While Destrehan Discount Pharmacy has no plans to change the same willingness to go the extra mile for its customers that it’s maintained for the past 50 years, there will nonetheless be a major and welcome change for the store later this year.
Its location will soon change as it opens its new store not even 200 yards away from its current location at 3001 Ormond Blvd. According to Destrehan Discount Pharmacy owner B.J. Burkenstock, the hope is to see the move completed before the end of the year, likely sometime in December. He said a grand opening is currently in the planning stages.
Burkenstock said the benefits of the new building and location will be noticeable to the customer off the bat. It will be more spacious, with roughly a gain of 1,000 square feet from the current building, will offer a drive-through and will have a bigger parking lot, all with the aim of bringing more convenience to the customer.
Pharmacy Manager Steven Faucheaux said the added parking, in particular, should create for a better experience.
“It’s a pretty busy area, with McDonald’s, the pub, the sushi restaurant … all different places that are really busy for lunch time,” Faucheaux said of the businesses surrounding the current location. “Our patients have complained about the lack of adequate parking. But that’s going to be our building there and our parking lot so we shouldn’t have people parking for other businesses in that lot.”
Added Burkenstock, “We’ve noticed on rainy days, we get less customers because people don’t want to park away from the store and go through the rain. For patients with children, they don’t have to drag them out of the car and through the rain.”
It will be the fourth location for the family-owned business, which has thrived for 50 years thanks in large part to a strong, loyal customer base, one Burkenstock believes has been built on the store’s desire to meet every need of those paying a visit to the store.
“We live by the philosophy that you treat every customer like that’s your family,” Burkenstock said. “Every customer has a different situation going on. That customer needs individual attention to detail. We strive to do everything we can to help each and every patient, be it with their medication or with problems they have. We pride ourselves on that.”
Burkenstock is a third-generation pharmacist who took over the business in 2012. It was passed down to him by his grandfather and father.
He said the store’s low prices — “nobody around can beat them,” he said — and habit of taking extra steps to help patients in need have been draws for the customer.
“If patients can’t make it in, I’ll deliver it to their house,” Burkenstock said. “We’ll stay late if we need to. We’ll stay on the phone as long as we have to with the insurance company to make sure everybody’s medications are being covered the right way. Those type of things, the extra mile that you go to make sure patients are taken care of. We feel they keep coming back for those reasons”
While the services offered have kept customers and patients returning on a regular basis, both Burkenstock and Faucheaux expressed gratitude to them for doing so.
“That they’re actually choosing us speaks volumes,” Faucheaux said. “We’re very indebted to them for going with us over a lot of competition.”
Burkenstock added, “Without them, we don’t have a business at all.”
Destrehan Discount Pharmacy is located at 3001 Ormond Drive in Destrehan and can be reached at (985) 764-1181.
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