Peoples Pharmacy owner Bill Swail uses one word to describe his company: unique.

Peoples is a locally owned pharmacy and deli that offers consultations, chiropractic adjustments, testing and prescription compounding in four locations throughout Austin. It also has wellness centers at two of its four locations.

Swail said he launched the company in 1980 after seeing the pharmaceutical industry lacked a “sustainable medical system.”

He said he wanted to build a place where people could get personalized care and attention while receiving holistic and natural medicinal advice.

When customers enter Peoples, they are greeted by wellness specialists, nutritionists, and other holistic practitioners trained in treatment plans to recommend for various ailments.

Many of Peoples’ products are nutritionals, or natural supplements that include vitamins, minerals, herbs and food supplements.

Peoples Deli, which serves food such as all-day breakfast tacos, grass-fed beef chili and cold-pressed organic juices, is available at three of the four Austin locations.

Peoples also offers free weekly seminars and workshops to educate both patients and physicians on a broad range of health topics.

Swail, now 74 years old, also hosts a weekly radio show, during which he interviews medical practitioners and health-related authors.

He said customers frequently tell him they “cannot leave Austin, because there’s no Peoples” outside the city and uses the tagline “Austin’s favorite pharmacy” to describe the business.

His daughter, Jeneen Schloz, said Peoples Pharmacy has always been at the forefront of modern health movements—from burning all of the pharmacy’s cigarette inventory and refusing to restock to partnering with local farmers markets and selling gluten-free cookies and brownies “before gluten-free was a thing.”

“We haven’t found a store yet that does things the way we do,” Swail said.[g-slider gid="195388" width="100%" height="55%"]