New pharmacy opens in Moss Rock

By ERIC TAUNTON

Clay Nolen was eating tacos in the Moss Rock area when he saw a for lease sign on the outside of a building.

He always wanted to open his own business and work in the medical field, he said, and pharmacy gave him the chance to do both.

“I knew I was going to do something in health care but not necessarily pharmacy,” Nolen said. “As I got into my college life over at Samford [University], I started to explore different things, shadowed a few people, and pharmacy is what I decided on because I’ve also wanted to start my own business of some kind, and pharmacy kind of goes hand and hand with that.”

After they were connected through a mutual friend, Nolen and Alex Sturdivant, his current business partner, opened Moss Rock Pharmacy in The Preserve community.

Since June 13, the full-service pharmacy has offered prescription refills, flu and COVID-19 vaccinations and testing, blood pressure screenings, blood sugar checks and glucose checks, Sturdivant said.

Sturdivant said he also wanted to open his own pharmacy eventually, and their mutual friend told Nolen about his desire to find other opportunities.

Sturdivant said he always knew he wanted to do something in the medical field, which was influenced by his background, his dad being a nurse and his mom a nurse practitioner.

He originally went to nursing school but went to pharmacy school after he graduated, he said. He learned how independent pharmacies are run and how best to manage them for three years after graduating pharmacy school, he said.

“I always wanted to do something medical, and I found something where I can own a business and make an impact in the community at the same time while being a medical professional. That’s always something that’s been appealing to me,” Sturdivant said.

Nolen said he thought Sturdivant would be a good business partner because of what he knew about him when they went to pharmacy school together, both graduating in 2018.

He saw how involved Sturdivant was in the pharmacy program, Nolen said. He was the intramural chair of the pharmacy school and helped organize teams as well as coach them, Nolen said.

“Being in pharmacy, part of your job is really getting to know people in the community and building that trust between people,” Nolen said. “You can’t just go and find a random person that’s going to be good at that, and Alex has always been good at that. … He was always well liked by both his fellow students and faculty.”

Since they opened, Moss Rock Pharmacy has seen many residents in the community come inside the pharmacy and ask how they can help it be more successful, Sturdivant said.

“We’ve had a lot of support from the community so far,” Sturdivant said. “They’ve been very helpful and enthusiastic. They’re glad we’re here, and we’re glad to be here and be able to help them out.”