When you walk into your neighbourhood pharmacy, you could be going in to ask about a new prescription or pick up a few sundries for your kids. But the bottom-line is you want to leave feeling a little better about yourself.

Aly Kassam knows the feeling well. As a pharmacist and owner of A. Kassam Pharmacy Limited which operates Shoppers Drug Mart in the Grimsby Square Plaza, he meets people just like you every single day.

“Most of the time people don’t go to see their pharmacist because they want to,” he says. “They go because they have to. They could be dealing with a difficult medical condition or they may just need some advice on how to treat bad sunburn. So we’re focused on giving them that little bit of friendly advice or something that will manage the problem. It’s all about pointing them in the right direction.”

The pharmacy has been a fixture in downtown Grimsby since the mid-1960s. (The pharmacy was originally an independent drug store until it was acquired by Shoppers Drug Mart in the mid-1980s.) It is a full-service pharmacy with a wide range of products and services including a beauty…