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| 11/6/2009 11:50:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| The Pill Box, which opened its new location in March, is celebrating 30 years in business. Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union |
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Winns Reflect On 30 Years As Pill Box Owners
Daniel Riordan
Times-Union Staff Writer
They didn't plan on staying long.
When Bill and Sherry Winn came to the area out of college, they were just coming for jobs.
That was in 1974.
The husband and wife owners of Pill Box Pharmacy decided to stay and raise a family in the area.
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With a new location, Pill Box Pharmacy is looking to serve the community for another 30-plus years while it celebrates its first 30.
The new Pillbox Pharmacy, a 14,000-square-foot building near Kosciusko Community Hospital, opened in March.
The story of Pill Box starts in the spring of 1974 when the Winns both graduated from Butler University with degrees in pharmacy.
Bill took on a pharmacist position with Bob Brennan, then owner of Brennan Drugs. Sherry was hired by Walter Drugs owner Joe Mendenhall as a pharmacist.
The young married couple spent five years working a block apart in downtown Warsaw.
In July 1979, the Winns bought an independent pharmacy in downtown Mentone called The Pill Box.
Sherry continued to work for Walter's while Bill began operating their new store in Mentone.
In 1983, Walter Drugs moved out of downtown Warsaw into a new location on Winona Avenue called Mendenhall Pharmacy.
Prior to this transition, Mendenhall provided medications to many of the area nursing homes. Due to her position at Mendenhall Pharmacy, Sherry had taken on the role of consultant pharmacist for all the area nursing homes. As he transitioned from Walter Drugs to Mendenhall Pharmacy, Mendenhall also chose to move away from the servicing of long-term care facilities.
With the urging of the nursing staff of the area nursing homes, the Winns began to provide the medications for Alfran, which is now known as Mason Health Care, Miller's Merry Manor, Grace Village, and Prairie View, now the Meadows, from The Pill Box in Mentone. This was the beginning of Pill Box Pharmacy's involvement with the special needs of long-term care patients in Warsaw.
At this time, Sherry left Mendenhall Pharmacy to join Bill in their Mentone Pill Box.
In 1987, Pill Box expanded to a new location in Warsaw near KCH on DuBois Drive.
At that time, Pill Box entered into the home care side of pharmacy by offering home care products like oxygen supplies, medical equipment and wound care.
In 1993, Bill and Sherry bought Don's Pharmacy in North Manchester and began providing medications to Peabody and Timbercrest retirement communities in North Manchester. The Winns also began working with Cardinal Services at that time.
In 2000, Bill and Sherry purchased Walter Drugs in Milford. This extended Pill Box's coverage over all of Kosciusko County and also allowed Pill Box to begin offering service to Lakeland Rehab in Milford.
The Winns said they saw changes in 2004 in the world of independent pharmacies.
They noted reduced reimbursement from the new Medicare programs that began to pay pharmacies directly for their prescriptions.
By 2007, Pill Box had moved down to just one store, closing North Manchester, Milford and Mentone to stay competitive.
"Any business you're in, things are always changing, you're always having to adapt to the changes," said Bill of working as an independent pharmacy.
"The overall, long-term way it's worked for us is to just talk to people," said Bill. "Communicate with people. Pharmacists have always been able to fill that role. If you build relationships it's amazing how loyal people will be."
Bill said he feels overwhelmed and blessed by the loyalty of his customers.
He noted that his customers from a place like Mentone will drive past seven different pharmacies
"Sherry and I came to Warsaw thinking we'd only stay for a short time," said Bill. "Just by hanging around and sticking our necks out a bit, we've been able to succeed," said Bill. "It's very overwhelming."
The Winns' son, Greg, joined the staff as the operations manager in August 2007. Greg took his experience working for Intel Corp. to streamline efficiency for Pill Box.
Greg is a 2004 Purdue graduate.
Pill Box employs 37 people with 35 of them being full-time.
For more information or to read more history on Pill Box Pharmacy, visit pillboxpharmacy.com
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