Long’s Drug Stores

This is my neighborhood Long’s Drug, and we usually come here after getting our eat on at Fresh Choice.
Admittedly, I am a bigger fan of Target due to cost and the variety of items that they offer are a little bit better. However, Long’s is definitely a really nice alternative and hell, with it being practically next door, is much more convenient to get to.
We headed in on Black Friday, and my friend was on the quest to get the Koshi cereal that was on sale for 2 for $ 5, but was all out on the floor. My friend asked one of the employees if they had any more, and on the first look, she couldn’t find any more in the stock room; but said she would look in one more spot and that she would find her in the store. 5 minutes later, the lady found us in the shampoo isle and informed her that they were out, but to get a rain check.
See, at Target, they would have told her tough luck. Here, they went out of their way to help out a customer, and offered a solution when they didn’t have what we were looking for.
5 stars for having great customer service! I’m sad that CVS may be buying out Long’s. I just hope that they keep up their good customer service!

Pharmacy: I don’t get sick that often, so I don’t get prescriptions filled too often. I haven’t been too impressed. There’s almost always a long line (read on to find out a possible reason). Today, I went straight from my doctor’s appointment to the pharmacy to get my prescription filled. First, she asked if I wanted to pick it up today or tomorrow. Today, please, because it’s a prescription for a cough suppressant so that I can hopefully sleep better. I got an estimate of 20 minutes. I asked if they’d call me overhead when it was ready & was told to just check back up at the counter in 20 minutes. So, I wandered the store for a little while, then sat down & read for a little while (good thing I brought a book). After a little over 20 minutes had gone by, I went back up to the counter… it wasn’t ready yet. I didn’t get a new time estimate. I told her I’d be sitting in the chairs nearby. After another 30 minutes, since I hadn’t heard from them, I went back & checked at the counter. Yay, it was finally ready. Had it been ready & sitting there all this time & they didn’t tell me? That’s a possibility. If so, I’d be very annoyed, as that time sitting around would’ve been better spent lying in bed, as I’ve been knocked on my ass with the flu. Then, while I’m standing up there waiting for them to finish processing my new insurance info, the woman working the counter attempts to ask to help the next person in line. It’s an old guy, & he appears preoccupied with doing something while waiting in line, so he doesn’t hear her. Her response? Oh well, it looks like he’s busy, so she wanders off to do other things, instead of attempting to get his attention again. Ummm, what about the fact that there’s at least 2 other people in line behind him? If I were any of those people in line behind that guy, I would’ve been pissed. I thought about saying something, but you know, when you’re sick, you really don’t care that much.
Retail: They don’t have the floss & razors that I like, but then I’m picky about particular things. They do have a little section of European food items… I like the Scandinavian cookies (I forget if they’re Norweigian, Swedish, or what).
Main store hours are great: M-​F 7am-​midnight, Sat. 7am-​midnight, Sun. 8am-​midnight
Pharmacy hours: M-​F 8am-​9pm, Sat. 9am-​6pm, Sun. 10am-​6pm.
Located in the shopping center on the SE corner of Bascom Ave. & Hamilton Ave.

The entire crew there knows me well and it is surprising how much fun one can have at 11:00 at night especially if you need to work off some excess energy.
the witch hazel is a bit overpriced but the pharmacy stays open late (10pm?)
Everyone is super nice maybe because they are or because they feel sorry for me because I was hit by a car…12:35 rhyming…

Ummmm, Long’s is a drug store, so I can’t quite bring myself to give it 4 stars, but it is pretty great, as far as drug stores go.
The Long’s Corporate in-​charge types seem to allow each store to carry appropriate goods for their local market, which I’ve never seen at a Walgreen’s, Rite-​Aid, or even a Target or WalMart.
For example:
This Long’s has a little island of shelving in the back corner of the store that is stocked with only European and imported food items. And an aisle that asian imported food items. Gotta say I like the little patch of ethnic flavor at the local drug store.
And it has has a decent natural body care section, maybe because it’s next door to Whole Foods. Although, I tend to just go to Whole Foods if I need natural body care items because the selection is better. But still.
Any way, a drug store is a drug store, but if you live in the neighborhood, go here.