Great Ideas for Gifts Pharmacy and Hardware Store Trends

By Sara Karnish

Pharmacies and hardware stores strive to carry items that make customers’ lives a little easier. This extends into the gift-giving space. Many of these niche retailers stock a wide assortment of gifts for all occasions. Customers in small towns or rural communities can find everything they need in one place, and customers looking for a unique gift, whether for themselves or someone else, can likely find it in a pharmacy or hardware store’s gift section.

It makes sense for pharmacies and hardware stores to stock gifts. Busy customers can just pick up a gift while they’re running errands rather than travel to several stores, sometimes going miles out of town. “In our small town, there are not a lot of places to shop. Our store was formerly Yarber’s Drug Store, and it was known for their gifts, baby items, and bridal registry. This was the place to come,” said Stacy Credille , pharmacy manager at Square Pharmacy and Gifts in Belmont, Miss. After a few ownership transfers, the store reopened as Square in May 2020 during the COVID pandemic. “We tried to bring back the gifts and the wedding registry. We’re slowing adding in the things people want to see.” Credille includes Bridgewater Candles, Fingerprint Pottery [a Pontotoc, MS-based company], and Tab Boran Pottery among their best-selling gift lines. “Pottery is real popular in the South. People love to give it as gifts,” she said, adding, “Customers want to support local companies. Things popular for wedding gifts, and sympathy items sell well.” Jill Werner , co-owner of Werner Hardware & Gifts with her husband Tim (a third-generation owner) in Humphrey, Neb., said, “Memorial-type gifts and inspirational gifts are our biggest sellers. We’re known for doing memorial-type arrangements. Nativities, religious statues, and floral arranging with artificial flowers are our top three gifts.” Their gift department is a natural fit with their paint section: “We sell paint at our store, and it all ties in. When I help a customer pick out their paint, I’ll tie in an arrangement or picture to help the paint stand out. We really

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