2015 Recipient of the Business and Industry Award
Alexandria | Parkers Prairie Elbow Lake | Glenwood Greg, Paul and Mark Trumm, Owners
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BIAD 2015
A salute from the Alexandria Area Economic Development Commission and the
Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and these local businesses: Trumm Drug was selected as the recipient of the 2015 Business and Industrial Appreciation Day (BIAD) Award by the boards of directors of the Alexandria Area Economic Development Commission and Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce. The BIAD event has honored a Douglas County company each year since 1984. Annually, one company from the region is selected as the BIAD recipient based upon the following factors: · Growth in number of employees: the impact of the business on the job market. · Increase in sales and/or unit volume: an indication of continued growth. · Capital investment: an indication of commitment by the business to increase community capacity. · Community contributions: evidence of the business investment of time, skills, and resources to assist in community-oriented projects.
Ace Hardware
406 Broadway, Alexandria – 320-763-5200
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2705 S Broadway, Alexandria – 320-763-3360
Swenson Lervick Syverson
710 Broadway, Alexandria – 320-763-3141
Edgewood Vista
1902 7th Ave E, Alexandria – 320-759-2121
CliftonLarsonAllen
510 22nd Ave E, Ste 501, Alexandria – 320-759-5100
Pope County Tribune
14 1st Ave SE, Glenwood – 320-634-4571
Estenson Printing
117 5th Ave W, Alexandria – 320-763-3482
Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce
Alexandria Area Economic Development Commission 324 Broadway, Suite 101, Alexandria, MN 56308 Phone: 320-763-4545 aaedc@alexmn.org www.alexmn.org A publication of the
Echo Press
206 Broadway, Alexandria, MN 56308 Phone: 320-763-3161 info@alexandriamn.org www.alexandriamn.org
Publisher: Jody Hanson Editor: Tara Bitzan
Layout / Design: Raeshel Betterman Photography: Lowell Anderson
Congratulations Trumm Drug A partner in caring for our community.
Trumm Drug - BIAD 2015
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Mark Trumm
Paul Trumm
Greg Trumm
Trumm Drug:
A family-run business that connects with its customers By Al Edenloff aedenloff@echopress.com Here’s a tonic for success: Take a family with deep roots in the pharmaceutical field who share a passion for serving their customers and their communities. Add a group of well-trained, dedicated and loyal employees and you have it – this year’s recipient of the Business and Industrial Appreciation Day Award, Trumm Drug. The company can trace its Alexandria roots back to 1951 when Archie and Clara Trumm moved here and purchased the Lewis Drug Store at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Broadway. Through the span of three generations, Trumm Drug expanded to other locations in Alexandria as well
as acquiring drug stores in Parkers Prairie, Elbow Lake and Glenwood. Today, the company is managed by Mark and Paul Trumm, the sons of Bill and Suzie Trumm, and their cousin, Greg Trumm, who is the son of Jack and Jenny Trumm. Working alongside family members may seem challenging, but it works out nicely for the Trumms. “It’s kind of like a marriage – you work through it,” said Greg. “It’s been a pleasure working with Mark and Paul. I’ve been blessed.” Mark is the president of the corporation, Paul is vice president and Greg is secretary/treasurer. According to Greg, they all bring different skills to the table. BUSINESS continued on 5
Congratulations Trumm Drug “Keeping us all connected” R
316 Fillmore Street • PO Box 609 • Alexandria, MN 56308 • Phone: (320) 763-6501 • www.alputilities.com
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BIAD 2015 - Trumm Drug
BUSINESS
Greg said he’s the “people person” who likes interacting with customers and talking to them not just about their prescriptions but how things are going in their everyday life. “Mark is a very good organizer, and Paul is a genius with numbers and can remember things from years ago,” Greg said. “Collectively, we do well as a corporation.” Mark and Paul noted that the pharmaceutical industry has drawn in other members of the Trumm family. Paul and Mark’s maternal grandfather, E.B. Lindoo, was a pharmacist, as was his son, (Suzie’s brother) Jack Lindoo. The Lindoo lineage continues with Jack’s son, Jeff Lindoo, who lives in Alexandria. “We’re a tightly held family organization, and it’s been our privilege to be able to serve our community and have employees who are loyal and conscientious,” said Mark, adding that the company has a very low turnover rate. Keeping a successful business running for more than 60 years isn’t easy, especially for the smaller drug store companies, but the Trumms have met the challenge. Today, they have about 80 full- and part-time workers.
