Hampshire Pharmacy: Promoting Health With a Personal Touch

Parag and Rupal Maniar are bringing a holistic, personalized approach on health to the Hampshire area. Hampshire Pharmacy is celebrating 10 years of serving the local area. The pharmacy opened in 2011 on Oak Knoll Drive. They have been at 262 North State Street since 2014, and they truly enjoy serving their Hampshire area clients. “You get to know your patients and they become like family,” Rupal said. “I don’t see us going anywhere. This is it.” Both Parag and Rupal, husband and wife, and owners of the pharmacy, previously worked as pharmacists at retail chains until Parag was ready to take on something new. He would

By: Jessi Haish LaRue

drive around, taking backroads to work, Rupal said, when he realized Hampshire did not have a pharmacy. They decided to open their own pharmacy and they’ve been serving the local community ever since. They strive for excellent customer service by offering personal consultation and delivery, something that would be hard to find at a bigger location.

“It’s a completely different environment,” Rupal said. “You get stressed at the chains. It’s all about numbers, volume, you don’t know your patients … Everybody that comes in here, you know them. You know how many kids they have, if they have grandkids, you know about their pets.”

And in some ways, the Maniars even serve the Hampshire area’s pets. They carry various cannabidiol, or CBD, pet treats and products that naturally help furry friends, particularly dogs that struggle from separation anxiety, wild behavior, and even fear from Independence Day fireworks.

It’s a result of the year that Parag spent extensively researching CBD products, which are pharmaceutical grade, Rupal said.

Rupal said their biggest focus at the pharmacy now is the CBD products they carry. They’ve become so knowledgeable that they sell products as wholesale to more than 700 other small pharmacies such as their own. The products they carry help those with anxiety, pain and trouble sleeping. Rupal says it’s the “next wave” for healthcare, and she wants their patients to know about its different functions.

“It’s been used for years and years and years, but it’s just now ‘out’ in the public,” Rupal said. “Some drugs are just like a bandaid, not getting to the root cause. If you go to the doctor they’re going to give you medication, but those medications have side effects. You get to a point where its just not going to work and you have to try something else. This is more of a natural approach.” She says a lot of their customers do not know much about CBD products, but they are willing to answer any questions or concerns they may have, even if it’s about something you wouldn’t find on the shelf. When customers come in complaining that they can’t fall asleep, sometimes her husband Parag will recommend yoga or breathing techniques, she said. “And he’ll just stand here and show them an exercise,” she said. “They tell him ‘you should make a YouTube video!’”

Rupal said she has noticed a younger population moving into Hampshire recently, and she’d like to teach them more about natural solutions for health problems. She envisions the pharmacy expanding its home health care section, and offering more natural products. She wants people to come in because they have a product that’s hard to find anywhere else, she said. “We have a holistic, more natural approach, because we’ve always used that in our house with our kids,” Rupal said. “If we can go with that route, we go that way rather than sell a product that’s not necessary.” Rupal encourages the community to stop in and learn more about the products they have available. She said they always take the time to get to know their patients. “Either myself or my husband are here,” she said. “We are aware of customer issues and follow up on it. We take care of our customers. I think people appreciate that.”