Conveniently placed on the north-east corner of a highly-populated intersection, the Strand Pharmacy stays true to its goal of keeping an intimate neighborhood feel. On Broadway, at the light for Crescent Street, owner and pharmacist, Paul Mastrogiannis, who has an extensive background and personal experience in owning a business, says he chose the location because, “It became available and because of the number of people who live per square block here. If you have a large number of people living per square block, you can support a lot of different businesses.”
The pharmacy has a comfortable vibe, with its mere three aisles and one counter for items to be rung up. In the middle of one of the aisles is a cozy setup of three folding chairs, where Paul was sitting for the interview. Visits on different days found customers seated in the chairs, chatting, catching up, or simply taking a needed rest while waiting for their prescriptions. Specifically Diana Polopoalous, a resident of the neighborhood who lives four blocks away, finds trips to the pharmacy convenient, as well as enjoyable.
“It’s a great place. I actually come here and drop off my prescriptions, and sit around talking to Paul, or Mike, or whoever’s here while I wait for them,” she says. “For the most part they know what I need already, and it’s just all around a much more pleasant experience than going to CVS or Rite Aid.”
Mastrogiannis finds getting to know his customers on a first-name and individual basis to be an important aspect of his business. Engaging in small-talk and sometimes deeper conversations, Mastrogiannis and his staff often befriend some of the customers and learn details about their lives.
“I’m a social person. I like to find out where people are going on vacation. So I start a lot of different discussions, you know. I know everybody by first name.”
The pharmacy business is one of the very few that, fortunately for Strand Pharmacy, is fairly recession proof. People will always need medications, and will always frequent a pharmacy to get them. “I haven’t noticed much of a change in business. It’s a pharmacy. It’s steady. I have the same people coming in all the time. You know even if you lose one customer another one will come in. You start talking to them and the people that move to the neighborhood want to come to a small pharmacy.”
But what about the competition from large-scale chain pharmacies such as Walgreens and Duane Reade? Mastrogiannis launches into a passionately fueled response, but interrupts to help a customer. “They won’t do you a favor, you know. They won’t go out of their way to take care of a person, and I like to know everyone who comes to my store.”
Again, his response is quickly interrupted by a “Hey, how are you,” directed to an entering patron. His friendly nature is evident in his willingness to answer the questions, and the atmosphere of the pharmacy is proved to be a welcoming one.
So what is the real difference between going to a local chain pharmacy and a local small business? A concept that seems outdated in today’s world, but nonetheless an important one. Mastrogiannis sums it up in a phrase: “We deliver.”
For many elderly or disabled people, it is extremely difficult to pick-up prescriptions, especially in a neighborhood in which the primary means of transportation is walking. Strand Pharmacy will deliver through rain, sleet, or snow to anywhere in town.
Owning a small pharmacy also allows the privilege of having more control over the abuse of prescription drugs. In contrast, chain pharmacies are at a large risk for distributing drugs that aren’t needed because of the impersonal element they possess.
The other advantage of being a privately owned pharmacy is the ability to control price. This principle also works to the benefit of the consumer, because prices at chain pharmacies are often a good deal higher, according to Mastrogiannis.
Mastrogiannis recalls an instance taking place earlier that morning. “Some lady came in for a cream, and I told her it costs $45. And you know, I make something on it. They went to Walgreens and asked the price and it was $95 there for the same cream, more than double.”
As far as the demographics of their customers, they vary from teenagers and young adults, to the business’ logically dominant group of senior citizens. Employee demographics vary as well.
“I have one guy that works for me who is like 45 years old. I have younger guys who were in their 20’s,” Mastrogiannis says. “Anyone that needs a job, who’s friendly and comes from the neighborhood, I’ll try to help ‘em out, you know.”
Conveniently placed on the north-east corner of a highly-populated intersection, the location of the Strand Pharmacy stays true to its goal of an intimate neighborhood feel. On Broadway, at the light for Crescent Street, owner and pharmacist, Paul Mastrogiannis, who has an extensive background and personal experience in owning a business, states he chose the location because “it became available and because of the amount of people that live per square block here, so if you have a large amount of people living per square block you can support a lot of different businesses.”
The pharmacy has a comfortable vibe, with its mere three aisles and one counter for items to be rung up, and in the middle of one of the aisles is a cozy setup of three folding chairs, where Paul was sitting upon the beginning of the interview. Visits on different days found customers seated in the chairs, chatting, catching up, or simply taking a needed rest while waiting for their prescriptions. Specifically Diana Polopoalous, a resident of the neighborhood who lives four blocks away, finds trips to the pharmacy convenient, as well as enjoyable.
“It’s a great place. I actually come here and drop off my prescriptions, and sit around talking to Paul, or Mike, or whoever’s here while I wait for them,” she states. “For the most part they know what I need already, and it’s just all around a much more pleasant experience than going to CVS or Rite Aid.”
Mastrogiannis finds getting to know his customers on a first-name and individual basis to be an important aspect of his business. Engaging in small-talk and sometimes deeper conversations, Mastrogiannis and his staff often befriend some of the customers and learn details about their lives.
“I’m a socialite. My biggest thing that I like to do every day is find out where people are going on vacation. So I start a lot of different discussions, you know. I know everybody by first name.”
The pharmacy business is one of the very few that, fortunately for Strand Pharmacy, is fairly recession proof. People will always need medication, and will always frequent a pharmacy to get it. “I haven’t noticed much of a change in business, it’s a pharmacy it’s steady, I have the same people coming in all the time. You know even if you lose one customer another one will come in. You start talking to them and the people that move to the neighborhood want to come to a small pharmacy.”
When questioned about the inevitable difficulties encountered by the competition found in large-scale chain pharmacies such as Walgreens and Duane Reade, Mastrogiannis prepares to launch into a passionately fueled response, but interrupts to help a customer. “They won’t do you a favor, you know. They won’t go out of their way to take care of a person, and I like to know everyone who comes to my store.”
Again, his response is quickly interjected by a “Hey, how are you,” directed to an entering patron. His friendly nature is evident in his willingness to answer the questions, and the atmosphere of the pharmacy is proved to be a welcoming one.
So is the real difference between going to a local chain pharmacy and a local small business? A concept that seems outdated in today’s world, but nonetheless an important one. Mastrogiannis sums it up in a phrase: “We deliver.”
For many elderly or disabled people it is extremely difficult to pick-up prescriptions, especially in a neighborhood in which the primary means of transportation is walking. Strand Pharmacy will deliver through rain, sleet, or snow to anywhere in town.
Owning a small pharmacy also allows the privilege of having more control over the abuse of prescription drugs. In contrast, chain pharmacies are at a large risk for distributing drugs that aren’t needed because of the impersonal element they possess.
The other advantage of being a privately owned pharmacy is the ability to control price. This principle also works to the benefit of the consumer, because prices at chain pharmacies are often a good deal higher.
Mastrogiannis recalls an instance taking place earlier that morning. “Some lady came in for a cream, and I told her it costs 45 dollars. And you know, I make something on it. They went to Walgreens and asked the price and it was 95 dollars there for the same cream, more than double.”
As far as the demographics of the customers, it varies from teenagers and young adults, to the business’ logically dominant group of senior citizens. Employee demographics vary as well.
“I have one guy that works for me who is like 45 years old. I have younger guys who were in their 20’s,” Mastrogiannis states. “Anyone that needs a job, who’s friendly and comes from the neighborhood, I’ll try to help ‘em out, you know?”