Two Pharmacy was a force to be reckoned with in this year’s Reader's Choice Awards, winning on both the business side of things and on the community participation side of things.
On the business side of things Two Pharmacy won gold as Favourite Local Entrepeneur, Best Pharmacy, Best Retail Store, and Best Gift/Jewelry Store. On the community side it won gold among local businesses as Favourite Community Supporter, and its signature Kimmett Cup won for Favourite Charitable Organization.
Two Pharmacy operations manager and owner Reid Kimmett said for his business community and entrepreneurial success have always gone hand in hand.
“We have a program here: we call it Community Roots,” he explained. “And what we do is we donate one per cent of what we make through the tills back to local causes and charities. Our idea is, in a play on that name, to strengthen the roots of the entire community, and, at the same time, strengthen our roots in that community.”
Kimmett expands on that idea to show how intertwined these things really are in his business.
“I've had this philosophical thought running through my head for a long time; especially since we changed our name to Two Pharmacy and incorporated charitable giving right back into the company,” he said. “Are we successful because we're charitable or are we charitable because we're successful? I don't necessarily think it’s one before the other. One continuously fuels and feeds the other.”
On the business side of things, as the most recent head of a family business which has existed in the community since 1989 when his parents first opened their doors, Kimmett said it is always about being responsive to the times and keeping up with changing customer needs.
“Thinking back to the original pharmacy with my parents there to where it is now, it has changed a great deal,” Kimmett acknowledged. “But I would say the primary source of those changes has just been the community as a whole. You kind of keep your ears to the ground to listen and engage with people to let them know you care about what they have to say. More often than not, the customers will point you in the right direction of what’s missing, what they can’t find, or what you can provide to them that they need.
“That's led to us pursuing all sorts of interesting niches and avenues that I'm sure were never a seat of a thought in my parents’ heads in 1989.”
Kimmett said he is grateful for all the ongoing community support which keeps his pharmacy a vital part of Cochrane’s business scene.
“Overall, the feelings that come to mind are being humbled by that and also a lot of gratitude that those people who voted for us have been people that have been coming and seeing us for 35 years now … And that many people care, and care about us and our story– it means a great deal to us.”
