Best Retail Pharmacy

[wstrn08]

I am starting school this fall and was wondering what is the best retail pharmacy chain overall? Benefits, treatment of employees, management, salary, etc. I'm from California, if that matters.

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[ultracet]

You're going to get a lot of different answers from a lot of different people from all over the country. I would suggest you add exactly where you are looking into working so that those in your area can help you. It seems to depend on the pharmacy and their district manager etc...

🙂

 

[MCVRx07]

I've worked at K-Mart, Walgreen's, and now CVS. By far, Walgreen's is the way to go.

 

[utlonghornsandy]

Eckerds usually treats employees pretty bad. I've never heard of a good experience, only bad.

 

[SynergeticSteve]

great thread question! i've worked in a hospital pharmacy throughout undergrad and i had the same question as wstrn08. can't wait to hear further replies about retail!

 

[lord999]

It depends on what kind of personality you are and what you make of your situation:

IMHO:

Walgreens
Pros: Best technology,most efficient pharmacies, OT, Night shifts
Cons: Drive-thru, volume driven, worst customer draw

Basha's/Food City/AJ's
Pros: Easy customers, Cohesive pharmacies, responsive managment, no drive-thru
Cons: Primitive QS1 System/Technology

Wal-Mart/Sam's Club
Pros: Best technology, staffing is adequate
Cons: Would you like to be a health and beauty manager too? No interns.

Fry's (Kroger)
Pros: Moderately paced, staffing, OT, responsive managment, No Drive-thru
Cons: Differential Pay Scales

Safeway
Pros: Friendly environment, moderately paced
Cons: (In AZ) Unresponsive to overly belligerent managment, "Smile School"

Albertson's/Osco
Pros: Cohesive units, OT, Nights
Cons: Inadequate technology to volume ratio (that's changing), New drive-thru models, Changing paradigms in pharmacy operations

Target (and K-Mart)
Pros: Cohesive Units, Relatively responsive management, easy customers, Low Volume
Cons: Who's heard of Target pharmacy?

CVS and Eckerd are still relative unknowns here, so we don't know their habits.

And things that are pros for me are cons for someone else. For a young pharmacist, punishing them involves taking away overtime. For an established pharmacist, punishing them involves forcing overtime. You really have to what you want and match it to the right company.
I know of several cases where pharmacists bounced from company to company to find the right fit. If you have the opportunity, try to pick a diverse set of companies for your clerkships and treat it as a 5 to 6 week interview. You can save yourself a headache when contract time comes.

 

[dgroulx]

The pharmacists that I work with all chose Eckerd because of schedule flexibility. They only have to work every 3rd weekend. When CVS takes over in late June, they will have to work every other weekend because CVS only employs 2 full time pharmacists per store with 1 part timer (20 hrs/week).

They all refused Walgreens for the same reason. Wags limits your work day to 8 hours. This means you work 5 days out of 7 so if you want overtime, you have to work an extra day. That extra day will be one of the weekend days that you weren't scheduled to work. Wags has a better computer system, but not enough to compensate for their work schedule.

 

[wstrn08]

well the one's I am familiar with are walgreens, longs drugs, rite-aid...I'm from the Central Valley in Ca., but I will be moving down south near pomona for school.

 

[Pilot]

I can only speak for the pharmacies in Oklahoma - but my experience has been that Wal-Mart has been the most pharmacist friendly. Worked for Walgreens also, and was told (and trained) to break state and federal laws, and thus got sideways with corporate management when I refused. My wife worked for Krogers in Teexas upon graduation and loved it, then moved to Oklahoma to be with me and intitally went to work for Eckerds. She liked the staff, but the antiquated computer system was hard to overcome (this may have been replaced by now). She now works for Wal-mart, and loves it.

Keep in mind that the same company is managed differently state to state and district to district. I agree with the previous poster who said to "try on" different companies, and ask pharmacist friends their opinions in the region you are looking at. Good Luck.

 

[bananaface]

A few comments to add....

Walgreens
-workflow falls apart in lower volume situations
-management really does care more about $ than patient care
-store managers with no pharmacy background will be in charge of the pharmacy manager: OUCH
-staffing levels do not increase to accurately reflect the needs of a growing store
-computer system is a win 3.1 vesion of a good system. It does alot of good things but isn't terribly user friendly or attractive.
-auto refill system can really help patients manage their refills
-10% off I think... but it's all overpriced anyway

Wal-Mart/Sam's Club
-the computer system does add alot of accountability by prioritizing workflow efficiently (I love the troubleshooting options, tracking of rx progress @ the fingertips)
-volume oriented
-the medical plan? what medical plan?
-retirement plan got very downgraded
-some larger stores do have interns
-can pull OTC staff in during busy times
-you cannot dispense emergency contraception even if certified
-high turnover in staff due to poor pay and benefits
-10% off in nearly every department
-live in fear of getting yelled at for every loss you take

Fred Meyer (Kroger)
-you are free to offer additional services like flu shots, emergency contraception, and cholesterol screening
-staffing levels are very supportive
-low turnover of staff
-hokey computer system (PDX)
-customers don't get as antsy as other places because there is a larger variety of things to browse at than at other stores (one stop shopping)
-non-unionized pharmacy staff @ present
-good benefits b/c of the company buying into a benefits package for the unionized employees
-10% off all non food/health and beauty/pet merchendise
-double discount days plus coupons = good deals
-corporate management doesn't ride you about profits
-bonuses
-float techs available when needed in some areas

Safeway
-I heard 2nd hand that a staff pharmacist can make more than a pharmacy manager because the increase in pay is slight and they take away the ability to get OT

Albertson's
-i heard they just took away all sick days and now you can call in as much as needed and get 60% of your pay
-the benefits are rumored to be very good

 

[BenU29]

I work at CVS pharmacy and love it. However, I've never worked at any other pharmacy so I can't compare.

 

[BenU29]

Oh..My brother-in-law works at Walgreens as a tech..yada-yada-yada...He is never going to work retail when he becomes a pharmacist. 😕