Exciting News at Hometown!
2020…..It was a crazy year is an understatement. For the Marketing Team at Hometown it was both challenging and exciting. Keeping up with COVID19 announcements, social media posts, store closings, announcements for curbside pick-up and mask requirements, signage for outside and inside the pharmacies, COVID19 testing and vaccine information kept us plenty busy! And in the middle of it we were designing a new website, rebranding and rolling out a new wellness program and email marketing campaign. Whew!
Due to the pandemic, we decided to execute a soft roll out for our website, our rebranding and our wellness program, so if you are a current customer and have subscribed to our newsletter, you may have already noticed the changes. If you have not, I invite you to check it out!! Click Here To Subscribe!
Introducing Hometown Pharmacy’s new branding & website! If you haven't heard the news, this is what you missed...
• We replaced our message (our tagline) Our Family Caring for Your Family with Educate. Empower. Evolve.
Why? I loved our old tagline - Our Family Caring for Your Family - it is at the heart of what we do everyday. However when we started looking at our future mission, we felt that this should be a given. It should be standard practice in every pharmacy - to treat customers like family when it comes to providing healthcare and we thought it was time we set higher standards for ourselves and the healthcare community.
Every person that walks through the door at Hometown is cared for and treated like family. As healthcare professionals working in small to medium communities, our pharmacists know their patients’ names, their family members' names, intimate details about their health, they see them at least once a month and yes - they become like family. When you have to tell them that “yes” it is true they have to go somewhere else for their prescriptions because it is dictated by their insurance, or that the cost of their drug has increased in price (due to circumstances beyond our control) or they have to receive their prescriptions by mail order, it’s tough and it becomes a personal fight for what is right for our patient.
Currently we have a disease care system, not a healthcare system and as a healthcare provider, we should always be advocating for our patients. For their health, for the access to healthcare, where they choose to receive it and for fair pricing. This is something we are passionate about and we will continue to protect our patients and to make them partners in their own healthcare.
Educate. Empower. Evolve.
Why is it important and what does it mean to Hometown and to our patients?
Educate.
At Hometown, we wanted to raise our standards - for ourselves and patient care. We feel that educating our patients about their health is paramount to achieve wellness in communities across our state and across the nation.
Our pharmacists are often heard telling patients “we don’t like prescriptions” and of course we fill prescriptions - it is what we do - take care of our patients’ immediate health needs first and foremost. However as stated previously, in the past pharmacists have done a lot of treating the patient after they are sick and not taking the time to improve patient health as a whole and we want to change that. We call it preventative healthcare, treating the whole patient, the root cause of their disease and getting back to a natural state of health or balance.
Where it makes sense, we will educate our patients about what they can do to feel better and how to get them off their prescription medications. That might mean talking to them about how to get better sleep, how food is medicine, how prescription medication might deplete our bodies of important nutrients and how to remedy that - We will work with our patients to create a lifestyle prescription, as it were, for them.
Our pharmacists are the smartest people I know and they know how to improve health at the cellular level. To continue to educate patients, they believe in and are passionate about continuing to educate themselves. Many of our pharmacists have become trained and certified in nutrition, athletic performance, they are involved in organizations to help improve patient care and free up their time through efficient work flow so they can spend more time with their patients, they attend conferences to connect with and learn from other health professionals AND all of this is done after they are done with their day.
Our Clinical Services Director, Dr. Abbi Linde, says it best. “Hometown is more than just a pharmacy! We are "Flipping our Pharmacies" along with the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Networks (CPESN) to switch from dispensing one prescription at a time to really caring for patients as a whole!” Dr. Abbi, who is also a managing pharmacist, owner, a founder of the Evolve Wellness Science team, Evolve Wellness products, the Evolve Wellness Program AND is the leader in all of the initiatives at Hometown to improve patient health and she works tirelessly at this.
Our pharmacists are passionate about educating and serving their communities and patients - offering Facebook live educational videos, events for their local YMCAs and assisted living facilities, health segments on their local tv stations, one on one patient consults and so much more.
As an example of what our pharmacists do on a regular basis, I have included a recent video one of our pharmacists, JJ Allen, created to educate his patients about immune strategies. Immune Support Strategies: LIVE Chat with Dr. JJ Allen - Facebook
Empower.
