Pharmacists David and Joan McLean have witnessed lots of changes during their 40 years in business in Port Fairy.
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The couple celebrated the milestone this week and said they couldn’t believe they had been operating from Sackville Street for as long as they had.
The pair bought the pharmacy, which was on the western side of Sackville Street, from Olive Powell, another Port Fairy icon and long-serving pharmacist.
They operated McLean’s Pharmacy from there until 1979 when they moved into the purpose-built premises where they are now located.
Mr McLean was born in Heywood and his wife was born in Hamilton and grew up in Melbourne. The pair met at the Victorian College of Pharmacy in Parkville.
They worked in Melbourne for a short time, before deciding to return to the country, where they’ve remained for more than half their lives.
“We enjoy community pharmacy in a rural setting because you get to know people and your customers become friends,” Mrs McLean said.
Mr McLean said the pair enjoyed the ongoing customer relationships and felt privileged to be a part of their lives.
“We’ve appreciated the chance to practice in a nice friendly community and we’ve enjoyed getting to know people as they go on this journey,” she added.
“It’s a nice part of the world and it’s become a more popular destination which has given us challenges,” Mrs McLean said.
“It’s always changing.”
In its early days the chemist was a compounding pharmacy, scripts were recorded by hand in a book and repeat scripts were also hand written.
“When you think back to what we used to do, we’ve seen a fair few changes. It’s gone pretty quickly,” Mr McLean said.
The pair have also been fortunate to have loyal staff. Their longest serving employee is Kerryn Carter, who began working at the pharmacy in 1978.
“That’s always been consistent in reports we get back from customers, is how lovely our staff is,” Mrs McLean said.
“We’ve been lucky with the staff.”
While they admitted retirement was getting closer, the couple has no plans to leave the pharmacy just yet.