By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
He was once just a little boy playing T-ball with his four-year-old buddies in the rural area of Santa Fe. She was a little girl growing up on her family ranch in Albert, Texas with its population of 30. Together the two of them are building the country spirit of taking care of your neighbors into their business model.
Andy and Lindsey McDonald work together to run Lonestar Pharmacy in Santa Fe.
“He started it from scratch. He had no data files, no customers,” Lindsey shared about her husband’s journey into owning an independent pharmacy. “He had a hope and a dream and a cool community at his back,”
It was 2015, and Andy had already seen a bit of time working at a chain pharmacy, and it just wasn’t what he thought being a pharmacist should be. He went into pharmacology because he wanted to be in contact with the people whom he served. So he set up his little building in Santa Fe and opened his doors to the public.
All the while, Andy was opening up his pharmacy, the woman who would be bride was taking a position in League City, but she wanted to live in a smaller town. Finding the perfect rental house in Santa Fe, she signed a lease, got her keys, and was happy with her choice.
The real estate agents who were responsible for the rental decided to pay a call to her on one of her first evenings at the house.
“They came over with a bottle of wine from the local winery, which, it turns out, was Haak Winery, one of Santa Fe’s hidden delights.
Since the real estate agents were her neighbors across the road, she was happy to have their company and share some wine and conversation. What she didn’t know was that they were scoping out a wife for their son, the newest business owner in town.
It wasn’t long after the wine and conversation with his parents that Lindsey and Andy were dating and falling in love. Then, just 30 days into their marriage, Hurricane Harvey struck the region.
Together the couple opened the pharmacy when Harvey was slamming the region with rain. They devoted themselves to making sure clients got their medication. It was not an easy task, as the entire region was flooded.
“We just got started asking our patients to be patient with us. Then one by one our staff found a way to come in and work,” both shared.
“People had lost their medications in the flood waters, and we were able to get them a week’s supply,” Andy shared.
Noting that his supplies were being depleted, he was able to use his professional network to get more prescription medication delivered to Lonestar Pharmacy so that they could continue to make sure customers had their needed medications.
They worked long hard hours dealing with limited resources and difficult situations. The couple opened their home to refugees from the flood waters. They report one person stayed at their home for six months because of the damage caused by the flood waters.
During and after Harvey weren’t the only times Andy and Lindsay supported neighbors in a bind.
Andy and Lindsey report they extended credit to people whose insurance policies had were canceled during strikes at the area’s petrochemical plants. “We got stuck with some unpaid accounts, but that’s all right we helped out,” shared Andy.
The freeze of 2021 once again demanded they be resourceful to keep the pharmacy internet running.
“You can’t run a pharmacy without access to the internet,” Andy explained.
With the power outage, they used generators and worked with local internet suppliers to make sure their customers once again had their medication in the middle of a natural disaster.
Earlier this year, they moved into their own building which is larger than the original store that had been a rental. The building affords space for an ice cream shop and mini café where guests can come in and enjoy some hometown friendships. On the side of the building, they lease a space to a nurse practitioner who runs a small clinic.
Lindsey has made sure to bring the lighter, brighter side into the pharmacy. She enjoys creating visually appealing displays and interacting with each person who comes through the front doors.
She has an eye for the retail items that small-town Texans are interested in purchasing, and that’s a huge boost to their business.
In fact, her love of gift shop items is her explanation for why the couple expanded the store.
“Well Andy just kept trying to put his pharmacy items in the way of my gift shop things, so we needed more space,” Lindsey explains with a twinkle in her eye.
Actually, Andy shared, the couple expanded because, as an independent pharmacy, they just couldn’t count on the contract prices insurance companies are willing to pay to provide enough profit. Adding space for more retail according to Andy was a simple business decision to make sure the pharmacy runs at a profit.
They grew up in opposite ends of Texas but they both grew up with small town values and both are committed to building their business based on the values they learned as children.
“We want to know every one of our customers and provide them with the care they need,” shared Andy.
Andy says he isn’t sure why he picked the name Lonestar, he thinks maybe it’s because he drinks Lonestar Beer, but can’t really remember why. What he does know for sure is that he loves his work as a pharmacist and loves his interactions with the people in the community.
Together he and his wife are building a business as they plunge deeper into territory that seems impossible to maintain as an independent pharmacy. But they believe in what they are doing and they are seeing the fruits of their labors expand beyond Coastal Texas and into the Hill Country.
According to Andy and Lindsey, the Lonestar Pharmacy in Canyon Lake, Texas is owned by the couple and operated by a roommate from pharmacy school.
As for the future, well, Andy and Lindsey McDonald are keeping up with current demands and letting the future unfold as they go along.
