A bigger pharmacy is not necessarily a better pharmacy. And these days an independent pharmacist needs to be savvy at business as well as at medicine.
That is perspective of George S. Nekos, co-owner of Nekos-Dedrick”™s Pharmacy in Kingston where the store faces a David-versus-two-Goliaths scenario, with a Walgreens operating just up the road and a new CVS being constructed around the corner to open next year. And that tally does not count the pharmacy in the Hannaford supermarket located in the same plaza as the Walgreens.
“Competition against chains is the plight of the independent pharmacy,” said Nekos. “It keeps us sharp. It makes us work at being better.”™”Â
Nekos-Dedrick”™s, which he co-owns with Maryann E. Sheeley, “has more people coming in than ever before,” he said. “It”™s all about customer service and quality. People appreciate it.”
With a staff of 25 people, the pharmacy can employ an array of pharmacists who can focus on particular areas of medicine, he said. It also employs specialists familiar with the health aids and medical supply products the pharmacy offers for rent or sale, ranging from hospital beds to wheelchairs to walkers.
The store has a state-of-the-art phone system, but every phone call is answered by a live person, Nekos said, because the elderly are more likely to need prescriptions filled and answering machines are “mindboggling” for some elderly customers, he said. The pharmacy offers free deliveries and there is a phone number on the window of the store giving a 24 hour emergency number if medicine is needed quickly.
The store also stockpiles a supply of ingredients and drugs with which to prepare medicines that might not be commonplace prescriptions. The store receives two deliveries daily from its supply chain, ensuring it does not run out of any particular medication. “I probably have the largest drug inventory in the county; it”™s a big investment.” said Nekos.
“A lot of our referrals are from chain pharmacies,” he said, adding wryly, “I sometimes tell the customer we don”™t have any Bud Light on sale, but we do have this lifesaving medication.”
The Nekos-Dedricks pharmacy moved into its current location on Front Street in uptown Kingston in May 1996 and has since then undergone three renovations and a small expansion to its current 6,000 square feet.
The display area and windows are in the front entrance of the store and, he said, are designed to stick in people”™s memory. “When someone gets sick or needs something they will say, I know a store in Kingston that has that,” he said. “Believe me, I painstakingly planned how the store is laid out.”
Additionally, the new area where prescriptions are filled is a well-lit, modern lab surrounded by glass walls. Customers are encouraged to watch their medicines being prepared. And the pharmacy counter is located a short walk from the back door and parking lot so people can take the direct route to get their prescriptions filled.
None of this is accidental, Nekos said, adding that especially over the last decade as chain pharmacies expanded, an independent pharmacist had to get wily. “Most people are pharmacists firsts, but to be an independent you need the business sense that often isn”™t taught in school,” he said.
Nekos said that in fighting to bring a CVS to the gateway of Kingston, city officials showed a lack of business sense, which he said partly explains why the city is struggling financially.
“We had three pharmacies within a quarter mile and now we”™re adding a fourth,” he said.” The last thing we needed in that spot was another box store.”
Mayor James Sottile said the site was a brownfield that was difficult to develop. “I think it fits in nicely, it will be an addition to the community,” he said, saying the site and other “white elephants” tainted by past use are being put back on the tax rolls.
And he expressed confidence that quality will win out. “I don”™t think Nekos will be effected one iota by this new drugstore,” said Sottile. “The fact is that Nekos”™ pharmacy offers a much broader operation as a pharmacy and medical supply store than a chain pharmacy.”
