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Family feel of business makes long hours worthwhile
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Published: July 19, 2009
HARRISBURG — - In their careers, Penny Jordan and Sherry McDonald have worked in all types of pharmacies, from big name chains to independently-owned operations.
Through their shared experiences, the two learned a great deal about what attributes make up the best pharmacy business.
When their paths finally crossed, Jordan and McDonald started talking about starting their own local pharmacy, using the best practices from their past employers and some of their own ideas to create a business where clients feel at home.
"We had that discussion in May and opened in October," McDonald said. "It was quite a turnaround."
Their intention, with everything from the name on the outside of the shop to the personalized service within, was to give each customer the best experience they could provide.
For the four years since opening, that has been the mission of Harrisburg Hometown Pharmacy.
"We've been told is has that hometown feel," McDonald said. "When people come in, it's not just a customer or a number. To us, it's family."
Both women admit that running a business is hard work. It requires long hours and lots of dedication.
But at the end of the day, Jordan said, it's about providing for the customer in whatever way best suits his or her needs.
Sometimes that means delivering medicines to their home, a service the pharmacy is proud to offer.
Other times it means walking out to the parking lot to administer a vaccination to an elderly customer who has difficulty getting in and out of a car.
The pharmacy also offers compounding, a process of pairing medicines that aren't commercially available to help patients with specific needs, like customers who can't swallow large pills or children who dislike the taste of a particular medicine.
"We try to make it convinent for everybody," Jordan said.
And their hard work seems to be catching the attention of others in the medical field.
Jordan said they received one of the greatest compliments they could when location physicians began referring their customers to Harrisburg Hometown Pharmacy.
"That's part of the reason we wanted to open," McDonald said. "To be a part of that trifecta between patients, doctors and pharmicists.
"The gratification you get — growing a business and having people believe in you and support you, it makes every bit of the work worth it."
In the nearly four years since opening, the pharmacy has continued to grow and expand, both in local clients and more regional work. The busniess now provides services to group home as far away as Rutherfordton, Lexington and Albemarle.
In doing so, the women said, they continue to grow their family doing work they can always feel good about.
• Contact Jonathan E. Coleman: 704-789-9105.
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