used to be (or currently still is in most places around the world) if you wanted to go down to the pharmacy you go down to the fuckin pharmacy. that place in your neighborhood that the pharmacist has because she wants to sell you pills and lotions
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Arcadia's Cauldron never had anything locked behind plexiglass. Although I'm ashamed to say I may have shoplifted some void salts before I got my Septims right
This country lost its way when you started having to go the bait shop for leeches. And even there you have to get a worker to put them in a cup for you, you can't just dunk your arm in and gather your own.
Problem arises when I need a special elixir for when I find it difficult to get my hands on the right elixirs and become frustrated! Shit is complicated!
I have two incredible local pharmacies here in Brooklyn an I am like… so embarrassed that I ever went into a Walgreens after moving here. Retail pharmacies were already terrible and have only gotten worse, and my local pharmacy has incredibly helpful people working there.
it's not a massive place, the fuckin pharmacy. an eclectic collection of creams and tinctures. maybe some makeup. maybe you even know the pharmacist! it's not fertile ground for roving gangs of shoplifters to pick clean (if this even happens)
I get my meds at a local pharmacy that shares a building with a fairly nice liquor store. It’s really nice. Get my pills, go next door to get some Finnish long drink, enjoy the nice weather
This is not an excuse for CVS/Walgreen's, who absolutely contributed to the mess, but independent pharmacies have to be more general store-like now because they can't make money on most of the drugs, they have to use them to get people in the door and make money elsewhere.
back in '23 they absolutely let roving gangs of shoplifters pick our local cvs clean, for the insurance money, before closing it, because it was across the street from a target, that also had a cvs pharmacy inside.
i actually love to have to hunt down a staff member to look in the windows to their soul and ask them to unlock Ass Tincture (For Chapped Ass) out loud
so thanks a lot Jimmy Walgreen, you fuck. you piece of shit. not only can't we be a pharmacist and open a pharmacy anymore without you running us out of business. now we can't even buy some axe body spray without being reduced to tears of frustration
on top of that they're not even making any money! imagine seizing pharma pricing power with affiliate PBMs and you still need to go begging for Sycamore Partners to euthanize you
tough to make money when you spent all your operating capital on bespoke cooler doors with screens that show you ads and don't tell you what's inside the coolers
Centene thought what if we could take the tears of frustration inducing ordeal of calling your health insurance company and make that a brick and mortar experience
It’s like dang if you reduce your workforce to absolutely nothing people shoplift so the corrective action was to *checks notes* lock everything up and require nonexistent staff to open it… winning strategy - so yes after 12 minutes of waiting to free deodorant from its jail cell I leave
did a Moneyball bit yesterday about how the nearby CVS is closing so but we can recreate it in the aggregate (local pharmacy, ace hardware, local 24/7 convenience store)
the magic of the invisible handjob is that jimmy walgreen is gonna run himself out of business with those lockboxes and then hopefully we get some ole timey pharmacies again. nothing kills retail like "call an employee over to get me a bottle of shampoo"
So here in NYC we are actually finding a resurgence in mom-and-pop pharmacies because of how many CVS/Walgreens/DuaneReades/RiteAides have closed due to being so terrible to shop at.
We’re seeing a rise in the popularity of the mom and pop pharmacies around here (there are a couple left) as well as pharmacies inside the hospitals and clinics. Definitely hit them up for prescriptions and OTC meds and things instead of the big and now-shitty stores.
when I was a kid, my parents were friends with our local pharmacist so we used to go over to his house sometimes to play with his kids while the adults hung out and talked about grown up stuff. better days.
I went to my local pharmacy to have my prescription transferred from CVS (because f them) and the pharmacist told me that the local CVS picked a phone number that’s one digit off from theirs. Boycott these corporate vampires.
My local mom and pop pharmacist got us through the pandemic, and i am ride or die for them 4 life. I’m required to use a mail order pharmacy and I grit my teeth and pay out of pocket.
I guess I'm in for another culture shock, what does a pharmacy look like in the USA?
Our pharmacies are also chains but like, the closest Apotheke I have is the size of my living room, you walk in, say "I need strongest ibuprofen you have" take the pills and then leave
They started out focused on being a pharmacy (aka dispensing medicine) with some other little sundries to pick up while you’re there. Now they’re devoted to being terrible miniature Walmarts that sell a poor and overpriced selection of everything imaginable, and incidentally they also dispense meds.
Once upon a time, when industrialists were like "what are those pharmacists doing that we can't do in a factory?", pharmacies had to diversify or die as their jobs were being made obsolete. So: pharmacies in America have like candy, cleaning supplies, makeup, crappy toys. Like a small Walmart.
