To think Pharmacies shouldn't shut for lunch anymore

The main customer base of Pharmacies will be those receiving prescriptions and the majority of those people will not be working. Those that are can go after 5 p.m. or the weekend. The main business won't be people like you buying tights in their lunch hour. Do you not think they have worked it out?

I don't think they necessarily make more money during those specific hours. But it's a trade off they may lose a bit during the lunch hour when the pharmacist is off site, but they don't piss off their customer base and therefore protect future income because their customers won't seek alternatives and therefore lose the habit of shopping with the store that closes at inconvenient times.
It's always the case that at some points in the day, shops are busier/quieter than others. Those businesses tolerate that because presumably it balances out. But If they close when it's quiet and when it suits some of their customers to shop, those customers will eventually end up in the supermarkets which are open at lunchtime etc.

If they made more money by staying open at lunchtime why do you think they decided to shut?

It makes sense to close the dispensing bit when the pharmacist is unavailable, but I don't buy that shops like Boots are making a loss by staying open for lunch - the people picking up prescriptions may or may not buy other things while there, but loads of people go in to buy baby products, perfume, make up, tights for work etc. And if a shop is closed when it's convenient for them to shop, those with other options will find them.
I got out of the habit of going to Boots when it started having reduced opening and I've not really been back much and I used to spend a lot of money in there.

In the end, it's up to them but nature abhors a vacuum and if they leave that gap someone else will eventually fill it. Seems a shame though to kill existing businesses and lose the people who already work in them.

They would be doing you a favour if they are operating at a loss. Why should they stay open if they make a loss? Many have always closed at lunchtime particularly if their main business is dispensing prescriptions.

I think the reducing of operating costs is more likely to be the reason than anything else tbh. Or pharmacies would always have closed for lunch.

I think some businesses have given up on customer service altogether since Covid and act like they are doing us a favour by opening at all. I now buy the bare minimum in these places and go to those shops which are still making an effort. Or who have great websites.
Moving totally online is fine if they offer a really good online service (although this still neglects those people who need physical shops), but Boots isn't one of those.
The one is my nearest decent sized town went through a phase of closing 2 hours for lunch in the week and at 3 on Saturdays.

It is not similar to other retail jobs and the behaviour they are dealing with is a bit more than the occasional annoyed or rude customer. Healthcare staff including those who work in pharmacies are getting abused and that is sometimes physical. Have you not seen the news?
I'm not saying it is the only reason for not opening at all lunchtime but it will be one of them. The other will be reducing operating costs.

All the pharmacys i know still stay open for non prescription items, just that the pharmacy itself closes for lunch, unless there are two, how can it be anything but?

"Occasionally" I guess.

I deal with 70+ customers an hour. 4 or 5 will be vile... abusive - verbally usually. 10 more will be stroppy and 10 more will be a bit whingy.

We deal every day with people who are ill and/or in pain, as well as addicts and people worried sick about little ones, so we expect some level of testiness.
It has become significantly worse since covid/brexit/war in Ukraine/even the blockage of Suez canal and Ozempic popularity on TicTok.

@wombat15 the nature of retail is that you will sometimes get pissed off customers or people who are rude. The only way to avoid it is to not open shops at all!
Maybe fewer customers will be annoyed, if the shop staggers lunch breaks so that people who need non prescription items can still buy them on their own lunchtimes.

We are in a community pharmacy. Only one pharmacist so we shut 1 til 2. It is the mid point of the pharmacist's open to the public hours. (9 to 6). They arrive an hour early and can be there till 9pm. So during their often 13 hour day, they need a break.

Downtime is about half an hour, the other half an hour gets spent on stuff that needs "extra" attention (with no customers distracting) like end of life medication (which community pharmacy is dealing with every day nowadays)

What do you define as occasional? Sometimes is it physical. Why should they put up with it?

If there is only one pharmacist, why shouldn't he/she have a lunch break? plus their assistant too.

The level of entitlement is incredible, most people going to the chemist between 12 and 2 and are on THEIR lunch break.....

I said they aren't subject to non stop abuse. Obviously you will get the occasional stroppy customer.

Rubbish working class women always worked , My own mother managed and so did my Granny , with plenty children . Why do some people think all women sat at home twiddling their thumbs , they didn't .

How do you know staff aren't subjected to abuse in Pharmacies?! It has been a big problem in recent years. I don't think the pharmacy side of Boots is making much money in the UK either. They've shut a lot of shops recently.

Staff aren't subjected to non stop abuse though. Yes, there will always be arsey customers, but the majority are not.
And staff always had breaks - it's just not necessary for large busy stores to give all their staff a break at the same time.

Boots still seem to be making money - I don't know how. Maybe the big stores compensate for the smaller, neglected ones that a lot of us have. But they need to be careful - they have no USP now - Superdrug etc and the supermarkets sell a lot of what Boots used to do, so people who live in larger towns have more options.
And once people get out of the habit of going to a specific shop because the opening hours don't suit, it's hard for a business to reverse that habit.

Because after four hours of non stop abuse staff get hungry and need a break 🙃

Pharmicists don't pick off a shelf (dispense) dispensers do ....pharmacists clinically check then accuracy check ✔️

A pharmacy is a health care service the same as the Dr's surgery and the hospital yet its treated differently which I can't understand...people will happily wait an hour for takeaway food but god forbid you have to wait 10 minutes for your prescription. Pharmacy is short staffed full stop ....from pharmacists to dispensers ....when it shuts for lunch it's chaos imagine it shut for a day which is the way it's heading. We live in such a demanding privileged country. We can only pray everything doesn't go private and we have to pay for medication then you will really have something to moan about

I live in a small town and work in a different small town (15-20k people) and since the pandemic have been astounded at the amount of shops which now close for lunch. It's one thing if it's a small pharmacy, but Boots for goodness sake? It shafts you on a lunch break if you need a prescription, I have to find a supermarket pharmacy outside of working hours which is a real pain, none of which are in either town.

Some people will wax lyrical about the 'good ol' days' when everything shut for lunch but back then most families didn't have two adults working, so basic life stuff could be addressed.

Just spoken to someone I know who is a pharmacist and apparently shops are cutting hours everywhere to reduce operating costs to avoid full closure.

I'm sure they have done the calculations before deciding to shut at lunchtime. If it cost more to be open than close and/or staff were getting abuse why would they stay open?

I think private businesses should be allowed to choose and operate their own hours.

Presumably you can find out the opening hours by googling, ringing, or reading the sign on the door.

If customers don't like the hours they can go elsewhere.

If the business loses enough custom, they might want to revisit their opening hours I guess.

I don't like this culture of demanding entitlement where the world is supposed to spin on your needs.

Why would they need to see them between 1 and 2? If it is an emergency they should go to the hospital anyway. If it is not an emergency then can wait until 2.