After locally owned small business pharmacies back in CA, I like the Target pharmacy in the Lakewood Towne Center the best. This pharmacy has that small business owner feel to it, but it's in a Target store - how cool is that? The pharmacist is always knowledgeable and will answer any questions you have, the techs there are always "on the ball" - special shout out to Jose!! They also accommodate for holidays, e.g. I usually refill every month on Thursday and Thanksgiving is on a Thursday. The pharmacist allowed me to refill my medication early, but next refill would be on a Thursday again. So it helps me keep track and not have to move the dates around.
The bottles also have style. The first time I saw one, I was really impressed. It was so cool looking!! Red (their signature color), with "your" personal color band just below the cap. And there is a small slot that comes with more info on your medication (as well as the large sheet that every pharmacy gives out). I don't know about you, but I sure don't file medication info. Having the sheet folded into the slot on the bottle is an awesome design. And if there are various people in your family taking the same medication, the bottles are color coded and you'll never get confused - you don't even have to read the bottle, you just look at the color. I'm "purple" - so I know that all the "purple" banded ones are mine. They try to make it as convenient as possible for the customer. You can pay for anything at the pharmacy counter (like caramel apples, salad mix, chicken, frozen pizzas... even pet costumes).
They also have good safety measures. For example, another large chain drug store that I used to use would fill a controlled substance six days in advance every month because the insurance would let them. So where do all these extra pills go? Either black market or addicts? But Target limits it to two days. Yes, you still have an extra two days of controlled substances, just in case - but that is much better than six, which could equal a lot of pills. Since pills are now the drug of choice among teens, I think that two days is completely reasonable, it makes monthly timing easier and you know if someone has stolen some of your medication. Every four weeks on the same day, easy to remember, color coded, stylish bottle and you can shop while you wait! Pretty cool in my book. read more
