My Biz: Clark's one of remaining independent pharmacies in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — When Clark's Pharmacy renovated and expanded its store over the past year, much effort and floor space went into private rooms for meetings with customers and patients. It's the way of the future, according to Craig Clark.

'Pharmacies are going to change in the near future,' he said. 'Pharmacies aren't going to be paid anything for product — it's going to be patient care. That's why we wanted to be sure we had the rooms set up.

'We will be paid by the drug companies for managing meds, assisting the doctors with the medication management or doing complete med reviews to see if there's any interactions with the drugs or their over the counter or diet-wise. The pharmacy of the future's going to be paid that way, so we want to make that our business model.'

That plays to the strengths of Clark's Pharmacy, by Clark's count one of just four independently owned pharmacies in Cedar Rapids.

'You've been doing counseling forever, and I think that's one of our strengths,' said Pam Clark, Craig's wife.

'We did all that counseling before it was dictated by law,' Clark agreed. 'It was a given. With a prescription you've got to tell them how to take it and what it interacts with. We did that before it was written into the law. I always thought it was a little silly — we should be doing it anyway.'

Surrounded by outlets of the big chains, Clark's has staked out a personal-service niche. The philosophy dates to Craig's childhood in Pisgah, current population 251, in western Iowa's Loess Hills region.

'The guy who went to my church owned the local pharmacy and got me interested in that,' he said. 'My attitude has always been you know everybody.'

Craig moved to Cedar Rapids soon after graduating from the University of Iowa's School of Pharmacy, in 1978. Future wife Pam was also a '78 UI graduate, with a business degree.

'She was working here in Cedar Rapids, so first chance I got I transferred here,' he said.

The chance to buy out the business of another pharmacist came in 1980.

'It was maybe a little sooner than we thought, but the opportunity was there,' Craig said.

Clark's moved to its current 42nd Street NE location in 1990.

The store has 14 employees, four of them pharmacists. You'll often find a UI pharmacy student interning there — Craig is an adjunct faculty member.

'I teach them what I know, and I learn from them as much,' he said.

Another store specialty is serving the operators of group homes for the developmentally disabled, managing and packaging their residents' medications.

'Whatever the facility wants, we will do that for them,' Craig said. 'It's very time-consuming, so a lot of stores don't want to do that.'

Son Ryan, 30, also a pharmacist, recently joined the business, 'so hopefully it will continue on beyond our retirement,' Craig said.

'We can help a patient who's put on a medication that's really expensive, and we can find them a coupon to get their cost down,' Craig said. 'We try to be sensitive to the patient's economic situation.'

The natural strengths of an independent business should help the family business position itself for the future, Craig believes.

'I've had business people come in and say, 'You're not efficient here,' but that's what we hope sets us apart and what people appreciate,' he said. 'Almost every week we'll have somebody transfer from someplace else, and they'll stop in and say this is the best place to be.

'Our style of pharmacy isn't for everybody. If they just want to quick, go and not talk to anybody, that's fine. But if they want to be good advocates for their own health and take a little time …

.'[naviga:h3 style="padding-left: 60px;"]AT A GLANCE

Owners: Craig and Pam Clark

Business: Clark's Pharmacy

Address: 1946 42nd St. NE, Cedar Rapids

Phone: 319-393-3210

Website: www.clarksrxcr.com

Know a business in operation for more than a year that would make an interesting 'My Biz'? Contact michaelchevy.castranova@thegazette.com