Located on the Corner of Your World, 5201 Chippewa, St. Louis, MO

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By Steve Bryan Correspondent

    For anyone searching for sodas, magazines and convenient, around-the-clock pharmacy service, Keller Apothecary is not the place to go.

    "We only carry prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs," said Paula Weaver, head pharmacist and co-owner of Keller Apothecary, 5201 Chippewa St. "It was always considered a professional pharmacy, and that's why people come here."

    Closed Sundays and all major holidays, Keller Apothecary is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays; and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

    "I have people tell me that I'm not the most convenient, because I'm not open at night and I'm not open on Sundays,” Weaver said

    "But I do give the service that they want, so they will go out of their way to get here when I'm here because of that. We're very friendly and open. We know our customers and they know us," she said.

    At a time when large drugstore chains and grocery store pharmacies are dominating the industry, Weaver and her business partner, Tom Hunt, are keeping the traditional corner drugstore alive.

    Located within the Hardt Medical Building, Keller Apothecary was founded in 1933 by Joe Keller, son-in-law of Frank Hardt Sr., the man who built the building that bears his family name.

    Ownership of the pharmacy stayed within the Keller family until 1992, when Hunt and Joe Fitzgerald bought the business from Roland Behrens, Joe Keller's brother-in-law and the last surviving link to the family.

    "I started working for Tom to 1995 as a graduate (pharmacy) student, and that's how I ended up buying Joe out and how I ended up being partners with Tom," Weaver said.

    Hunt also runs and manages Lendenwood Drug, 6903 Lansdowne Ave.

    "When I want and need help or I need advice, I go to him," Weaver said. "Or if I'm going to make a huge financial decision, I go to him. He's a business partner, but he's more like a teacher. I wouldn't have the pharmacy if it wasn't for him"

    Since some of her competitors are only a few blocks away from her shop, Weaver said people ask her all the time how she can survive.

    "Well, we have our customers," she said, answering that often-asked question "That's how we survive. We offer delivery service, and that's a big help. We offer personalized service. We do fine, as far as I'm concerned.”

     Another common question, Weaver said, is about learning to read those illegibly written prescriptions.

     “There are no reading classes; it’s just that you know what you re looking for," she said. "As for the drug names and directions, you know what you're looking for. You're eye kind of gets trained to certain doctors' writing, too"

     Of course, there are some prescriptions that are nearly impossible to read, even by a trained professional.

     "It does get very had. We have one of the (industry) journals in back that you can send prescriptions to," Weaver said, laughing. "They print them like a brain teaser"

     During her years at Keller Apothecary, Weaver said she has seen many changes in the surrounding neighborhood as well as her client base.

     "When I first took over the store in January of 1996, the general populations of customers at the store was elderly," she said. "In that seven years, the neighborhood has turned over quite a bit.

      “A lot of customers have died and a lot of customers may have moved into a nursing home. Young couples are buying these houses and starting families" she said.

    Until recently, the high demand for pharmacists and the large sign-on bonuses offered by the national chains made it difficult for Weaver to hire a second pharmacist for the shop.

    "There has been the same amount of people in the field but it's just that it’s growing so fast, Weaver said. "Also, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, which is where I went, has the fewest number of students who are from St Louis"

     Recent changes to the requirements for the pharmacy degree program also will contribute to the pharmacist shortage in the near future.

     "It used to be a five-year program with an optional six-year degree. Five years is a bachelor of science in pharmacy, the sixth year is doctor of pharmacy, which we call a pharm.D.” Weaver said.  
      "With the graduating class of 2006, the National Board of Accreditation has said that to be accredited, every school had to have everyone doing the six-year degree," she said.  
      Despite the shortage of available  pharmacists, Weaver said she was able to find someone to help with the workload at Keller Apothecary.

     "We hired a pharmacist named  Emily Schubert, and she's great.  With her around, that means the head pharmacist gets to take some time off," Weaver said, laughing.

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