Podcast: How an Independent Pharmacist Incorporated Coffee into His Pharmacy

Chris Schaffner, PharmD, is an award-winning pharmacist and cancer survivor who has been serving his community in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade. In a podcast interview, he sat down with Drug Topics to discuss his joint business venture which combines a coffee shop and a pharmacy.

"If you think about it, the pharmacy is often sort of a cornerstone of community and so are coffee shops," Schaffner told Drug Topics. | image credit: WavebreakmediaMicro / stock.adobe.com

The idea came from one of his colleagues in pharmacy school, and when his pharmacy had the chance to establish a coffee shop of its own, Schaffner jumped on the opportunity.

“We've got a Starbucks on every corner, much like the rest of the country has Dunkin or other chains. But the idea was we wanted to bring the casual atmosphere that coffee provides into the clinical setting of a pharmacy,” he told Drug Topics.

Since opening Schaffner Pharmacy, he and his team have won Best Pharmacy in Skagit County in 2022 and 2023, as well as the 2023 AlignRx Pinnacle Award. And even with his success, Schaffner still sees patient care and community engagement as some of the most important aspects of his operation.

During his interview with Drug Topics, Schaffner explored numerous topics on both sides of his business. From the inception of his coffee shop and how it has improved sales to the success of his pharmacy and improving the front end of his business, he presented an overview of how his joint business venture is able to operate so ingeniously.

READ MORE: How Coffee Helped This Pharmacy Improve Front-End Sales

You can also find this podcast available on Spotify.

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