Pharmacist and managing partner Karen Brown discusses with Retail Pharmacy this month the offerings, ethos, values, challenges and successes of her pharmacy, Chemmart Arana Hills in Brisbane, and what’s in store for it in 2023.
What have been some of your career and store highlights?
Being crowned TerryWhite Chemmart’s 2021 National Pharmacy of the Year is definitely our store highlight. It was a goal we set at the beginning of the year, so to see our hard work recognised was amazing for our team and our community.
It was the second time one of my pharmacies has won the national award, with my previous store winning in 2018.
To achieve success across two very different pharmacies proved to me that my core principles of what makes a great pharmacy apply irrespective of the location or demographic.
Tell us about the ethos of your pharmacy and how it differs from other pharmacies.
Our pharmacy is based on the ‘team Arana bus’ with the overarching theme of doing things ‘the Arana way’. The bus forms our foundation for culture and recruitment.
As the driver, it’s important to me that everyone knows what it takes to get a seat on the bus, the direction we’re heading – note: we generally don’t use a map as we like taking the road less travelled – the role they play, what our fuel supply is, and what happens if we hit a speedbump. Also, it’s important they know the essentials to pack for any good road trip.
Elaborating on the above, tell us about the pharmacy’s values.
A great team culture is the foundation for a successful pharmacy. We have four team values that we created together under ‘the Arana way’ banner:
- Do more: Always go over and above for our customers and your teammates.
- Be proud: Always demonstrate pride in yourself, our team and pharmacy.
- Have fun: Always bring a smile and joy onboard.
- Buckle up: Take the road less travelled and step out of your comfort zone.
These values are embedded across our business through our values board, where teammates give shoutouts when they see [a value] being demonstrated. They’re the basis of our annual team awards. We use them in reflection, and in planning our strategy moving forward.
What kind of customers does your pharmacy attract?
My business partner Rod Garozzo has owned the pharmacy since 1980. When I became a partner in 2018, it was predominantly the elderly. Now with the addition of our Health Hubs and Capsule Cafe, we attract the full demographic of patients and customers.
Why is looking after your community so important to your pharmacy? What do think your customer base values most about your pharmacy?
Our community is the main reason we open our doors 364 days a year and 89 hours a week. It’s a privilege that they entrust us to care for their health and well-being, and one that we don’t take for granted.
I believe people want to belong to something bigger than themselves, and that includes their community. We try to create an environment so our community feels like they’re part of our pharmacy family, and when they walk in, it feels like a big hug.
‘People can feel perfection’ is a famous quote from Walt Disney. One of the greatest compliments a customer can give is: ‘I love the feeling in your store’.
What is your most successful OTC category in your pharmacy and why?
Health devices is our most ‘unique’ category outside of the traditional top three (scheduled medicines, natural medicines and skin). Our Men’s Health Hub drives great sales across the different devices, which strengthens our overall health devices category above the norm.
Does your pharmacy offer professional services?
Absolutely. We offer all traditional pharmacy health services plus the addition of our exclusive Clinic Hub, which houses:
- The Parenting Hub: midwife ‘Asha’ offers postnatal consultations and antenatal classes.
- The Men’s Health Hub: men’s health pharmacist ‘Peter’ offers consultations across Queensland to support men post prostrate surgery with erectile dysfunction and incontinence.
- The Diabetes Hub: dietitian ‘Nick’ offers weekly consultations.
Please elaborate on what your most popular service is. Why do you think it’s so successful? What is your advice to other pharmacies seeking to strengthen that service in their store?
Vaccinations have absolutely put our pharmacy on the map. We’ve administered more than 25,000 in the past 18 months.
During the peak of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, we were doing 200-plus vaccines a day with no additional staff.
There were many factors that enabled us to do so many, including:
- Treating every patient the same, whether they wanted 10 scripts dispensed, advice, or a vaccination.
- Offering the service seven days a week, 12 hours a day, including public holidays.
- People driving up to two hours to come to our pharmacy, due to our availability.
- Full team commitment from day one. When we do something, we go all in, 110 per cent.
- Phenomenal back-end support from TerryWhite Chemmart with seamless integration between all platforms.
- Family members doing the behind-the-scenes admin work.
- The bonus that we have our own cafe, which was the perfect waiting area.
Remember: Never underestimate the long-term value of a customer. Our pharmacy continues to experience customer and prescription growth as a result of our vaccination service.
We’ve benefited from many new customers as a result of our positive vaccination experience, and from negative vaccination experiences at our competitors.
How has your team performed during the challenges of the past two years?
We thrived at times, and we’ve just survived at times. I place great importance on team culture. I knew ours was strong, but the pandemic showed me just how solid it was.
Among the days of 200-plus vaccines, split teams, abusive customers, there was laughter, lots of laughter, dance-offs, online trivia nights, chocolate, lollies – actually, some days all we had time for were chocolate and lollies.
But we made it.
We had each other’s back and we came out of it stronger, more resilient, more versatile and more selfless than before.
In what way did COVID-19 most change the way your pharmacy operates?
We’ve become more versatile. The biggest change is the customer journey. Gone are the days a customer walks in, is served and leaves.
Now the customer can ‘come in’ via foot, via website, via app, via email, via fax, via phone, via telehealth, and ‘go out” via foot, click and collect, delivery or post.
A case of the more curve balls you’re thrown, the better you become at catching them.
What do you look forward to most in 2023?
2023 is about consolidating on the springboard that the pandemic has provided. Automation, technology and efficiency will all play key roles in adapting to our ever-changing customer behaviour.
I’m in the process of designing a brand new store that’s due to open in the next 12 months. It’s exciting to predict how pharmacy will evolve over the next five to 10 years.
This feature was originally published in the March issue of Retail Pharmacy magazine.