Contributed
Bill, Paul, Mark, Greg and Jack Trumm are pictured during Trumm Drug’s 50th anniversary celebration. What’s the secret to their success? “I think we’ve been able to adapt to the changes that have come along – and there has been a lot of them,” Paul said. Paul and Mark remember a time when the company used to write
out all the checks by hand and the amounts were perforated on the paper. BUSINESS continued on 6
Community Service “ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” ~Margaret Mead
We are humbled and honored to have been recognized for our community service by Business Industrial Appreciation Day and would like to acknowledge all of the other fine organizations that have been recognized over the past thirty-two years, as well! Congratulations All,
When Quality Counts, Count on Elden’s
Trumm Drug - BIAD 2015
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BUSINESS continued from 5 They also remember how the company operated before everything became computerized. Big storage boxes crammed in offices held patient information and a history of their medications.
“We’re a tightly held family organization and it’s been our privilege to be able to serve our community ” Mark Trumm OWNER
That changed dramatically in the 1980s when records were computerized. “You can now look up anything with a key stroke,” Paul said. The Trumms noted that the company was ahead of the Alexandria Clinic and the hospital in making the leap to electronic record keeping.
Besides the technological advances in records and inventory, the pharmaceutical industry itself has undergone several transformations. Back when Mark and Paul’s grandfather Archie was running the store, prescriptions were filled through a “compound” process of manually mixing a medicine’s ingredients together. After their dad, Bill, took over, most medicines were dispensed in the form of pills. The newest innovations are known as injectables, which offer innovative treatment for everything from arthritis to cancer. The cost of medicines has skyrocketed over the years. Paul said that back when he was interning in the 1970s, almost all of Trumm’s prescriptions were for $10 or less. Most people paid cash and that was the end of it. Today, prescriptions can easily cost hundreds of dollars but are mostly covered through health insurance. The ratio of customers paying cash for their prescriptions versus having it covered through insurance or medical assistance has
CONGRATULATIONS Trumm Drug
flipped from 80/20 in the 1970s to 20/80 these days. The model of pharmacy care continues to change with a greater emphasis on patient care, not on selling a product, the Trumms said. Pharmacists are trained in medication therapy management to make sure patients are receiving the right medications. There have been many challenges in the pharmaceutical field in recent years – reduced reimbursement rates, new federal mandates to track medications, increasing insurance costs, and the emergence of third-party payers called pharmacy benefit managers, which have increased the cost of doing business. Through all the changes, Mark, Paul and Greg are glad they took the career path they chose. What do they like best about their jobs? “The contact with people,” Paul said. “I love going to work. I’ve always told my kids, ‘if you find a job where you love going to work, that’s where you should be.’ ” BUSINESS continued on 7
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BIAD 2015 - Trumm Drug
BUSINESS “I like the interaction with patients and staff,” Mark said. “I like who I work with. Our business is like an extended family and that’s nice to have.” “I love the people and working with employees,” Greg said. “Communication is key.” Greg added he enjoys the days he works at the Parkers Prairie store, talking with customers about topics ranging from hunting and the Twins to subsoil moisture. “That’s the fun part of it,” he said. “We’re not just doling out drugs. We get to know our customers and that makes it more meaningful and gratifying.” When Greg first started at the Parkers Prairie store, he was there four or five days a week. “Now, 12 years later, I’m seeing their kids,” he Contributed said. “That’s a scenario you don’t get Paul, Greg and Mark Trumm celebrate after Greg was honored with the Bowl of Hygeia Award in big cities.” Will there be a fourth generation of from the Minnesota Pharmacists Association. The award recognizes pharmacists who possess Trumms leading the company some- outstanding records of civic leadership in their communities. time down the road? It’s possible. In the meantime, the Trumms Sue Anne Ritter, Mark and Paul’s daughter, Justine, is working on her will stay focused on what their famsister, has a son, Will Ritter, who is medical residency in St. Paul. “So they’re all involved in health ily has been doing for more than six already working for Trumm Drug in care,” Greg said. “It all depends on decades – serving as a neighborhood Alexandria. Greg has two daughters, Saman- the timing, what their plans end up pharmacy delivering health care tha and Lauren, who are pursuing being, whether they get married, services with a friendly, personalized touch. pharmaceutical degrees. A third where they move. You never know.”
