Business: Millville Family Pharmacy
Location: 604-606 N. High St., Millville
Owners: Liliam Spieker, of Vineland; Anthony Esgro, of Glassboro; and Michael Ludwikowski, of Medford
Employees: 4
Phone: 856-327-7900
Millville Family Pharmacy is just like any other pharmacy minus all the unnecessary front-end merchandise such as milk and makeup. We offer over-the-counter medications, medical supplies and prescription medicines.
We carry the usual pain relief, allergy and personal products, but no candy or cigarettes — just over-the-counter pharmacy products.
Normally when you go into a pharmacy, the prescriptions are all the way in the back. Here, you walk in and the pharmacist is right there.
We're not trying to sell things and distract people when they're trying to get a prescription filled or need consultation.
We always have someone here who speaks Spanish.
We have another pharmacy in Vineland, called Main Pharmacy. That operates on the same principles. We opened that in October of 2010.
This pharmacy relocates one we opened in Cape May Court House in November 2009. The model worked, but we just relocated here because it's closer to our Vineland store and makes more sense for us because we don't live down south. If we don’t have something in stock at one store, we can always find it in the other store. We also offer free delivery, so that works well with two locations.
Entry: All three of us are pharmacists. We worked together at a chain pharmacy together for a few years, and then decided to go out on our own.
Mike (Ludwikowski) went on his own first, opening in Medford. He put the bug in our ear about it.
This had always been a dream of mine, but you have to have the funds first before you make a move like that.
In the chain pharmacies, I was so busy with the high volume of prescriptions that I felt like a robot working there. I never had the time to consult patients on their medications. Here people deal with us the whole time.
The challenging part is just the business itself. You never know what’s going to happen day to day.
The future: We definitely would like to expand further. The difficult part is finding staff with the same work ethic, who will be friendly with people when they come in.
Business Editor Kevin Post
