THE BUSINESSES: Independent pharmacy prospers despite arrival of retailing giants:

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Progress Sunday, March 17, 2002 Steve Bloom/The Olympian Nancy and Tim Larsen opened their Yelm pharmacy in 1979 and have seen the community grow. THE BUSINESSES: Independent pharmacy prospers despite arrival of retailing giants LORRINE THOMPSON THE OLYMPIAN "Yelm is such a funny community. People are used to driving out of town to shop. Now, more people stay in town." -- Nancy Larsen YELM -- Bob Wolf is sorry, but he just can't consider Tim and Nancy Larsen to be longtime business owners in Yelm. Never mind that the Larsens opened Tim's Pharmacy and Gift Shop back when Yelm had one traffic light -- a blinking yellow light at that. Never mind that they arrived with young children in tow, when the town still blocked off its main street -- state Route 510 -- to have street dances. Never mind that when the Larsens opened their pharmacy in 1979, the garden center a few doors down still sold groceries, and Wolf's 55-year old general store still stood across the street (it closed in the 1980s). All that doesn't sway Wolf, a Yelm native, one bit. "I'm sorry," he laughs. "They're newcomers." Tim Larsen just smiles and nods when he hears his 23-year business described as new. This is Yelm, after all. It's a city of old olds and new news, a community that's been planted here for well over a century, yet has experienced a significant growth spurt in just the last decade. And the pharmacy has had a front row seat for much of that transition -- located on THE corner, the intersection of state Routes 510 and 507 (also known as Yelm Avenue and First Street), where downtown has been centered. Tim and Nancy bought the store when they were still in their 20s because longtime Yelm pharmacist Ed Pickett had decided to sell his store. They were invited to check out the store by a salesman -- Tim worked at a pharmacy in Aberdeen -- but weren't very interested in the idea until they visited Yelm. "As soon as I walked in the store, I wanted to buy it," Tim says. Since then, they've raised four children in Yelm, including two sons who are in pharmacy school at the University of Washington, and plan to work in the family business when they graduate. "We've had steady growth ever since we got here," Tim says. "There are more and more people. It seems for difficult to remember everyone's names." But he and his employees try, he says, because that's part of owning an "independent" (as opposed to a chain) store in a small city. Not that the Larsens object to the chain stores coming into Yelm in the past few years. Despite the fact that Rite Aid and Safeway have both brought other pharmacy choices, "we're holding our own," Nancy Larsen says. "Yelm is such a funny community," she says. "People are used to driving out of town to shop. Now, more people stay in town." The additional competition has not hit the store too hard, the owners say. In addition, the Larsens work to keep their identity as an independent store that offers other types of services -- Tim compounds medications for customers who ask for the service, staff members give immunizations year-round, and the pharmacy has added disease management services in the past few years. Disease management includes sitting down with customers who have conditions like diabetes and providing counseling, Tim says. The pharmacy started the service a few years ago when the University of Washington included Tim's Pharmacy in a study of whether disease management helps patients (it does). As Yelm has grown, so has the pharmacy. Tim and Nancy doubled the size of the store about 10 years ago. They've watched as the traditional city core around them has stayed relatively untouched -- "this area has been like this for eons," Tim laughs -- and as business growth has sprouted a few blocks to the south. Downtown has spread, Tim says. Although they like the added choices for shopping, "my main concern is that we're going to end up being another Spanaway," he said. The Spanaway area of Pierce County has long strings of strip malls up and down one main street. Tim would like to see some design guidelines be put in place so the growth can be more attractive and cohesive. Parking in the traditional core is also a problem -- the city developed before automobiles did -- while new businesses to the south have plenty of parking. If there's a difficulty about all the change, it's adjusting to a changed Yelm, the Larsens say. "I'm not a growth person," Tim says. "I was sure we'd never see a McDonald's," says Nancy, who has a brother who works for the fast-food company. "We're losing our small-town image with all the chain stores." But Yelm is still a great place to live and own a business, they say. "When Rite Aid came in, people would come to me and say, 'Tim, is this going to be all right?' " he said. Yelm residents "are kind, faithful, neat people," he said. When the growth and competition starts to worry him, Tim remembers some advice given him by another pharmacist. "There will always be a place for an independent," he says. "It's that personal touch." On the Web: Tim's Pharmacy & Gift Shop University of Washington Yelm Area Chamber of Commerce The Olympian Copyright 2002 back to main Progress index

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