The outside of Arrowhead Pharmacy will soon be getting new signs announcing some of the changes and new products in the store. The store’s inside has been completely remodeled and new product lines have been added. A grand remodel/redesign opening will be held April 29 through May 2.
A bedrock Grand Marais business has decided to expand its hours, expand its products and improve its services to the community.
Arrowhead Pharmacy is in the last stages of wrapping up an expansive (and expensive) three month remodel/ redesign. Gone are the old displays, rows, counters and countertops, and in their place are new flooring, new walls, fresh paint and a new, streamlined layout.
“We have tried to expand every department. Our goal was to modernize the store. Get a better flow and create efficiency through a more open design,” said pharmacist and general manager Bob Sample.
Store hours will now include Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m. However, said Sample, “Those hours are for the store only. The prescription department won’t be open then to the public because there won’t be a pharmacist on duty.”
Products added include a new pet line, new card company, an expanded gift selection, a broader cosmetic line, Russell Stover and Whitman candy and a larger, more complete health care line.
Bob and Elaine Sample are thrilled to be working at Arrowhead Pharmacy and living in the county. Bob is the pharmacy’s general manager and main pharmacist.
One of the reasons Arrowhead Pharmacy was able to expand is because it is part of a five-chain pharmacy ownership under the company name Guidepoint Pharmacy.
Of the five stores, only Arrowhead retained its original name. Company headquarters is in Brainerd.
“We are also a Health Mart Pharmacy. We will have monthly health tips and products geared to this clientele,” Sample said.
Currently 15 people work at the store. Its dedicated staff takes care of pharmaceutical needs for North Shore Hospital, Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, North Shore Care Center, and Grand Portage Clinic as well as the general public. “We have also added a part-time pharmacist, Deidre LaRock-Muggley, to work at the hospital,” said Sample.
The pharmacy will be holding a four-day open house April 9-May 2. At the open house, a gumball machine will be present. For 25 cents a gumball can be purchased and it will have a certain percent marked on it. “That percent will be taken off any purchase— except prescriptions— in the store,” said Sample.
Themoney generated from the gumball machine will be donated to a charity, noted Sample.
There will be twenty $25 gift certificates awarded in a drawing, as well as gift baskets, other discount coupons, and a Sony digital camera will serve as the grand prize. A large, stuffed bunny will be go to some lucky child in the kids drawing.
Viking Hus, which adjoins the pharmacy, will also see some changes this summer but will remain a separate business from the pharmacy, said Elaine Sample, Bob’s wife and co-worker.
One of the new products at Viking Hus will be kitchen utensils, Elaine Sample said, adding, “and more clothing.”
For Bob and Elaine living in Cook County is a dream come true. Bob owned three pharmacies in Iowa for more than twenty years. But in the summer he would head north and guide canoe trips into the Boundary Waters. “I guided for thirty years. Mostly off the Arrowhead and the Gunflint Trail. I still have five canoes and Elaine and I both enjoy canoeing and the outdoors. We feel fortunate to have this opportunity to not only work together but to have found a home in Tofte.”
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