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Pharmacy opening at B&J

By Lisa Scheller - | Jan 2, 2002

Eric Finkbiner has been looking forward to opening the first pharmacy at B&J Country Mart.
Finkbiner, 33, whose wife, Karen, is also a pharmacist, said he plans to start out small with just himself working in the 400-square-foot pharmacy in the center of the grocery store.
He plans to open his shop today.
The Lawrence resident said he plans to run the pharmacy by himself.
“Hopefully, if the business takes off, then we’ll have to bring in a technician or two,” Finkbiner said. “And then if things go really well, we’ll have to start thinking about bringing in other pharmacists, but who knows how far out in the future that will be.”
Finkbiner said he wants his prices to be competitive, and his service to be fast, so that customers can have prescriptions ready to pick up by the time they finish grocery shopping.
While Finkbiner is working in Tonganoxie, his wife will continue her job at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where she works as a pharmacist in the hospital’s new cancer unit, he said.
Finkbiner received his bachelor of pharmacy degree from Kansas University in 1991, and Karen received her doctor of pharmacy degree in 1992, after which the couple moved to Cincinnati where she completed a two-year residency.
Then, the couple lived and worked in Florida for five years before returning in 1999 to Kansas, living in Hesston and working in Wichita. About a year ago, they moved to Lawrence, where Finkbiner has worked at the Medicine Shoppe on Massachusetts Street.
Jim Gambrill, owner of Country Mart, said he thinks the pharmacy will be a success.
“We’ve had a lot of people inquire about when it will open,” Gambrill said. “He’s going to be competitive in prices with everybody and he’s going to accept all the health plans.”
Finkbiner, who is leasing the space from Gambrill, said the low initial expense because of the ready-made pharmacy space was an encouragement.
“In this situation, the start-up costs were not that bad, since I’m not having to buy or lease a full-sized building,” Finkbiner said. “Drug inventory is the biggest chunk for me.”