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Contributed
Archie and Clara Trumm (below) purchased the Lewis Drug Store in Alexandria in 1951. They are pictured (above) with their sons Bill and Jack at the original Trumm Drug store in Grove City, Minnesota.
Trumm Drug family roots run deep Three generations lead company through expansions, new locations Trumm Drug is celebrating 64 years of service to the Alexandria area. Here’s a look at the company’s history: In 1951, Archie and Clara Trumm came to Alexandria and purchased Lewis Drug Store from the George Lewis family. The store was located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Broadway in Alexandria.
Sons Bill and Jack Trumm had joined the family operation and took over as owners in 1963 after Archie passed away. With the success of the business came the need for expansion, so in 1969, Bill and Jack had the new Trumm Drug store built at its present location at 600 Fillmore, which was next door to the Alexandria Clinic. The proximity to doctors, the convenience of easy access parking, and the larger store spurred continued growth in the business, and in 1979, Trumm Drug II was built and opened at 15th Avenue and Broadway, next to the Broadway Medical Center. ROOTS continued on 9
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ROOTS The third generation of Trumms to join the business started with Bill and Suzie’s sons, Mark in 1980, and Paul in 1981. Jack and Jenny’s son, Greg, started work in 1989. That same year, Trumm Drug purchased Folsom Drug from Gary Folsom, and Trumm Drug Parkers Prairie was born. In 1997, Trumm Drug II was relocated from Broadway to the new Alexandria Clinic as Trumm Drug Clinic Pharmacy. Another Trumm operation, Trumms Home Medical Specialties, began as a medical equipment store specializing in wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, braces, canes and crutches, support stockings and other home medical needs. In 2000, Trumms Home Medical moved to 610 Fillmore, next door to Trumm Drug. The Trumms expanded to Elbow Lake October 1, 2002, with the purchase of Johnson’s Pharmacy. That addition increased the Trumm family of pharmacies to four. Trumm Drug Glenwood began operation on October 1, 2006, when Trumm Drug purchased Corner Drug Store from Dewey Essig. Trumm Drug’s dedicated staff continues the tradition of quality, caring, family-owned service that Glenwood area residents have always received. The Trumm family thanks the entire community for the opportunity to serve residents for 64 years and hopes to someday turn Trumm Drug over to the fourth generation.
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Contributed
Bill Trumm smiles after receiving a display award from a national cosmetic company.
ud TO BE o r P A COMMUNITY PARTNER Trumm Drug - BIAD 2015
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BIAD 2015 - Trumm Drug
We are your neighbors and your friends
CONGRATULATIONS
CELEBRATING
YEARS
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Home Medical
making life easier By Annie Harman aharman@echopress.com “Home Medical is a place that helps people meet their needs.” Jessica Sullivan, manager at Trumms Home Medical Specialties in Alexandria, said it is as simple as that. The 2000 addition to the family pharmacy provides the community with a place to buy and rent a variety of medical equipment, ranging from hospital beds, wheelchairs, canes, crutches, knee braces, and compression stockings.
“We thrive in taking care of the customer; their needs come first.” Jessica Sullivan TRUMMS HOME MEDICAL
Annie Harman | Echo Press
Jessica Sullivan, manager, displays some of the items Trumms Home Medical has for sale and rent, ranging from wheelchairs to shoe horns. “We want to make life for people a little easier,” she said.
MEDICAL continued on 13
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BIAD 2015 - Trumm Drug
“We provide services to people that are in need of medical equipment,” Sullivan explained. This ranges from working with assisted living facilities to meet their patients’ needs, with the public health department to supply equipment, and with private parties. “We thrive in taking care of the customer,” Sullivan said. “Their needs come first.” The clientele of Home Medical is known to consist of mainly elderly people, but Sullivan said that they see all ages come through the doors. “We have a whole variety,” she said, giving examples of young families, middle-aged people who have undergone surgery, and pregnant women. “A lot of midwives will send their patients here for maternity back braces.” The service of Home Medical stretches a lot further than just the equipment for rent and sale, though, according to Sullivan.
