John and Agata step down as owners after 39 years
THERE were many laughs and tears when The Adviser sat down with John and Agata Anderson last week to hear the stories of their past, following the announcements that after nearly four decades they will be stepping down as owners of John Anderson Pharmacy.
While carrying out the interview many customers came up to express their sadness and gratitude to John and Agata for their many years of service, with one telling Agata she was growling at John for making the decision to step down and another sharing fond memories of coming in to the store for many years from a young age with her grandmother and wishing them luck for the future.
John and Agata moved to Shepparton in September of 1979 and in just an eight month period had the big three; became part owners of a business, bought a house and welcomed their first child into the world.
After having owned the pharmacy with business partner, Darcy Brennan, John and Agata made the decision to buy the business outright in 1982 as the pair saw the business was increasing and saw it as an opportunity to help see it grow, which it did.
John and Agata said, “Darcy was instrumental in helping get us in the pharmacy business and he was nice enough to let us buy the business outright, which we are forever grateful for.
“We have multigenerational customers who have been coming to us since we opened and many people have fond memories from our time with them throughout the years.
“Talking with people as they have come in after we made the announcement we were stepping back as owners has made us realise that when you look back in reflection, there are so many people who have connections with us, some sharing birthdays with us and our children, some working at Coles & Coy Ltd that was next door to us and even one woman who said she remembered meeting me (Agata) for the first time when she went to conduct hygiene and make up lessons at Wanganui Park Secondary College. We didn’t realise the impact we’ve had on people and the connections we’ve made.
“The catalyst for us stepping down has been family. Family has and always will be very important to us.
“We are pleased to be able to hand over the reigns to Melvin Deo and his wife, Archana and I (John) will be still around for a while through the transition. Melvin is a caring and professional pharmacist and we related to him very quickly.
“We’ve seen some interesting and big changes over the years. Pharmacy now is much more connected with aged care in that it helps people to manage their medication. Technology and access to education as well as streamlining how dispensing is done has evolved quickly over the last 10 years alone, so that has been interesting. Contraception and women’s hygiene products were only sold in pharmacies when we first started and weren’t found on supermarket shelves, and they had to be wrapped in brown paper as many people were often embarrassed to be seen purchasing them. We are also seeing more men coming in to purchase grooming products and it’s great to see them looking after their own health nowadays.
“We’d like to thank our loyal customers for becoming a part of our family and to our staff who have been wonderful. We have been lucky to have such a stability in our staff and we are grateful to them for helping us grow the business to where it is today.”