Again, this is about educating our patients on all things health - to empower them to make informed decisions about their healthcare, whether it be about their medication, their lifestyle, their immune health, their supplementation, about their diet, how they resolve the stress in their lives and what might be causing it and so much more.
We have a video content creator that works with our pharmacists to create hundreds of hours of health-related content. Topics range from our 4 Core Health Principles (Nutrition, Stress, Sleep and Movement) and why each is important, the Foundational 6 Supplements we recommend and why, the health metrics we use to help our patients determine where their health is at currently and what to do to get them where they want to be to enjoy a fulfilled life and so much more!!
All of this education is FREE and available to watch on our Education Centers in our pharmacies as well as on our website and Youtube channel. You will walk out of the pharmacy or leave our website and have impactful knowledge about your bodies, your mind and how to live a healthier life. We urge our patients and community to take advantage of all of this education, from healthcare professionals that you can trust!
We absolutely believe that what you learn will then naturally be shared with others. The more people know about nutrient depleted soil, what a good night time routine for the best sleep is, what our circadian rhythm is and why developing a rhythm helps us to sleep, why personal connection is crucial, why the habits we form when we are young impact our bone and heart health when we are in our 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and well beyond and why we truly believe in holistic health (treating the whole self) the more they will feel empowered to talk about it to others.
When we share our knowledge, everyone benefits. A very wise Dr. Kathy Campbell once said, “The power to change happens with each other. We are each other’s best medicine and our communities are the cure.”
Evolve.
As pharmacists, as patient health providers we are always trying to evolve - to improve ourselves, our practice, our efficiency and we work many extra hours to do this so that we can be the #1 place our patients choose to go to when they have questions or concerns about their health.
We want to help our patients evolve their health - into wellness. That is our ultimate goal and that is why we believe in spending the time necessary to educate them on all things health. It is also why we spent months creating the Evolve Wellness Program to help them do just that. This is a premium health program, with hundreds of hours of education, health metrics tracking, nutrition and movement consultations - all to fit each individual’s lifestyle.
Click Here to learn more.
In addition to our Evolve Wellness Program, we have formed a science team that has worked very hard to develop a line of supplements - called, you guessed it - Evolve Wellness - that are the best of the best. We wanted to provide our patients with pharmacy-grade product options that provide optimal efficacy and are 100% created, supported, and used by our own pharmacists and their families. The Evolve Wellness Science team is dedicated to helping our providers and patients manage and receive best the complex medication therapies which are a part of our cutting-edge care today. Stop in to your local Hometown Pharmacy and ask about this line of supplements.
• Our Website has a brand new look!!
Check it out at www.hometownpharmacyrx.com
With our new message, we really wanted our website to encompass all that we offer and continue educating our patients even when we aren’t meeting with them at the pharmacy in person. We also wanted those looking for a pharmacy, to know our philosophies - that we aren’t just a pharmacy that fills prescriptions. We want to help you feel better - and we want to give you all the tools you need to accomplish this. It includes many educational videos, educational blogs and individual location pages which feature each individual pharmacy, the pharmacy team that serves the community, it will soon include a virtual walkthrough of each location so you can visit virtually before you decide if we are the pharmacy for you and of course information on our many services and up to date information on COVID19.
We have also added this BLOG to our website and again, so many of our pharmacists are sharing their insights into their world, great information and education for readers on a variety of health topics and more. Segments from the WKOW Midday Madison which we had the opportunity to participate in also offer a plethora of information and are included and our Visual Display, Gift and Buying team also contribute to make this BLOG a wealth of great information you won’t want to miss! Click here to check it out!
• New Branding for the Gift Department! Hometown Living - Life in Balance
As a boutique, we wanted to find a way to separate ourselves aesthetically from the pharmacy, not just in how we present our products, but as a brand. So we created the Hometown Living brand - and we really love what it represents!
