‘One pharmacy is not enough.’ SLO County pharmacy to open new store in Morro Bay
A San Luis Obispo County pharmacy is taking its first step toward becoming a local chain — and they’re putting low costs and the customer experience first.
Pill Save Pharmacy, which first opened its doors in Arroyo Grande on Branch Street in early 2022, is close to opening a second branch at 3118 Main St. in Morro Bay — a community that badly needs another pharmacy option, CEO Ihab Doss told The Tribune.
Doss spent a decade coordinating San Luis Obispo County’s CVS pharmacy locations as a manager, training many of the company’s pharmacists in the area before spending the past three years as a pharmacy supervisor at Atascadero State Hospital, he said.
He said working in San Luis Obispo County’s pharmaceutical world gave him a strong sense for what is needed — particularly for a county with an aging population.
Doss said in removing non-medical products and focusing on customer relations, Pill Save Pharmacy’s Arroyo Grande location has been able to keep costs low, including the prices consumers will see at the register.
It’s a model he hopes to bring to Morro Bay, which has just one pharmacy — a Rite Aid on Quintana Road.
“It turned out there’s a huge concern for having a pharmacy, because only one pharmacy is not enough,” Doss said.
New pharmacy to appeal to seniors
Doss said reducing overhead has been a critical part of the Arroyo Grande Pill Save Pharmacy’s success from the start.
Where many chain pharmacies have expanded their products outside of over-the-counter drugs and prescriptions, Pill Save Pharmacy has prioritized the customer experience and keeping costs down, he said.
“The problem with retail pharmacy around here is that they work nationwide, and they see how the operation fits their needs nationwide, but living on the Central Coast made me feel that we need a different type of service,” Doss said. “We don’t have to have long lines — we don’t have to have a huge front store with kitchenware and stuff that’s not related to medications or anything.”
Doss said in a pharmaceutical industry that is rapidly moving all of its communications, ordering and scheduling online, he’s worked to make his pharmacy reachable in-person and by phone — something he said his senior customers appreciate.
Between employing a larger staff than most pharmacies and making online ordering and delivery available to all customers, Doss said he expects shorter waits and lines in the new store.
“For seniors and old people, it’s really important to make it easy for them,” Doss said. “Whenever you come to a pharmacy, there are no lines because we deliver for free.”
He said like the Arroyo Grande location, the Morro Bay pharmacy will take all types of insurance, including some rarer types of coverage from Tricare and Kaiser Permanente, which aren’t accepted at all retail pharmacies in San Luis Obispo County.
The pharmacy is still at least two months from opening next door to the Federico’s Mexican restaurant location, but is already starting to get to know to the community, Doss said.
Doss said the store’s new landlord, Joseph Yukich, played a big part in getting a new pharmacy in town, offering Pill Save Pharmacy a lower rent and connecting Doss to Mayor Carla Wixom and Morro Bay Police Department Chief Amy Watkins.
“They are the ones who made sure to meet up with me and to see what we would need to open the store as fast as possible,” Doss said. “The people who are in power really care about the community that much, and they really want to solve the issue.”
What’s next?
Doss said the pharmacy still needs to receive certification from the California State Board of Pharmacy before it can open, but is targeting a Jan. 1, 2025, opening day.
He said the Morro Bay location is the first of what he hopes can be a chain of small, local pharmacies that can provide low-cost medical solutions across San Luis Obispo County.
“We already have a huge network of pharmacists in the area, so how about we start doing a small pharmacy in each city and make it service-focused only?” Doss said.
This story was originally published October 22, 2024 at 10:00 AM.
