Behind the Business: Butler Pharmacy

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) – After working in healthcare for more than 10 years, Rachel Butler was encouraged to pursue her passion for helping others in the community.

“Seeing what we lack in our field of pharmacy is really what drove me to know I really want to do this and in college,” she explained. “I just didn’t know when.”

In 2023, Butler Pharmacy was established and has been meeting the needs of the community since. From vitamins to over-the-counters and prescriptions, Dr. Butler fulfills the needs of community members daily.

“My customers continue to grow daily — and when I say daily, I mean daily,” she described. “We get calls from people transferring medications here. I’ve developed great relationships with customers that have started with me from the beginning until now.”

Before Butler Pharmacy, Dr. Butler helped launch other pharmacies for local health clinics. That gave her the courage to invest and build in the independent pharmacy sector.

“In retail pharmacy, what I really saw was the lack of personal relationships to where you know the patient knows they’re cared about. It was so much hustle and bustle and just ‘get the prescription’ and ‘get the patient their medication’ that we did not build relationships, and I felt that was really lacking.”

Dr. Butler offers compounding services at the pharmacy. This is a process of mixing, combing, or altering ingredients to create customized medication for a patient.

Aside from medications, Butler has partnered with other small businesses to showcase their products, ranging from apparel to soaps, jewelry and more.

“We have candles from Oak Hill, handmade soaps and some pet stuff.”

Dr. Butler says she will always strive to help others and make them feel like family. She was granted a spot on the “100 Successful Women to Know” list in 2020, 2021 and 2023.

Those in search for a local pharmacy can find Butler Pharmacy at 1924 25th Avenue in Gulfport open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday through Friday.

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