Community Corner
#99 - Daryl Tomkin: Behind The Counter of Tomkin's Pharmacy
Local business owner Daryl Tomkin sat down with Patch for question-and-answer sessions about what it's like owning a storefront in Haupauge.
Hauppauge resident Daryl Tomkin has owned and operated for more than 20 years. Patch sat down to have a Q&A with Tomkin to learn more about the man behind counter, his business and what its like being a small business owner in the Hauppauge community as part of our "Faces in Hauppauge" series.
Patch's question-and-answer with Tomkin:
Q: Who started your business? How many years ago?
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Tomkin: “I started this business about 21 years ago now. I was working here under the previous owners and when they decided to go into a mail service type business, I took over the store on my own. I’ve been a pharmacist since 1981.”
Q: What are some challenges you have faced over the years?
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Tomkin: “There are many, as every business has their issues. The biggest challenge that we have going on right now in pharmacy in general is a lot of the insurance companies are forcing people to go into a mandatory mail service, so people have no choice where they get their prescriptions. A lot of people aren’t happy with that, because they want to be able to come in and speak to someone that they know about their personal history. You don’t get that with mail service.”
Q: What is special about your store?
Tomkin: “Because we’re an independent store, it’s small. We pretty much know everybody’s name as they walk into the store and everybody knows us. It’s a family. We can give better service than a chain that’s going to take three hours to fill your prescription, who doesn’t know who you are, and has different staff working every time you’re there. All my employees, over the 21 years, have lasted a long time; which is nice, because when customers come in, it’s not just me. It’s also my staff that knows them. Here it’s a nice community family feeling. People really do enjoy that."
"We offer a delivery service for people that can’t get out, if there’s a senior citizen who can’t really get around. Nobody offers delivery service anymore, and we offer that free of charge. We feel that seniors deserve that. We can give the kind of service you can’t get in a larger type of setting, and we are able to give you in an independent store, like ours.”
Q: What are the advantages of running your own store for so many years?
Tomkin: "I know what people are on. Of course, we’ll check the computer anyway. If there are any problems with drug interactions, I will know their history. It usually only takes a few minutes to fill their prescriptions while they wait."
