best retail company

[Oxycotin]

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hello everyone. i'm not sure if this has been discussed yet or not but i was wondering if anyone had any opinion of what the best retail pharmacies to work for are in terms of work environment other than independents. I know that ultimately it's down to the individual pharmacies but any opinions on companies as a whole in terms of things like staffing, work issues, innovative clinical programs, etc.? i've heard good things about target and krogers and only negatives about cvs because of their staffing levels. i've externed at walgreens and didn't find it appealing at all but maybe because it was a busy store and i got stuck on the crappy drive thru a lot of the time. i live in the midwest but i've also heard that publix was good also. i think that work environment is much more important in the long term than money so working for a good company after school is important. any opinions regarding work environment would be great. please disregard pharmacist benefits, salaries, stock options, etc. if this has already been posted, links would be great. thanks

 

[dgroulx]

I worked a couple of hours per week at a Publix during my 2nd year practicum class. They pay a lot, you get Publix stock which is private, and it is slow. On the negative side, you are perceived as the equivalent of the deli-manager. You just run a department in a grocery store. Publix has future plans for small clinics in their stores, which is interesting. The Publix closest to my house also has a drive through window.

 

[VCU07]

I have worked for Eckerd for the last 3 yrs and have not been impressed. They are lagging with computer software and have a ways to go before they can catch up with walgreens or cvs. They are getting a new computer system, but the date keeps getting pushed back. Also, the pharmacists I talk to tell me they treat them like crap too. So, I will def. not be working for them next year. Again, realize that this is just my opinion and may differ from others who work there. I have heard good things about kroger and target. I hear publix is good to work for as well. I plan on moving back to ATL so I will most likely be looking into Publix.

 

[shiningxstar29]

Hi,
I am also as curious as oxycotin. But i would like to know how are the pay for retails, as which retail pays the most and which pay the least. I am so also curious how is the pay increase for the company. I know that some belive that all pharmacists get paid the same, so they adjust equally, whereas some each year you get a raise. If anyone has any information, it would be really grateful. I just want to know what im gettin myself into.
Thanks

 

[ForgetMeNot]

Hi,
I am also as curious as oxycotin. But i would like to know how are the pay for retails, as which retail pays the most and which pay the least. I am so also curious how is the pay increase for the company. I know that some belive that all pharmacists get paid the same, so they adjust equally, whereas some each year you get a raise. If anyone has any information, it would be really grateful. I just want to know what im gettin myself into.
Thanks

I have heard that Target does not do pay adjustments across the board. I don't know if it's true or not, but at the very least, it's a popular rumor. I know that Safeway does not discriminate on who gets a raise. All staff pharmacists and managers, regardless of the volume of the pharmacy, get the same increase in wages. However, Safeway tends to be the last chain to give those raises. The trickle down of pay tends to start with Walgreens then go to Frys (Krogers), then the other major chains, then Walmart, then Safeway. Yes, we're usually after Walmart in pay raises. How f'ed up is that?

 

[rxlynn]

hello everyone. i'm not sure if this has been discussed yet or not but i was wondering if anyone had any opinion of what the best retail pharmacies to work for are in terms of work environment other than independents. I know that ultimately it's down to the individual pharmacies but any opinions on companies as a whole in terms of things like staffing, work issues, innovative clinical programs, etc.? i've heard good things about target and krogers and only negatives about cvs because of their staffing levels. i've externed at walgreens and didn't find it appealing at all but maybe because it was a busy store and i got stuck on the crappy drive thru a lot of the time. i live in the midwest but i've also heard that publix was good also. i think that work environment is much more important in the long term than money so working for a good company after school is important. any opinions regarding work environment would be great. please disregard pharmacist benefits, salaries, stock options, etc. if this has already been posted, links would be great. thanks

If you have any interest in moving to the South, Kerr Drugs (which is mostly in North Carolina) is starting to do some innovative things with clinical in a retail setting. They are what I would call a mid-sized chain. I work for CVS and I can tell you that they tend to cut technician hours as low as they can get away with. It seems like every year they will decide we aren't doing enough scripts in the summer (big surprise that it slacks off then, right?), cut our hours, then December rolls around and we are crazy! Of course, that could just be my DM - I've only worked in one district. However, that obviously impacts you only if you have a busy store and a lot of technicians.

 

[npage148]

I personally will be picking a job based on the stress level it will give me. I would much rather pick working at a grocery store filling 150 scripts a day for 60-70K a year versues 500 at a walgrens for 95+K. I want a nice schedule such as 9-5 which is what more groecery stores do, not some crazy rotationg schedule at a 24 hours place. Plus im looking for no drive-through and a low percentage of medicaid people and a comfortable number of techs. I really dont plan on relying much on a corp's retirement plan becasue who knows what will be up in 30 years. I will be saving personally.

