The Austin-based business offers a variety of customized pharmaceutical and wellness care with the help of their certified wellness specialty specialists. (Courtesy Peoples Wellness)
For nearly 50 years, Peoples Wellness—also known as Peoples Rx—has been focusing on making people well instead of keeping people sick, said Christie Deschodt, director of marketing and communications for the business.
The wellness business operates four Austin-area locations, including its newest location in Westlake, which opened in February.
What they offer
While Peoples began as a pharmacy, the business has been working on evolving the brand into a more concentrated initiative of being a wellness destination for Austinites, Deschodt said.
“Everyone that works at Peoples is actually a wellness expert, so anyone on the floor is a certified wellness specialist,” Deschodt said. “Their specialties might vary, but ... everyone on the floor is able to have a full conversation to ask the right questions and recommend the right products.”
Today, Peoples offers a variety of personalized wellness support services including pharmaceutical-grade supplements, at-home wellness testing kits, inbody scans, and a compounding pharmacy that creates customized medications for both people and pets that ensure optimal absorption.
“With the insurance crisis that we are having in health care, we actually fill prescriptions we lose money on because of how the structure of reimbursement through insurance works,” Deschodt said. “We know that pharmacies are necessary, obviously, but the wellness side of the business is probably 85% of what Peoples is. ... The majority of our culture and our teams are focused on wellness.”
What’s special about it?
Beyond its pharmaceutical services, other wellness-focused care and support includes locally sourced prepared meals from Lucky Lime and a line of fresh juices from Stoke Cold Pressed Juice.
Peoples is also a “sought out destination” for its gluten-free food options, Deschodt said.
The wellness business offers a variety of healthy prepared foods, gluten-free options and a line of fresh juices, all from local vendors. (Courtesy Peoples Wellness)
Respecting the craft
As more clients start to become proactive in their preventative care, Peoples is able to provide the tools and resources necessary for clients to “take their wellness into their own hands,” Deschodt said. Gut health, cellular health and anxiety are major wellness concerns among clients, she said.
“We're really able to help most of our customers get to a point where they do feel better with the products and the people that we have in our organization,” Deschodt said.
