ALT ALT pharmacy prescribes Yoga

MENTION the name Elephant Pharmacy to people here and the response is,
That’s the drugstore that prescribes yoga. In fact, Elephant Pharm,
as
it calls itself, offers a wide variety of alternative remedies — yoga
perhaps being the most mainstream — besides traditional
prescriptions.
Such branding is invaluable to a small company like this, which is
striving to carve a niche as the only drugstore in America thinking
outside the big box.

Elephant Pharm’s mission is to become a “natural community hub,”
where
conventional medicine meets other forms of health care, a combination
that it says is not found in any other drugstore.

“In the ’60s it was trendy to go to your herb shop,” said Kathi
P.
Lentzsch, chief executive and president of Elephant Pharm. “But this
is
more than a trend. This is going to be the drugstore of the future.”

Elephant Pharm opened its first drugstore five years ago in Berkeley,
on
the fringe of the University of California

campus, selling natural and alternative medicines, organic groceries
and
other holistic products. The store then became a template for two more
emporiums that it recently opened elsewhere in Northern California, San
Rafael and Los Altos (with another to open in Walnut Creek), as part of
a nationwide expansion.

The store was so-named because elephants are intelligent and caring,
Ms.
Lentzsch said. Its clients, she added, are well-informed baby boomers
and mothers in their 30s and 40s.

“Drugstores haven’t changed in 50 years,” Ms. Lentzsch added.
“And if
they don’t start to accommodate what customers are learning about on
their own, they will lose that customer base.”

The Elephant Pharm experience starts just inside the front door. Yoga
mats, solar-powered radios and a two-speed “mind-expanding head
massager” are displayed. A sign near the cashier asks, What’s your
dosha?, referring to the three body types in ayurvedic medicine. The
store offers up to 100 free classes a month, ranging from animal reiki
to chi nei tsang, a form of holistic Taoist medicine. And for every two
full-time Western practitioners, including pharmacists and registered
nurses, there are three to four full- and part-time Eastern
practitioners.

Separate pharmacy counters emphasize the range. One fills standard
prescriptions, including pet medicine. A second counter offers Chinese,
Western and ayurvedic herbs. Separating them is a lending library and
bookstore.
Full NYT article

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/business/smallbusiness/16elephant.html?ex=1...

 

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