 

[prairie42]

I personally will be picking a job based on the stress level it will give me. I would much rather pick working at a grocery store filling 150 scripts a day for 60-70K a year versues 500 at a walgrens for 95+K. I want a nice schedule such as 9-5 which is what more groecery stores do, not some crazy rotationg schedule at a 24 hours place. Plus im looking for no drive-through and a low percentage of medicaid people and a comfortable number of techs. I really dont plan on relying much on a corp's retirement plan becasue who knows what will be up in 30 years. I will be saving personally.

Amen. Sounds like a good strategy to me. I took a job with Target, so no drive-thrus and a low medicaid and even medicare population where I will work. They have a 401k and a pension plan but like you said, who knows about the future of either plan.

 

[npage148]

Im more trusting of a 401k becasue it will travel with me, but a pension plan is a worse gamble than the lotto. The common trend is people who say they are not in it for the money, yet will sacrafice their health and wellbeing working at an extra busy store for and extra 10k a year or working 50 hours as week.

 

[shiningxstar29]

I agree with you forgetmenot.
I feel that if i dont get a pay increase depending on the way I work and the amount of effort I put in, it gives me no motivation whatsoever to work hard. I want my hardwork to be rewarded. But i am just looking for a company that highly rewards it. I am still in pharmacy school, I am applying to different internships and getting different offers, so I want to know where is the best bet to invest my time in

 

[ndearwater]

As a tech, I have some complaints about Publix... but every pharmacist I've worked with came from CVS or Walgreens and absolutely LOVES Publix. There is way less volume (we're the 2nd busiest store in our district and we do about 150/day), competitive pay when you include bonuses & stock options (they give you stock equivalent to 10% of your salary yearly= if you make 100K you get 10K in stock additionally), tech hours are usually skimmed down as much as possible but you get 1 hr per 11 scripts. So at our store we get roughly 90-95 tech hours weekly.
Most of the people are there to shop so you can get them to come back in 20-25 min without too much huffing and puffing. And finally, there is no drive thru in any publix that I've ever seen. But since Dana said there is one in her town I AM SCARED I just refuse to work in a drive through pharmacy. But still the majority do not have them.

 

[Caverject]

I think drive thrus at publix is ******ed.

The whole friggen point to pharmacy in a grocery store is for them to drop off an rx and go shop. It's a regular money loser for most grocery chains to begin with and now your going to encourage patients NOT to shop at your store? Give me a friggen break!

 

[Oxycotin]

I personally will be picking a job based on the stress level it will give me. I would much rather pick working at a grocery store filling 150 scripts a day for 60-70K a year versues 500 at a walgrens for 95+K. I want a nice schedule such as 9-5 which is what more groecery stores do, not some crazy rotationg schedule at a 24 hours place. Plus im looking for no drive-through and a low percentage of medicaid people and a comfortable number of techs. I really dont plan on relying much on a corp's retirement plan becasue who knows what will be up in 30 years. I will be saving personally.

I totally agree with you. And drive thrus at pharmacies has to be one of the worst ideas ever from a professional and labor standpoint. The company i'm working for is planning to get drive thrus 😡 i guess it could be amusing to watch my pharmacist's head explode from all the things that go on at the drive thru though.

 

[Oxycotin]

Amen. Sounds like a good strategy to me. I took a job with Target, so no drive-thrus and a low medicaid and even medicare population where I will work. They have a 401k and a pension plan but like you said, who knows about the future of either plan.

Would you say that working for Target is worth it for a long term career?

 

[Oxycotin]

If you have any interest in moving to the South, Kerr Drugs (which is mostly in North Carolina) is starting to do some innovative things with clinical in a retail setting. They are what I would call a mid-sized chain. I work for CVS and I can tell you that they tend to cut technician hours as low as they can get away with. It seems like every year they will decide we aren't doing enough scripts in the summer (big surprise that it slacks off then, right?), cut our hours, then December rolls around and we are crazy! Of course, that could just be my DM - I've only worked in one district. However, that obviously impacts you only if you have a busy store and a lot of technicians.

So would you say Kerr Drugs and Publix are the better choices in the South? Do you know if they're possibly expanding to other parts of the country?

 

[shiningxstar29]

how about the westcoast?

another questions, i never worked at a pharmacy with a drive through, whats so bad about it?

 

[prairie42]

Would you say that working for Target is worth it for a long term career?

Good question. I think the company is very solid financially, so the potential is there for a long term career. I will be able to answer that question better in a few months.

 

[chitowngyrl]

From a technician standpoint, which store is better between CVS and Walgreens? I just got hired at both as a tech. And I have to make a decision very soon. So I was trying to decide which is better from both a tech standpoint and also from a pharmacist standpoint- for when I graduate. Please help!!!!

 

[shiningxstar29]

Hi chitowngyrl,
i got hired as an intern at both two. not sure which is better. but from what ive been hearing walgreen is better. but then cvs is growing, it just bought out sav-ons and osco.
where are you from?

From a technician standpoint, which store is better between CVS and Walgreens? I just got hired at both as a tech. And I have to make a decision very soon. So I was trying to decide which is better from both a tech standpoint and also from a pharmacist standpoint- for when I graduate. Please help!!!!

