Why does the Target Pharmacy close so early now?!

[PrincessGrownUp]

I remember when the pharmacy used to close at 9. Then a few months ago, DH went there and they closed at 8. The other night he had to get cold medicine and they closed at 7! Just for my own curiosity, I was just wondering if anyone knew why?

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Ours started closing earlier during the week to expand Sunday hours (without adding to total number of hours open per week). Ours closes at 7:00 p.m. also and has for at least 2-3 years now.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Its when they close for lunch that I lose my mind, enough that I gave up on Target and Walmart pharmacies.

 

[dpswift]

I find that most pharmacies close for lunch. Maybe it is general practice here where we have smaller pharmacies. In order to fill orders the pharmacist must be there and they need a lunch break.

Our Targets pharmacy has closed at 7pm for years. In fact I do not remember them closing later.

 

[teacup princess]

Its when they close for lunch that I lose my mind, enough that I gave up on Target and Walmart pharmacies.[/QUOTE

Why?? How many days a week do you skip lunch? Or work a 12 hour shift without sitting, drinking, eating? Wouldn't you rather your pharmacist who dispenses dangerous medication take a moment or two two refresh their minds and body so they can fully focus on your prescription?

 

[greentea]

Why?? How many days a week do you skip lunch? Or work a 12 hour shift without sitting, drinking, eating? Wouldn't you rather your pharmacist who dispenses dangerous medication take a moment or two two refresh their minds and body so they can fully focus on your prescription?

Of course, but when I show up to get a prescription and find the pharmacy is closed for the next hour in the middle of the day, it means I have to come back later. And it's not a set lunch schedule, it's the possibility that they'll close for an hour for lunch between certain hours, but only if there's just one pharmacists working that day. You don't know that in advance. Of course they should get a break, I don't think anyone has suggested otherwise? Just that if midday is the best time for someone to pick up their prescriptions and the pharmacy is often closed, why wouldn't you switch to one that fits your schedule better? I really like the pharmacists at our local Target so I go there even though the hours are kind of a pain. But if I hadn't dropped to part time work I'd have to go to CVS or something instead, because I don't get home from work until 7. I wish they were open just a bit later for those of us with a longer commute!

 

[antmaril]

My Target Pharmacy closes every day between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m. for lunch. I plan accordingly. The Pharmacy closes at 7:00 p.m. and has for years.

 

[Josh704]

Depends on the Rx volume for that location. My target is fairly low volume but we do a lot of rx business. Our pharmacy closes at 9pm daily. We also have two pharmists working daily so no need to close for lunch normally.

 

[scrapquitler]

Our Target (and the pharmacy in our grocery store as well) has signs that say "if only one pharmacist is on duty, the pharmacy will close for lunch from X to Y"
At least in my state, the pharmacy cannot be open unless there is a registered pharmacist there, and many of the store pharmacies now only have one pharmacists, the rest of the employees are just technicians. Other states might be different.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Of course, but when I show up to get a prescription and find the pharmacy is closed for the next hour in the middle of the day, it means I have to come back later. And it's not a set lunch schedule, it's the possibility that they'll close for an hour for lunch between certain hours, but only if there's just one pharmacists working that day. You don't know that in advance. Of course they should get a break, I don't think anyone has suggested otherwise? Just that if midday is the best time for someone to pick up their prescriptions and the pharmacy is often closed, why wouldn't you switch to one that fits your schedule better? I really like the pharmacists at our local Target so I go there even though the hours are kind of a pain. But if I hadn't dropped to part time work I'd have to go to CVS or something instead, because I don't get home from work until 7. I wish they were open just a bit later for those of us with a longer commute!

Walmart here has a sign posted with their closed-for-lunch break, so it's easy to determine whether I should try to pick up a prescription. Lacking that, calling is generally successful, or picking up prescriptions on a day where I don't work past the pharmacy closing time. Ymmv.

 

[tvguy]

I didn't realize Target still had pharmacies. They took the pharmacy out of ours when they added groceries.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Both of the Supertargets that are near me changed their pharmacy hours from closing at 9 PM to 7 PM on weekdays and from 6 to 5PM on weekends last fall. It is a huge pain for me as I would go grocery shopping while the kids are in sports activities in the evening and would pick up my prescriptions at that time. It's a real pain to try and get over there now during their hours. Have to make a special trip. I continue there though for the Red Card discounts. I did send a polite email to Target through their website letting them know I wasn't happy with the reduced hours. They wrote back and thanked me for the feedback and that they are watching how the new hours work out. I urge you to email a complaint to they hear from people that closing at 7 is too early.

They have always closed for lunch between 1:30-2 here. It is a set time and a sign is clearly posted. That hasn't changed with the new hours.

 

[greentea]

Walmart here has a sign posted with their closed-for-lunch break, so it's easy to determine whether I should try to pick up a prescription. Lacking that, calling is generally successful, or picking up prescriptions on a day where I don't work past the pharmacy closing time. Ymmv.

Some medications are needed much sooner than others, and some of us always work past the closing time, including some weekends, so other pharmacies might be better. My point was just that not all of us have the same schedule, so if you can find a place with better hours for your personal schedule, there's nothing wrong with that. The Walgreens near us is open until 10, but our insurance changed and we can't go there anymore. The CVS is 24-hours, but there's always a huge line so their pharmacists are always very rushed and abrupt.

Because I have to pick up a lot of medications these days, I appreciate the ability to check on complications or availability to answer questions, and the pharmacists and technicians at our Target know my family and what we are picking up and have gone extra steps to help out with things like insurance problems, so I've worked around the hours as best I can. Luckily I am only working/commuting 9am-7pm only part of the week now instead of every day plus the occasional Saturday and my other job is from home and very flexible. I can still wish the hours were longer.

At least the hours aren't as bad as my local bank, I guess!

 

[JanaDee]

I stopped using Target pharmacy, primarily for their long lunch hour (an hour and a half here) and that they close at 7pm M-F and at 5 on Saturdays. There are many meds that used to be OTC that are now only in the pharmacy that don't need a Pharmacist to purchase.

 

[mdsd8700]

Our Target pharmacy closes at 9 on the week nights and 6 on Sat/Sun. If there is only 1 pharmacist they close for 30 minutes for lunch. So it seems we are pretty lucky with hours. It's a Super Target so I do most of my grocery shopping there as well so I love getting the extra pharmacy 5% coupled with my red card 5%.

 

[starry_solo]

I'm going to guess that the Target only has one pharmacist on duty. The pharmacy cannot remain open to dispense medication, take new prescriptions without a pharmacist present there. Otherwise, the pharmacy and the pharmacist can be fined.

 

[Figment_Faerie]

I worked at Target Pharmacy for over 3 years. Ours was always M-F 9a-7p, Sat 9a-5p, Sun 11a-3p. Always closed from 1:30p-2p for lunch. If we were high enough volume we would have 2 pharmacists on duty and stay open during lunch but our volume was only high enough to warrant 1 pharmacist and 1 tech on duty at a time mostly. I don't think a 30 minute lunch that was taken after a persons typical work lunch hour is unreasonsble, you can't please everyone I guess though. Most of the time we all skipped our breaks so our only time off would be our lunch.