Kelly’s will compete with chains by offering long term customer relationships
DELMAR –Family owned and operated Kelly’s Pharmacy recently opened at 343 Delaware Avenue as Delmar’s first independent pharmacy since Four Corners Pharmacy closed in November 2020. Kelly’s advertises personalized customer pharmacy service and plans to beat the challenges independent pharmacies face.
“Not many of us are around anymore, but we are still fighting the good fight,” said Kelly’s Vice President and one of its six full time pharmacists, Quinn Kelly. “Some independent pharmacies have the customer service, but they don’t have the re-fill options and other amenities that a chain may have,” said Quinn. “Here, there is nothing a chain drug store has that we don’t have so here you get the best of both worlds.”
Those amenities include, a drive thru window, delivery, immunizations, a phone app for electronic communications, drug compounding for people and pets, and auto-refill. Quinn’s dad Marty, Kelly’s owner with his wife Diane, said Kelly’s offers more services than the chains serving Bethlehem. Unlike drug chains, Kelly’s offers medication synchronization, which organizes a customer’s regular medication prescriptions so all medications are filled at once, cutting down trips to the pharmacy. He said Kelly’s also offers blister packs for medications. “That’s particularly important for the elderly because it can be determined what doses were taken and which ones were missed.”
Marty touted Kelly’s commitment to competitive pricing. “Our every day prices on over the counter products are 20% less than retail chains like CVS or Walgreens,” he said. “A handful of things are even cheaper than Walmart,” he boasted. Quinn interjected, ”We are proud that there is even one item that is less expensive than Walmart.”
As for customer service, Quinn said, “We build service around our customers. Within the law, there is nothing we wouldn’t do to convenience a customer. We run our pharmacy the way pharmacies were run 30 years ago. We know you and you know us.”
“I can’t tell you how many things we have found out because a patient is comfortable with us and because we have built a relationship,” Quinn said.
Kelly’s, in business since 2011, is building on established customer relationships from its two other locations — Greenville and Coxsackie. When Four Corners pharmacy closed, about 30 customers transferred to Kelly’s, making the drive to Greenville. Now they are returning to Kelly’s Delmar location. “We have always wanted to be in Delmar because it is a larger market for us and small business friendly,” said Marty.
With CVS down the street, Marty said Delmar may not face a “pharmacy desert”, but there is a “choice desert” with only two pharmacies – CVS and Hannaford – operating. Quinn explained, “Communities with 1/5 the population of Delmar have more pharmacies.” Marty added, “We love to be next to a big chain because of the way they are run corporately. Here, you get a prescription in 5-10 minutes, quick delivery and we can counsel everyone.” “And we know our customers by name,” chimed in Rebecca Kelly, Director of Pharmacy Operations and another Kelly’s pharmacist.
As optimistic as the Kelly’s are, they recognize the hard economic realities facing them. “In the old days, a pharmacist would fill about 200 prescriptions/week. Those days are gone. Now, you have to fill as many as a chain store, like 1200-1500 week, just to break even at a single store,” Marty said. Factoring in labor, utilities, and overhead, it costs Kelly’s “$11.56 to fill a single prescription,” which he said beats the national $13 average.
But that cost is not always covered because of low reimbursements and fees charged by pharmacy benefits managers. Calling pharmacy benefits managers “the devil that wears a suit,” Marty said “we don’t make the same amount of money the chain operations make because we don’t have the pull with the pharmacy benefits managers.” Marty said Kelly’s is relying on the success of its other two stores, “while we mature this one, but it will be a loss for a few years.”
Despite those economic challenges, Marty said, “We love it. I’m 67 years old and I still love it because we make a difference.” Rebecca agreed, recalling the time a customer came in with tears in her eyes to tell Rebecca she had stopped smoking as a result of Kelly’s help. “She was so happy to tell us and we were a part of that. We walk away and we feel good about what we’ve done,” said Rebecca.
“We build a lifelong relationship with people, as a patient, as a customer, and as a friend.”
This story was featured on page 4 of the January 17th, 2024 print edition of the Spotlight.
