Standing in line at the pharmacy may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but when you enter Hieber’s Pharmacy in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, you know that you’ve come to an institution. In a world where most people’s pharmacy experience is dropping by CVS or even getting prescriptions in the mail, you might forget that some pharmacies are in fact small businesses with a vibrant history.
Your pharmacist is someone who intimately knows your medicines and can offer advice and a friendly face - and some pharmacies like Hieber’s Pharmacy go above and beyond. And this pharmacy has proven that local businesses of all types can find support in their community - Hieber’s Pharmacy recently raised over $85,000 from their customers and community with their Honeycomb Credit investment offering.
Modernizing an old-school pharmacy experience
Hieber’s Pharmacy was founded in 1860 and has passed through many hands in its 160+ year history until it made its way to Rosemary Mihalko. As the first female owner of the locall business, Rosemary’s goal with Hieber’s Pharmacy was to make the practice of compounding more affordable and accessible to all - whether you be young or old or even an exotic animal!
In order to keep up with compounding regulations, Rosemary needed to build a new lab to modernize the historic small pharmacy, and so she decided to turn to her community to raise the money to do so! Last year, Hieber’s Pharmacy ran an investment offering with Honeycomb Credit. and raised $86,429 from 78 investors.
Not a bitter pill to swallow - investment success!
“I had thought about Honeycomb for a couple of years and with the new store coming, I decided to go for it,” recounts Rosemary. She had seen the success of other small businesses in the Strip District who ran successful Honeycomb offerings such as Pip and Lola’s and Iron Born Pizza.
At first she was hesitant. Would a pharmacy bring in the same amount of support and investments as a popular pizza shop? “I wasn't sure if crowdfunding for a pharmacy would go well but it sure did!! It was stressful waiting for investments but it was so much fun too!”
With the help of her 78 investors, Rosemary is able to bring to life her dream of a small business - a modernized drug store. Her goal was to “create a truly historic experience by opening a soda fountain/milkshake counter and broadening our scope of practice” with the compounding facility. “They made it happen!” Rosemary says about Honeycomb.
“Bringing the pharmacy back to the Strip District and propelling Hieber's into a revitalized community is a dream come true!” says Rosemary.
We Rx-ited to work with local businesses of all kinds!
At Honeycomb, we work with small businesses of all kinds - bars, restaurants, bakeries, pharmacies, yoga studios, and even manure companies. The main characteristic that these small businesses share is that they have a desire to reach out to their community and offer the chance to invest in their growth. If that sounds like something you’re interested in for your local business, give us a buzz by filling out the form below:
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