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As of Monday, March 2, 2020, downtown Olivet introduced a new, “convenient” pharmacy store to the community.
Olivet Pharmacy owner Bhavesh Patel said that it has been slow business so far since they just opened up, but people are “talking” about it and hopes the business will get better. Patel said most of his pharmacies are in small towns, and since there is no competition here and it needed one, he chose to open one in Olivet.
“We have quick, fast, friendly . . . free delivery service that we’ll definitely have for the older age people and the college students . . . and we have preferred network(s) with most of the insurances,” he said.
Jayce Meyers, co-owner of Olivet Hardware where the pharmacy is located, said that a lot of people were “excited” leading up to it opening, and he said that the Facebook post made about it reached about 4500 people. Meyers said that when he opened this hardware store three years prior, he knew there was a pharmacy in town that closed down. Instead of building another one, the store decided to take a portion out of their building and use it for the pharmacy.
Meyers said, “I really do think it’ll benefit the community. It’ll help a lot of people . . . that’s what we want to target—the schools, the college, the kids there. Everybody’s more than welcome to come down and see what we can do for them . . . might not have everything, but we can definitely try to get what they need or what they want.”
Jamie Kita, owner of Seasonal Inspirations Gift Shop and president of the Olivet Chamber of Commerce, said that she is “glad to add something else into the town that we can use in the community.”
She said that before she became president, there was research done in the Chamber after the older pharmacy closed. The research said that 1.6 percent of Olivet could support the pharmacy so she said “it’s good that it’s back”.
Fay’s Willow Tree Café and Bakery employee Kevin Monaghan said, “I feel like it’s a good idea that the pharmacy is in the community because we have a lot of older folk in the community, and it’d be nice to not be having to drive all the way to Charlotte or Battle Creek to get our meds . . .”
Owner of Main Street Stylers Peggy Schnepp said that she is “excited” about the new pharmacy opening up because “there are people here without transportation—students, college students, elderly people, people who can’t afford cars—and I think it will be a great asset . . . You have a doctor’s office, now you can get your medication.”
Olivet College sophomore Jaleca Blue said she hopes to get her medications “quicker” so she won’t have to go to Walmart or Meijer.
Sophomore Emily Epps said that it is “convenient” because people do not have to “switch their pharmacies up and down and go back and forth from different places” or go “miles and miles to get what they need.”