“Everywhere around here seems to have a hometown pharmacy, but Hutto didn’t,” Shaikh said. “I saw the opportunity and I just kind of ran with it.”
Taylor, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Leander and other neighboring cities all have one, and Shaikh said it is important for small pharmacies to exist in communities alongside national and global chains such as Walmart, CVS and Walgreens.
However, Shaikh said because chain pharmacies derive most of their profits from their relationships with insurance companies, hometown pharmacies focus more on selling quality products and providing excellent customer service.
“You shouldn’t be afraid of the big [pharmacies]. It’s a good sign that the big guys are there,” Shaikh said. “When people come to ... an independently owned pharmacy, [they realize] they get personalized care. They get good pricing, and they are like ‘Why am I putting up with subpar service and subpar pricing?’”
Shaikh grew up in Boston and graduated from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 2009 before moving to Florida and then east Texas.
He moved to Hutto in 2018 and opened Hippo Pharmacy, located on East Street, in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that even though it has been tough navigating a new business over the last 18 months, the Hutto community has been amazing, and his business continues to grow.
Shaikh said one pitfall of being an independent pharmacy owner is that it is not uncommon for insurance companies to pay him less for medication than what it costs to dispense the medication to patients.
Benefits from insurance companies typically incentivise patients toward chain pharmacies over those that are locally owned, he said. Because of that, locally owned pharmacies must be creative with regard to their main profit sources.
“It used to be you could fill 40 to 50 scripts a day, and then you’d be good for cash flow,” Shaikh said. “That is no longer the situation.”
At Hippo Pharmacy, Shaikh said he focuses on three components for a successful business—quality supplements, top-tier local hygiene and self-care products and elevated customer service that includes deliveries.
“A lot of supplements that people buy ... they don’t know the quality that they’re getting,” he said. “One example is fish oil. The average fish oil, the fish has been caught 18-24 months prior to processing. It’s almost year-old fish.”
Shaikh said the fish oil and other supplements he sells are what he called professional grade and not prone to the trappings of poor quality that can result in little to no efficacy.
Hippo Pharmacy also sells local goods from soaps to bath bombs.
“People come around, they browse, and they know, ‘I’m going to get a gift that’s unique,’” he said.
As far as future plans, Shaikh said he is hoping to expand into multiple locations, perhaps even outside of Hutto.
“We are Hippo Pharmacy, but I do want to try to get farther out and serve the underserved communities,” he said.
For now, Shaikh said he remains proud of the level of personal service Hippo Pharmacy offers, from extensive consultations to free delivery inside and outside of Hutto.
“The last thing you want to do when you’re sick is trudge out and get [medication], so we’ll get it to you,” he said. “We’ll figure something out for you. That’s the whole thing about a small business.”
Hippo Pharmacy
107 East St., Ste. A, Hutto
512-846-6004
www.hippopharmacy.org
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sat 9 a.m.–2 p.m.; closed Sun.