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“We will do everything we can so the patient doesn’t have to do it.” Jessica Sullivan TRUMMS HOME MEDICAL
“We interact with doctors as much as we can and it gets a lot more in depth when it comes to insurance,” she explained. “We will do everything we can so the patient doesn’t have to do it.” This includes most of the documentation that needs to be done for medical conditions that require specific equipment found at Home Medical. The business is accredited to do the paperwork, which Sullivan said is just another part of its mission to provide the best possible customer service. “These people are not in here because they are healthy,” she said, stating that often the elderly don’t understand the paperwork or par-
Congratulations Trumm Drug
Lowell Anderson | Echo Press
Trumms Home Medical is located next to Trumm Drug in downtown Alexandria. ents are overwhelmed with taking care of their children. “We try to do everything we can to make it easier.” Home Medical currently has five staff members, which Sullivan said is a positive in giving exceptional one-to-one service to all customers, regardless of who is working on the floor.
Congratulations Trumm Drug!
“We are here to help people and to give each person what they are in need of,” she said. “We want to make life for people a little easier.” Discussion is currently taking place to expand Home Medical services to Trumm’s other locations in Parkers Prairie, Glenwood and Elbow Lake.
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Trumm Drug - BIAD 2015
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Lowell Anderson | Echo Press
Trumm Drug Pharmacy Director Tina Strand prepares a unit dosing card, which will go to a nursing home, assisted living, or group home.
The
confidence succeed to
“We do more than just putting pills in a bottle. We’re there for customers if they have questions, if they need help with anything.” Tina Strand
PHARMACY DIRECTOR
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BIAD 2015 - Trumm Drug
Strand worked her way from pharmacy clerk to director By Jessica Sly jsly@echopress.com
From filling more than 300 prescriptions a day to learning the names of hundreds of medications, Tina Strand has done it all. As the pharmacy director/lead technician at Trumm Drug’s downtown Alexandria location, she is the go-to for questions about anything in the pharmacy. Ironically, just a little more than 12 years ago, she had no interest in working in a pharmacy.
LEARNING FROM SCRATCH
Strand was content working as a bartender in small-town Melrose, where she met her husband, Jay. It wasn’t until after having her first child that she contemplated a new career, and it just so happened that Trumm Drug’s clinic pharmacy in Alexandria was hiring for a pharmacy clerk.
STRAND
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STRAND After her husband helped her assemble a résumé, she applied and got the job. Her tasks began as basic clerk work: tidying the gift items, working the till and organizing freight. Soon, her pharmacy knowledge blossomed. “We put away all the medications on shelves, and to learn all that is huge. There’s thousands of drugs out there,” she said. “Hands-on experience is the way I learn, so it was great that I had to put away all of the freight because then I got to learn all of the drug names.” Now that she was familiar with the work, the opening of a pharmacy technician position piqued her interest. “I said, ‘I think I would like to do that,’” Strand recalled. “And Paul Trumm (vice president) said, ‘I think you’d be good at that.’” At the time, it wasn’t required for a pharmacy technician to be certified, but the Trumm owners preferred it, so Strand jumped right in. “I did all the schooling on my own to get certification,” she said. “So I read the big thick book and went to the University of Minnesota, took my test and passed to become a certified technician.” Technicians perform a wide variety of tasks, including running prescriptions through the computer, sorting through insurance, entering prescription information, filling prescriptions and more, “everything from computer to bottle.” “It is kind of an honor,” she said of the Trumms’ confidence in her. “Just them believing in me that I could come here and start as a tech is pretty honorable. They’re very encouraging and always looking out for you. They push the boundaries and they make you exceed. They really do.”
MOVING UP
After Strand worked a few years as a technician, the pharmacy director/lead technician position at the downtown location opened up. The
Trumms asked if Strand was interested. She said yes, and the rest is history.