I want you to imagine a pile of plastic garbage, candy bars, jerky and condoms, and you have to climb over all that junk to get to a little window in the very back of the store
But I'm now picturing walking into an American pharmacy and seeing beef jerky as the first thing and it absolutely confirms all my biases. I hope you also get a refreshing Marlboro cigarette with them.
one time at a walgreens in louisville I bought energy drinks, condoms, lube, a home HIV testing kit, and a handle of rotgut vodka. the cashier looked at me like I needed a hug.
nah I was just preparing for my internet gf at the time to visit lol. the testing seemed like overkill cuz I wasn't sleeping with anybody but hey, gotta look out for number one.
On vacation in Ireland, I had revelatory experience of same! But the pharmacy was 1.5 times the size of my living room. In the US they are tucked away behind gallons of lotions and locked cabinets of 39 types of deodorant
CVS/Rite Aid etc. sind hier wie Rossman oder DM Markt und die eigentliche Apotheke MIT ApothekerIn sind ein abgetrennter Bereich mit Theke, der auch nicht größer ist, als in D.
AAAABER im nicht abgetrennten Bereich gibts alles was bei uns rezeptfrei ist in 1000er Packungen.
From what others seem to say it's also much more like a convenience store though? DM and Rossman are *mostly* beauty and wellness, shampoos, shaving, baby stuff, and a small section with chocolate and whatnot.
Why would you add a pharmacist, seems like joining two completely different services.
i would add to these by saying that if "supermarket" makes you think there's fresh produce or something there, that is not correct. chips, cookies, frozen pizza.
sometimes they have a selection of bananas or apples that taste like nothing, and they're incredibly proud of themselves for that
There are local independent pharmacies like what you describe, but for the most part they are oversized and unstaffed stores with random junk. If you wander around long enough you can maybe wait an hour for your prescription. For over the counter (non-prescription) stuff just go to a grocery store.
it’s like a larger convenience/corner store but ALSO has a pharmacy.
the local Walgreens Pharmacy in my area has not only the store portion, but also has a FedEx, a doctors office, a photo print shop, and there is maybe one employee you can find in the entire store.
one took over my hometown's only grocery store. it's the size of a warehouse and sells every product imaginable, very expensively, except for fresh food of course. nobody needs fresh food.
Picture a convenience store where everything you want to buy is: locked up, 20% more expensive, the back half of the store is high-margin makeup, they’ll throw away your prescription if you don’t come by a deadline and a loss prevention guy stalks you like Jason does a teenager who just fucked.
The pharmacists on duty are underpaid and massively overworked (12+ hour days with no breaks are common), and 95% of the store is dedicated to plastic knickknacks, candy, soda, makeup, and party supplies.
And even for one item, the receipts are longer than your car.
There's only one type of ibuprofen, it's the weakest kind but they keep it behind bulletproof glass and you need your parents permission to buy it if you're below the age of 35. It costs $20,000 and they make you pray first to see if that will clear things up before they sell it to you
it's an oversized convenience store with an emphasis on healthcare products and cosmetics but usually also has basic shelf stable/frozen groceries, pet food, basic home goods, stationary, toys etc. the pharmacy counter itself is in the back, is open 8 hours a day and always has a line.
Xennial and I grew up filling prescriptions at CVS, there was a local pharmacy, but you only went there if you needed more than a prescription, e.g. crutches, walker, shower seat, etc.
But totally agree we need to go back to local biz supporting their communities.
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He was right
I started Zepbound and the poor pharmacist was like, they won't sell us that but I can forward your prescription to CVS.
You can't escape the enshittifcation.
Our pharmacies are also chains but like, the closest Apotheke I have is the size of my living room, you walk in, say "I need strongest ibuprofen you have" take the pills and then leave
But I'm now picturing walking into an American pharmacy and seeing beef jerky as the first thing and it absolutely confirms all my biases. I hope you also get a refreshing Marlboro cigarette with them.
They keep the cigarettes behind the counter where they belong, duh
AAAABER im nicht abgetrennten Bereich gibts alles was bei uns rezeptfrei ist in 1000er Packungen.
Why would you add a pharmacist, seems like joining two completely different services.
I've never been to walgreen's though. I have CVS and Rite Aid right in front of my door.
we also have a pharmacy in regular grocery stores like ACME
sometimes they have a selection of bananas or apples that taste like nothing, and they're incredibly proud of themselves for that
I just like to hold the receipt out like a ribbon and run around shouting "weeeeee!"
the local Walgreens Pharmacy in my area has not only the store portion, but also has a FedEx, a doctors office, a photo print shop, and there is maybe one employee you can find in the entire store.
And even for one item, the receipts are longer than your car.
https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-ibuprofen-200-mg.%2C-1%2C000-tablets.product.11489095.html
But totally agree we need to go back to local biz supporting their communities.