Keeping that hometown feeling in your independant pharmacy

This weekend I took my kids to the pumpkin patch.  At 18 months old, this was their very first pumpkin hunting adventure and I wanted it to be special.  I had been going to a specific pumpkin patch for the majority of my life.  The farm is right down the street from where I grew up.  It seemed safe and a little old hat to me.  So we gathered up some good friends and made the trip to the corn maze/pumpkin patch that’s all the rage with the cool kids in Olympia.  It was horrible. They hadn’t cut away the brush around the pumpkins and they were all rotting away.  No way would they even last through Halloween. 

So after some puddle jumping, we packed back into the car and hit the freeway.  All the way down to the little Valley where I grew up to visit Schilter Family Farms.  It was familiar territory to me.  I was ready to be unimpressed. But as we walked around their amazing setup full of pony rides, a giant sand box, a petting zoo, kids hay bale maze and yes, fields full of healthy and gigantic pumpkins, I remembered something.  Hometown isn’t something to be pulled away from.  It’s something to be valued and embraced.

So in your independent pharmacy, as you make improvements, add new technology, and grow, just don’t forget your roots.  Remember where your business started.  Remember why you started it (or maybe purchased it) in the first place.  And maybe keeping that hometown feeling will keep your pharmacy customers coming home to you.