“You don’t realize how much there is to a pharmacy until you work in it.” Tina Strand
PHARMACY DIRECTOR
Now in her 12th year working for the company, Strand is at ease in her leading role. “I do everything from scheduling to just directing staff, training if there is any, doing our monthly meetings and reports, financials. Basically, a little bit of everything,” she said. “If [technicians] have questions, I’m the go-to.” One of the pharmacy’s largest services is prescriptions, of which they fill on average 350 a day. However, that number varies, and around the holidays, can reach as many as 600 a day. Strand sees that everything runs smoothly and is there to support her technicians, as well as the customers. Not long after Strand started in the position, management acknowledged her hard work. President Mark Trumm nominated her for Pharmacy Technician of the Year. She was honored with the award at a banquet. “It was a surprise,” she said. “[The Trumms] all thoroughly believe that Trumm Drug is the employees. It’s not the Trumms; it’s the employees that make the company work.”
“We do more than just putting pills in a bottle,” she added. “We’re there for customers if they have questions, if they need help with anything.” Strand empathizes with the customers, as she now realizes why some things are the way they are. “You don’t realize how much there is to a pharmacy until you work in it. If I didn’t work in one, I wouldn’t know ‘why can’t I get my medications filled?’ It’s the little things that you would never believe.” Often, if the pharmacy is unable to fill a prescription, the hold-up is out of its control, but technicians do their best to help. “Let me call, let me do an extra step, let me fax again, call the insurance companies to fight with them trying to get an early fill because you’re going on vacation,” Strand said. “There’s so many things. We’ll help you. We’ll get through it.” Since the variety of customers and interaction with them is what she loves about her job, her main goal is to learn who they are. “Getting to know the customers by their first names is a big thing,” she said. “They really do appreciate the personalization that you can give them.” Strand also has deep appreciation for the people with whom she works every day. “The staff is just great. I love my technicians. I love our pharmacists. I love the owners, the managers,” Strand said. “It’s just a well-rounded great place to be. They really care, and they each have their quirkiness about them. Every one of them.”
‘MORE THAN JUST PILLS IN A BOTTLE’
Trumm Drug is a personable company that cares about its customers, Strand said. “We don’t have that big glass in front of you where we talk through the hole. I’m going to come out and help you.
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“I could just hang out with the customers all day. That’s the best part of what we do.” Tony Pederson CORPORATE MANAGER
Serving the people
Trumm Drug employees are public servants By Tara Bitzan tbitzan@echopress.com Nineteen years ago, Tony Pederson found a job with Trumm Drug that suits him perfectly. As corporate manager, he now spends much of his time working to ensure the company suits other employees as well. Pederson oversees the day-to-day operations of the business, which includes 80 employees at five pharmacies and one home health store.
PUBLIC SERVANTS
Pederson’s main goal is to have happy, satisfied customers, and he knows that begins with the employees. “From an employer’s perspective, we do everything we can to fit people’s needs for a job,” Pederson explained. In order to be successful, he said a person not only has to work at a job where they do what they know how to do, but also a job that suits their desire, schedule, lifestyle and matches their personality. SERVICE
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BIAD 2015 - Trumm Drug
Lowell Anderson | Echo Press
Tony Pederson, Trumm Drug’s corporate manager, says his favorite part of his job is visiting with customers, like long-time Trumm customer Florence Stanz of Alexandria.
For receiving the ’15 BIAD Award!
SERVICE “If the job fits your personal strengths and capabilities, but then also works with your schedule, offers you the pay you need and fits your personality, then you’ll enjoy being at work every day,” he said. And happy employees make for happy customers. “All of our employees are public servants. They are there to fulfill the needs of our customers,” he explained. “You either shine at that or you don’t. Fortunately, that suits so many of our employees.”
LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS
Because the company strives to find a strong job-employee match, there is a lot of longevity. That longevity allows staff members to get to know the customers on a personal level. “The nature of what we do necessitates a different level of customer service that a person might not need at a department store,” Pederson explained. “The health care part makes it more private. Our customers come in with medical needs, and they want to feel that we have their best interest at heart. “Our staff members get to know and care about our customers, and they want to do their best job for that person.” Pederson said that this type of customer service can be offered in more ways than one. “In the pharmacy, we sometimes have personalities that are less interactive than others. These are the people who quietly show they care by doing their best to be accurate and to get everything done correctly.