When you give a gift from our pharmacy and it either comes in a bag with the Hometown Pharmacy logo or has a foil label that says Hometown Pharmacy, it doesn’t evoke the same reaction it would if, say, it was in a Pottery Barn bag or a Zara box. Pharmacy has more of a clinical feel and we wanted our customers to think “warm, inviting, chic.” Many of our customers will tell the story that their coworkers or a friend will compliment them on what they are wearing and they say “thanks!” “I got it at Hometown Pharmacy!” and it is met with the incredulous response, “Really? Your pharmacy sells that?” What we sell, you won’t necessarily find at most pharmacies so we want to make sure our branding is not too clinical and is representative of our unique offerings.
With our new corporate branding message, our gift departments will offer all things for a healthy mind, body, and home. Hence the tagline “Life in Balance.”
Our message is that in life we need balance. We need to work obviously, hopefully in a career or job where we feel accomplished, we need to feel good - and that might include nutrition, movement, stress relief and sleep - and it also might include feeling confident and good about ourselves because we are comfortable in what we are wearing or we look good in a new outfit. It might be that at the end of the day we walk into an inviting home, with cozy blankets, pillows, a good book to read and a candle burning or a diffuser going with our favorite essential oil to offer a calm and relaxing haven.
Hometown Living will offer all of these things and more. You won’t notice much of a change on the surface, but the buyers will be buying with more intention and focusing on our 4 Core Health Principles when making their purchases.
Apparel - Comfortable, cozy apparel that you can wear at home or out. Apparel that makes you feel confident and good about yourself - offering quality at affordable prices. Something for everyone.
Candles - The light, fragrance and feel of a candle burning evokes comfort and calm. We will continue to carry candles, focusing on the benefits and the tradition. This will include melters and warmers for assisted living facilities, nursing homes and the elderly so they can experience the benefits as well.
Paper - Notecards, journals, planners, greeting cards, puzzles, games and books. All important for mental health, connecting to people, communicating events and feelings, organizing and relaxing.
Gift - We will be downsizing this category and instead of a large focus within our stores, products that sell well will be interspersed with other Home Decor so that our stores still have that warm and inviting look. However, gifts (figurines, collectibles) have brought many people joy and memories are attached to each, so we don’t want to discontinue them altogether.
Food - Part of a happy life is gathering with friends and family to enjoy a meal, maybe drinks, coffee, tea and chat or entertain. While we would like to concentrate on food/drink that is healthy and perhaps local, good chocolate and a sweet now and then helps with mood and provides some antioxidants:)
Home Decor - Focusing on a comfortable, cozy home that welcomes you at the end of a busy day and creates a haven for you and your family to play, relax, gather and that garners feelings of happiness, joy and calm: Pillows, blankets and throws, cushions, accent furniture, comfy chairs, baskets and containers for organizing, planters and vases for plants/flowers, wall art that inspires, textiles and dinnerware/charcuterie boards, mugs, drinkware, etc. for entertaining and gathering with friends/family, frames for family photos.
Juvenile/Baby - Educational toys, games, books, puzzles, comfortable organic (preferably) clothing and headwear, home decor for bedrooms - blankets, pillows, chairs, frames, wall decor, dinnerware.
School Apparel - Will continue to support our communities and movement with school apparel, however will not be carrying a lot of Packer/Badger beyond apparel (shot glasses, mugs, giftables). Since this category also supports movement, this area will include more of the athleisure (Fitkicks, Fitkick leggings, yoga mats and accessories).
Seasonal - This is a time of year that friends and family gather and enjoy time together, whether it is with a meal, drinks, conversation, tradition, religion, so we will continue to carry seasonal offerings.
Soaps/Lotions/Fragrance - This category plays a large part in relaxation, well-being, skin health (our largest organ) and we will focus on finding products that are free of harmful ingredients and have health benefits. This is in addition to our natural products selection.
Hometown Naturals -
We have offered natural products for many years. With our focus being on proactive healthcare, a large part of our daily lives is our skincare and hair care products. What do we do every day? Take a shower, wash our hair and wash our face. Our skin is our largest organ and should be treated with as much care as the rest of our body. That is why we promote skin care and hair care products that are free of toxic chemicals, contain quality ingredients and are approved by the Hometown Science Team. We carry a variety of natural products in addition to hair and skin care products to include essential oils, teas, household products and more.
At Hometown Pharmacy we are PASSIONATE about providing our customers with the education, products and services to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle and to empower others to do the same. We invite you to take advantage of all we have to offer to evolve your health!
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