren't typically bound to one vendor and have more options to keep their shelves stock.