Congratulations Trumm Drug on your award and many years of success!
“Then we have others who are more interactive with the customers. It’s a good personality mix, and all are good role models to each other. “In different ways, they care about the customers and show that through their work.”
EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP
Pederson explained that the smaller, family-owned business atmosphere allows its employees to take ownership in the company. “Pharmacists at larger companies have more layers and aren’t always visible to the customers and the public,” he said. “Here it is just us. Our faces are out there. Each of us is responsible for our actions. “Nobody at corporate headquarters far away is going to tell us how to deal with our customers or take care of issues that come up. Each location has a store manager and a head pharmacy technician. Other pharmacists travel between Trumm’s locations. “This allows us to share best practices, taking the best from each location and implementing those things at the other locations.
“The managers come together with the owners for a monthly meeting to discuss financial information, legal issues, customer service matters, and current legislative issues. The managers then bring that information back to the staffs at the individual locations to keep everyone informed. But at the start of each day, what Pederson and many of the employees most look forward to are the customers. “I could just hang out with the customers all day,” he said. “That’s the best part of what we do.”
COMMUNITY FIXTURE
Pederson said Trumm Drug values being part of smaller communities. “We are so thankful to be in the smaller communities, and we really value that connection, because we are just one of the little guys,” he said. “Those communities need these kinds of services and value them and fight hard to hold on to them. The schools, grocery stores, grain elevators and drug stores are important to these communities. “We are really excited about the future of our stores and all the communities they are part of,” he added.
“All of our employees are public servants. They are there to fulfill the needs of our customers.” Tony Pederson CORPORATE MANAGER
“We’re dedicated to the quality education of all students. Have a great year!”
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Gifts galore
and personalized service
Trumm Drug is about a lot more than pharmaceuticals By Amy Chaffins achaffins@echopress.com The aisles featuring gifts and décor at Trumm Drug are rich right now with fall floral arrangements tucked among whimsical hobnail metallic pumpkins – it’s the store’s consistent welcoming atmosphere that makes local shopping for gifts a pure pleasure. Trumm Drug has grown its gift shop selection over the last 10 years, thanks to the company’s lead buyer, Becky Christenson. “We want our customers to feel welcome when they come in the store and comfortable spending time here looking for gifts,” she said. Among lots of duties, Christenson coordinates monthly sales flyers, submits orders and shops markets twice a year to find what’s hot in giftware for the coming spring/summer and fall/holiday seasons.
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Lowell Anderson | Echo Press
Becky Christenson shows a display of the many gift items available at Trumm Drug this fall.
Touring the aisles for just the right “You’re making decisions like, ‘Would this be a good item to bring gift is a fun experience when shopin?’ and if I do, ‘What type of quanti- ping for someone special. Christenson credits the wonderful ty?’ That’s the biggest headache for a buyer – picking the right items,” ladies who do the store’s merchandising for making the giftware area she said. So how does she decide what to so lovely and easy to shop. “They work so quickly and effibuy for the store’s gift selection? “I guess it’s just your initial feel for ciently,” she said. “New items come an item, your reaction to it, your gut in and they’ll build a display for it … feeling. That’s what makes it fun, too. they’re very skilled at eye appeal, It’s your own personal taste, but also creating great visual displays in our keeping in mind I’m not just buying store and keeping it user-friendly in it because I like it, it has to be some- terms of being able to walk around and see everything. That’s not althing I think we can sell,” she said. ways easy when you have limited She’s done that well. Trumm Drug offers an incredible space.” Trumm Drug provides complivariety of gifts – more than 2,000 square feet is dedicated to giftware mentary gift wrapping – that’s alat the Alexandria location. The store ways a bonus, especially when you’re offers everything from unique kitch- in a hurry. en gadgets to festive wine accessories and lovely seasonal floral and décor to delicious foods, snacks and GIFTS seasonings …. and so much more. continued on 19
GIFTS Trumm Drug also offers day-today items like cards, candies, personal care items, scissors, shoehorns, books, snacks and customer service second to none. “We have very loyal customers and good, long-term relationships with many of them,” Christenson said. “It’s a lot of fun when they come in the door and you know them by name and you can chat with them,” she said. “They get personalized service here and I think that means a lot.”
