Walgreens Loss Could Be Local Pharmacies' Gain

Gertrude Booz used to take prescriptions to be filled at her local Giant.

But she said that in recent months, she felt she was waiting in line at the deli counter instead of the pharmacy. Customer service was lacking, she said, and she felt like Giant was filling so many prescriptions for customers that it was difficult to speak with a pharmacist for any length of time.

"You just waited around for everything," said Booz of Essex. "You never felt they had enough time for you or got to know you."

Booz said that is not the case at Independent Drug, located at 28 Kingston Road in Hawthorne. There, the senior citizen added, she feels like she has a personal relationship with the staff and they work harder to cater to her needs and ensure she is on the right medications.

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"They seem to be on a first-name basis with everybody," Booz said. "It’s a real neighborhood pharmacy."

Independent Drug is just one of many neighborhood pharmacies in the Essex-Middle River area trying to compete with an ever-growing list of options for customers.

Along with national pharmacy chains like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid, people can also get their prescriptions filled at Giant and stores like Walmart and Target.

But Independent Drug, along with others like Eastern Discount Pharmacy in Middle River, have at least one advantage over some of the competition: both accept Express Scripts.

The St. Louis-based company recently entered a $2.4 billion contract with the State of Maryland to be the prescription drug carrier for about 219,000 state government workers and retirees, according to MarylandReporter.com.

The agreement comes as Walgreens, effective Jan. 1, stopped accepting prescriptions from Express Scripts, which is also the prescription drug carrier for Baltimore County employees.

This has left tens of thousands of customers, including many in the Essex-Middle River area scrambling for a new pharmacy.

Independent Drug pharmacist Vihn Lee said he has had some uptick in business, thanks to the fallout between Walgreens and Express Scripts.

Still, he added, it can be difficult to compete with the larger chains, which allow customers to easily fill prescriptions at any of their stores while they also get their other shopping done, too.

But Lee believes pharmacies like his can make up for that with quality customer service and other amenities, like offering free delivery.

The latter is a big attraction, Lee said, to many of the area’s seniors, who often have trouble driving on a regular basis. Independent Drug also has a quality location next to Geresbeck’s grocery store, which does not have an in-store pharmacy.

"We work with the Department of Aging to make sure seniors are on the optimal medications and work to make sure our patients receive the best care possible,” Lee said.  “We try to go the extra mile to compete with the chains.”

Eastern Discount pharmacist Aziz Nasir said his pharmacy takes a similar approach and hopes to draw in additional business from Express Scripts customers.

Like Independent Drug, Eastern Discount is located in a shopping center with a grocery store—Mars Supermarket—that does not have its own pharmacy.

“People feel really comfortable coming in here and talking with us,” Nasir said. “We know just about all of our customers by name.”

Do you prefer taking your prescriptions to a national chain or a neighborhood store and why? Tell us in the comments below.