Published February
2002
Stillaguamish
Tribe
opens pharmacy
By
Brian Kelly
Herald Writer
The Stillaguamish
Tribe opened a specialty pharmacy in January at the site of its fireworks
stand outside Arlington, the latest business venture intended to strengthen
the small tribe’s financial future.
Tribal officials
hope the pharmacy lures American Indians and their families from Snohomish,
Whatcom and Skagit counties. But the business plan doesn’t stop there.
“Our service is going
to be open,” said Eddie Goodridge, Co-Executive Director of the tribe.
The pharmacy will
serve Indians and other in-need customers, and offer a range of prescription
drugs, medicines and related off-the-shelf items on a mail-order and call-in,
pick-up basis. Rates will depend on whether there’s a tribal affiliation.
The number of Indian
clients alone could be substantial, tribal officials say. A business consultant
for the Stillaguamish has estimated that the tri-county region has an
Indian population that could be as high as 8,000 people.
Those involved in
the pharmacy project are careful to say they’re not looking to take business
away from other pharmacies in the area.
“We’re not opening
up to put people out of business. We’re opening up to get our people to
stick their money back in their own community,” Goodridge said. “They
have to buy their drugs anyway, why not buy them from us at a reduced
rate?”
“Our main target
is Native Americans; we believe that that is our market. In that essence,
we don’t think we’re taking that market from anyone,” he said.
“We’re not going
to be out there actively trying to steer non-native customers away from
other pharmacies,” Goodridge added. “On the other hand, we’re not going
to turn them down if they come to us.”
The pharmacy is housed
in a doublewide mobile home that the Stillaguamish received as surplus
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Over the summer, it was used to house
the tribe’s fireworks business. But in early August, carpenters went to
work rebuilding the inside.
The walls were reinforced
for security reasons, and an office that will serve as the tribe’s police
station was installed at one end of the building. Jim McKenzie of Round
Mountain Enterprises, the company that built the tribe’s food bank and
completed other projects for the Stillaguamish, handled the hammer-and-nail
chores. The remodel cost roughly $30,000.
Tribal members hope
the operation will lead to more businesses on the tribe’s property next
to Highway 530. The Stillaguamish already lease land at their Highway
530 property for a successful smoke shop, and Century 21 is now renting
office space at the burgeoning business park.
The tribe is also
considering other facilities for the triangle-shaped piece of trust land,
which takes up roughly 1-1/2 acres on the south side of Highway 530 just
east of I-5. The next project is a major expansion of the tribe’s fireworks
store.
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