Onion rings

Phoenix -- I does bring back happy memories. There was a drug store in my neighborhood, back in the late 1950s, before grocery stores became supermarkets.

There was a low strip of brick buildings, 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile from our house, that had the drug store on the far end, along with a grocery store, run by a family in which the men were butchers and the wives the cashiers. A family run bakery was next door and a deli next to that. There was a neighborhood-style bar that served fish and chips on Friday nights.

We all knew these people by name and were well served by them. They watched the kids grow up and the atmosphere in all these businesses was warm and friendly.

The soda fountain at the drug store was the first place that neighborhood kids went to buy cherry cokes with their babysitting and lawn mowing money.

Boy, our poor kids missed all that. Those adults that ran those businesses were an important part of our lives. It's not like the chain stores today with revolving clerks that remain strangers.

It's hard, these days, finding an Independent DrugStore, not associated with a chain.

There is an independent drug store in my town. I learned of it, because they service the assisted living facility where my mother lives. I checked some of their prices, and they are comparable with the chains. You can charge, and they send you a bill at the end of the month.

The druggist is a man who started the pharmacy, and he is always there. The store even delivers, which is unusual in this day and age.

I was seriously considering changing pharmacies, but decided against it for two reasons. I can order over the internet with my chain pharmacy. I also can get printouts of my charges going back 18 months, (or any time frame within that at my choosing).

The store (Walgreen's) has branches all over the country, so if I am on vacation, and need a prescription refilled, I can get one just about anywhere. What really turned me off the individual pharmacy, was that it was closed in the evening, half day Saturday, and all day Sunday, whereas Walgreen's is open 24 hours.

It's all a matter of priorities. I could very well see a day, (far in the future, I suspect), that I might need a store that delivers.

Phoenix brought up an interesting point: that the prices at the independent pharmacy are close to the prices at chain pharmacies. I try to shop at independent stores and have noticed with increasing frequency that their prices are the same as the prices at chains,which should have higher buying power, and, therefore, lower prices.

I've noticed the prices of drugs at Walgreens store has steadily increased, and although they do have 24 hr pharmacies around the US, I've yet to find one that delivers.

Most independents will close on Sat at 5 pm and noon on Sunday. During the week the hours are frequently 9am-9pm.

They don't pay their pharmacists at a salary competitive with the chains, but the working environments are significantly better.

I know nothing of the salaries pharmacists are paid but I worked part-time at Williams-Sonoma for about 8 years and ended up earning $8.70/hour. I immediately took a job with a small gift shop and began at $8/hour.

Starting salaries at many chains, for a PharmD pharmacist ( 6 years college ) is now on average,
$100,000+/yr. Hospitals start their pharmacists off at a significantly lower wage, if the pharmacist lacks experience. Hours in retail pharmacy can often be a 12 hour shift ( no sitting permited at all ) while
hospital pharmacists work 8 hour shifts with excellent working conditions.

Hospitals do have their drawbacks, however.