A new chemist duo are ready to shake up the local market with fresh savings and an all-local crew set to be unveiled at Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s first Chemist Warehouse store.
Jessica and Shannon Gaspari will open their new store on March 5, situated on the corner of O’Connor and Maguire streets, nestled between the IGA supermarket and Alpha Medical.
The pair — who also own a Chemist Warehouse in Perth — said opening their newest store in Kalgoorlie-Boulder was a no-brainer after noting the supportive and welcoming nature of the community.
As the pharmacist in charge, Ms Gaspari said her newly recruited team was gearing up to offer the entire Chemist Warehouse range, from fragrances and beauty to healthcare and clinical services.
After relocating themselves and their young family to Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Mr Gaspari said the rest of their team was also full of locals old and new.
Not having a fly-in, fly-out based team was a big focus of the husband-and-wife duo, with hopes their staff would build relationships with their customers and be a consistent face within what can often be a revolving-door country healthcare system.
“We could have just flown in here, that was certainly on the table, but it’s better to be here, (and) part of the local community,” Mr Gaspari said.
“They (our staff) relocated to Kalgoorlie to be part of this, and I think that’s exciting because it’s not a different face every few months. It’s not fly-in, fly-out pharmacy. It’s locals treating locals and I think that’s incredible. They get to know people, and people don’t have to come and restart the whole story again.
“We’ll be able to open doors with multiple pharmacists from the get-go, that will be living locally — not flying in, flying out. That already is a point of difference to a lot of our competitors here in town.”
Taking on the role of retail manager, Mr Gaspari said the savings that could be made would be the real benefit to the Kalgoorlie-Boulder community.
“I see a real tangible benefit for the community immediately in this cost-of-living crisis,” he said.
“The amount of savings that we’ll be able to provide this community from the get go — that’s motivating, that’s massive. We’re very excited about that tangible benefit. The savings is massive, so for me just seeing that is going to be rewarding.
“The more people we’ve talked to, the more you realise there’s a gap in the community for something like this.”
There will also be shorter wait times for customers who utilise the Chemist Warehouse app, the owners said.
“When they drop them (their scripts) off here, we load them on, and then they just press the button when they want them. Reminders get sent when it’s time, and then they just come to the scripts out (counter) and collect their script rather than waiting,” Mr Gaspari said.
From March 5 the store will be open every day of the week, from 8.30am to 6pm between Mondays and Saturdays, and between 10am and 6pm on Sundays.