 

[TotalKayOs]

i have only heard bad thing about wal-greens from emplyees and customers. i live in the northeast and work as an intern now for eckerd and them seem to be pretty fair about staffing and tech hours.

 

[chitowngyrl]

Hi chitowngyrl,
i got hired as an intern at both two. not sure which is better. but from what ive been hearing walgreen is better. but then cvs is growing, it just bought out sav-ons and osco.
where are you from?

Thank you for responding,
I live and go to school in Chicago. CVS is pretty new here. I think the stores started showing up about 5 years ago. So they are aggressively trying to steal Walgreens thunder. Because Walgreens has been the only major player in Chicago for years. The funny thing is the recruiters from CVS were at our school and they hired me on the spot. I told them I just got hired (well I just took the drug test) for Walgreens. I think that made them want to hire me even more.
But since CVS is so new here, I dont have alot of information about them. And thats why I dont know which company to go with. I guess it comes down to the benefits the two companies offer and the long-term. I know all about Walgreens profit sharing program and the $3 for every $1 you invest. But I dont know about CVS's benefits. I know they have a 401k, but does anyone know what percent?

 

[rxlynn]

From a technician standpoint, which store is better between CVS and Walgreens? I just got hired at both as a tech. And I have to make a decision very soon. So I was trying to decide which is better from both a tech standpoint and also from a pharmacist standpoint- for when I graduate. Please help!!!!

In your situation, I'm not sure CVS vs. Walgreens makes so much difference, as it does what the stores are like that they want you to go to. Ask specific questions about the stores they want you to work in - how many Rxs per week, where located, what kind of patient population, drive thru vs. no, how many other techs and pharmacists are there, etc. Then, go and look around the store yourself sometime when you can be relatively anonymous and just get the vibe for what it looks like. Are the techs running around like crazy? Are there 4 people lined up at dropoff at 9 pm at night? Does the pharmacy look neat, or are there piles of stuff everywhere? Does it look like they have plenty of storage room, or no? Working in a busy store can be an advantage because you get to see a lot of different things, but it is also a more stressful place to learn if you've never been in a pharmacy before.

 

[rxlynn]

So would you say Kerr Drugs and Publix are the better choices in the South? Do you know if they're possibly expanding to other parts of the country?

More info. at the site below. I didn't see anything right off about expansion. They are mostly in NC - about 10 stores in coastal part of SC, and nowhere else in South. Publix is much more widespread.

http://www.kerrdrug.com/about_kerr.html

 

[chitowngyrl]

In your situation, I'm not sure CVS vs. Walgreens makes so much difference, as it does what the stores are like that they want you to go to. Ask specific questions about the stores they want you to work in - how many Rxs per week, where located, what kind of patient population, drive thru vs. no, how many other techs and pharmacists are there, etc. Then, go and look around the store yourself sometime when you can be relatively anonymous and just get the vibe for what it looks like. Are the techs running around like crazy? Are there 4 people lined up at dropoff at 9 pm at night? Does the pharmacy look neat, or are there piles of stuff everywhere? Does it look like they have plenty of storage room, or no? Working in a busy store can be an advantage because you get to see a lot of different things, but it is also a more stressful place to learn if you've never been in a pharmacy before.

Very good points. Thanks for the feedback 🙂
I will take all of this into consideration!

 

[shiningxstar29]

I am in michigan, also in the midwest. Have you decide where you're going to work at? I think I am going to stick with walgreens. I am not sure who pays more, do you know?

Thank you for responding,
I live and go to school in Chicago. CVS is pretty new here. I think the stores started showing up about 5 years ago. So they are aggressively trying to steal Walgreens thunder. Because Walgreens has been the only major player in Chicago for years. The funny thing is the recruiters from CVS were at our school and they hired me on the spot. I told them I just got hired (well I just took the drug test) for Walgreens. I think that made them want to hire me even more.
But since CVS is so new here, I dont have alot of information about them. And thats why I dont know which company to go with. I guess it comes down to the benefits the two companies offer and the long-term. I know all about Walgreens profit sharing program and the $3 for every $1 you invest. But I dont know about CVS's benefits. I know they have a 401k, but does anyone know what percent?

 

[chitowngyrl]

I am in michigan, also in the midwest. Have you decide where you're going to work at? I think I am going to stick with walgreens. I am not sure who pays more, do you know?

I have heard that Walgreens pays a little bit more than CVS. I havent decided yet. But so far it is looking like it will be Walgreens. Its closer to my house. I dont know though. I think I am gonna go lurk both stores and see how the employee environment is. See if I can get a feeling for which store has a better vibe.

 

[shiningxstar29]

good idea.

I have heard that Walgreens pays a little bit more than CVS. I havent decided yet. But so far it is looking like it will be Walgreens. Its closer to my house. I dont know though. I think I am gonna go lurk both stores and see how the employee environment is. See if I can get a feeling for which store has a better vibe.