Mirrer Pharmacy credo: try a lot of different things - Inside Pharmacy

Mirrer Pharmacy credo: Try a lot of different things

NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. -- Twenty years ago, when Mel Mirrer opened Mirrer Pharmacy in a suburban shopping center here, he introduced a product most customers don't often see at the corner drug store--a car.

It had a 12-horsepower engine, made by Midget Motors in Athens, Ohio. Impressed by its economy, Mirrer bought one for himself. So many people asked about the car that he decided to try selling one out of his drug store. No one bought it.

That idea didn't work, but it says a great deal about Mirrer's business ethos: "I try a lot of different things," he said.

He became a pharmacist because his next-door neighbor was one "and he seemed to be happy." After attending Rutgers College of Pharmacy and interning for a year, he worked for Sav-on and two independents before starting up his own business.

Mirrer admitted the experience working for the chain served him especially well: "I learned you need display space. The more you can display, the more you can sell." Because Sav-on sold more than just pharmaceuticals, he learned to diversify. Like many other drug stores, Mirrer Pharmacy displays candy, greeting cards, and bestselling novels. Mirrer sells back-to-school goods in the fall and toys is a year-round staple. He is also "heavily into cosmetics, especially products for treating the skin."

Computer business

Then there is his other diversification: He devotes a large portion of the store to computers and computer equipment. He bought a computer system "about nine years ago, and I didn't like the printer that came with it," he recalled. He found a replacement printer more to his liking. When it needed repair, the manufacturer invited him to take a course on printer repairs. In time he became a factory authorized service center for four different printer manufacturers.

"I was doing a lot of repairs, so I thought, why do I just repair printers after they buy the system? Why not sell the system?," said Mirrer.

All these non-medical products have become necessary, he said, because "pharmacy is going through a tremendous change. When I first started, there were a lot of small stores." With rising rents, salaries, and utilities, "stores have to a lot more volume to make up. Years ago pharmacies didn't carry all these items." But now Mirrer said they have to.

Citing one example of the change in the pharmacy business, he remembers compounding, mixing powders and liquids, but "we don't do that anymore," except for the rare dermatological order. "And we used to do 25 prescriptions per day. Now it's more like 75."

Not all changes good ones

Some of these changes, however, are not to his liking. "Prescription cards are a big problem. Third-party plans don't pay everything, and they hold you up for months when they do pay." In addition, third-party plans now want the pharmacists' 10 percent discount many are getting from their wholesalers.

His thoughts on generics: "They were supposed to be a big boon to pharmacies, but it didn't work out that way." Mirrer contends the short length of time that a pharmaceutical company has exclusive rights to a developed drug forces them to charge "astronomical" rates for some of their products. They must recoup their research costs before a generic competes with it on the market.

"Ten years ago," Mirrer said, "blood pressure medication cost $10 per hundred. Now it's $80 per hundred." The consumer is feeling the rise in prescription costs in their pocketbooks, and thinks the pharmacist is "a crook," added Mirrer.

Forced to become creative

To cope with these changes, Mirrer has had to be creative. He joined a local business cooperative where "we found the best form of advertising seems to be a circular. The coop puts the circular together and distributes it inside the Independent Press," a local weekly paper. He also runs classified advertising in the local press.

Another source of revenue comes from Mirrer Electronics, the computer section of his store. He does numerous printer repairs, often for such prestigious clients as Bell Labs in nearby Murray Hill, and enjoys the change of pace that work provides. "I couldn't survive if I had to depend on computers for a living, but it's fun. I'm a mechanical person. I like to fix things."

Personal and flexible both. This eclectic druggist tinkers with his printer between filling prescriptions, discusses real estate and mortgage rates--he has a real estate license -- and tells stories from still another avocation as a pilot and flying instructor.

After 20 years in the pharmacy business, it's hard to believe he couldn't sell cars in his spare time.

PHOTO : Mirrer Pharmacy adds a distinctive twist to its product offerings, selling and repairing

PHOTO : computers.

Catherine Mason is a New York-based writer.

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