When Forrest Ritzman opened his Wadsworth pharmacy in 1953, there were no Walgreens, Rite Aids or CVSs choking suburban street corners. He made a living selling pharmaceuticals, school supplies, toiletries and candy bars.
Five of Ritzman’s six sons graduated from pharmacy school and opened stores of their own. The Ritzman name became somewhat of a local icon with eight stores from Rittman to Hudson. But a trusted name isn’t enough anymore.
More and more consumers were being lured to the “big boxes” of the pharmacy arena where they can buy everything from prescription drugs to barbecue grills.
“With prescriptions alone, there really is no income, even for the larger drug stores,” says marketing director Robin Barnby. “The money is made out front with school supplies and Band-Aids. It gets to a point where you cannot compete.”
The Hudson and Wadsworth stores were converted into combination pharmacies and natural-health centers earlier this year. These stores are the pilot projects for the company; converting more stores is under consideration.
“Even though the converted stores have been in existence for a while, it’s really like opening entirely new businesses after the changes were made,” Barnby says. “We’ve had to put a great effort into marketing the stores and into consumer awareness.”
The new stores offer a selection of health foods, natural products, vitamins, minerals, herbs and dietary supplements-even a juice bar. Customers can purchase “cruelty free” skin-care products and makeup as well as soy milk or vitamins.
“More and more of our patient/clients were asking about natural products and prescription drugs,” Barnby says.
The two stores were remodeled. Natural woods, spectrum lighting, earth tones and greenery replaced the stark white, institutional style. Traditional products carried by every other drugstore in the United States were replaced by coolers housing organically grown rice and other packaged, natural foods.
With the change also came another challenge-credibility.
Vitamins and other food supplements are not standardized by the Food and Drug Administration.
“There are a lot of people out there selling ‘snake oil.’ That’s why we are truly trying to integrate the worlds of research and health products,” Barnby says. “You can buy a $3.99 bottle of St. John’s Wort at any discount drugstore. I guarantee you won’t find any of those bottles on our shelves. We’ll offer a $12.99 bottle of St. John’s Wort, but there will be a vast difference.
“In the discounted products, two capsules may look the same, but one capsule may have grass, dirt or inactive parts of plants in it,” Barnby says.
Ritzman went so far as to send one of its lead pharmacists to the rain forest to assist other physicians and botanists in researching newly discovered plants for drugs.
“Four out of six prescription drugs originate in the rain forest, and there are still countless plants that haven’t even been classified yet,” Barnby says.
An added assistance for the company has been the addition of a lecture room, resource books for use in the store and a computer reference area.
“We encourage people to sit and read our books,” Barnby says. “We also have an ongoing educational project to educate our staff with constant updates on research.
“Our philosophy is: We would rather a person walk out with a handful of literature rather than a handful of products so they can read and decide truly what is best for them,” Barnby says.
The mortar and pestle are not on the shelf as a decorative tribute to the past. Customers can watch while traditional and alternative prescription drugs are made behind a glass wall. Pills can be transformed into transdermal creams for patients who can’t swallow, and children’s prescriptions can be flavored to their specifications.
“We’re specializing in flavoring oral medications,” Barnby says. “Especially for children who are on chemotherapy and often won’t take their medicines. Sometimes the pharmacist involves the child in selecting the flavor. When the child has a choice they tend to take ownership.”
The pharmacy’s patients are not limited to the two-legged variety. Ritzman has also targeted the webbed-footed and four-legged market by working with local pets, Sea World of Ohio and the Akron and Columbus zoos.
“Our marketing has focused on getting the word out about the change and getting the customer to know what we’re doing and what’s available,” Barnby says. “This is certainly not a product drive. It’s more information driven than product driven.”