Contributed
Sharing the holiday spirit
The Trumm Drug staff enjoys spreading cheer with customers not only during the holidays, but all year long.
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Three decades of By Annie Harman aharman@echopress.com Since 1970, Mary Olson of Alexandria has been finding her way back through the doors of Trumm Drug not as a customer, but as an employee. “I started training under Clara Trumm,” Olson said, remembering her first part-time position as a sales associate in the gift department while in high school. Olson has now worked under Mark, Paul and, most recently, Greg. “This is the third generation of Trumms that I have worked for.” After a couple breaks here and there, Olson is now a sales associate in the pharmacy at the Alexandria location, celebrating 31 years of employment. “I like that it’s a family-owned business,” Olson said. “I couldn’t ask for better employers.” The family aspect of the business has bled into the staff, according to Olson. “I think we all feel that way about each other,” she said. “We’re not just coworkers, we’re friends. We’re family.” Olson reminisced about watching the Trumm family grow, seeing them at family picnics, and eventually watching them go to school to become pharmacists. Even though they aren’t her own children, she said she couldn’t be more proud. OLSON
loyalty
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“A lot of people almost think of us as their family. When they need to talk, we listen.” Mary Olson SALES ASSOCIATE
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Lowell Anderson | Echo Press
Mary Olson smiles behind the pharmacy counter at Trumm Drug in Alexandria. Starting off as a sales associate in the gift shop in 1970, Olson has worked at Trumm Drug for 31 years.
OLSON
Olson said that her employers have also always taken an active interest in her own family. “As a whole I just really enjoy working here for the Trumms,” she said. “It’s a hometown family.” The customers Olson and other employees see on a regular basis also seem to feed into the family appeal of the business. “A lot of people almost think of us as their family,” she said with a laugh, stating that when her husband was alive, there were customers she would see almost as much as she saw him. “When they need to talk, we listen.” Olson attributes this to the Trumm policy of always striving to give the best possible customer service.
“It’s nice to hear that customers will continue to come back,” Olson said. “Some even say that no matter what happens with their insurance they will continue to come back for the atmosphere and the service.” Olson believes that giving exceptional service is important in today’s world of “big box stores” and a fast-paced society. “We’re always willing to listen and help and counsel customers,” she said. “It’s really rewarding when we can help someone.” Though Olson will admit that with the changing times, her job has become more stressful, the closeness of the staff and the appreciation from the customers will keep her coming back to the small, family pharmacy.
Contributed
Keeping the community healthy Members of the Trumm Drug staff provide a variety of health screening services throughout the community.
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Meet our local
Mark Trumm
Pharmacists
Paul Trumm
Will Ritter
Greg Trumm
Aaron Finley
Making a difference. A season of reflection. A time for thanks.
Robyn Anderson
Allan Fettig
...
Kristi Anderson
Kristy Peyerl
Right here. Every day.
It takes an experienced team and the commitment to make a difference. It takes the drive to build close relationships, understand needs and identify solutions to enhance each client’s financial health. But most of all, making a difference and strengthening communities takes working together.
Alexandria • 763-6622 800-908-BANK (2265) • Bremer.com Member FDIC. © 2015 Bremer Financial Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Preparing the next generation for growth in Alexandria. Alexandria Clinic is proud to support our thriving business community with integrated care that puts the patient at center stage. Call 320-763-2899 for an appointment
Trusted Care. For Generations.
Congratulations Trumm Drug! BIAD 2015
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Caring for you and about you!
Paul, Mark and Greg Trumm
Our Trumm Drug family, along with our dedicated employees, has worked to serve and to live our lives in support of this amazing community for 64 years. We appreciate and value the relationships that we have built, and look forward to building many more in the years to come. Thank you for your trust and patronage. We are humbled and grateful to be recognized by the good people of this wonderful place that we call home.
Alexandria | Parkers Prairie | Elbow Lake | Glenwood Refill prescriptions, find health information, view our monthly sale events & special offers at www.trummdrug.com
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BIAD 2015 - Trumm Drug