New pharmacy owner follows in the steps of great-grandfather

FAIRFIELD - Fairfield has a new pharmacy in the building formerly occupied by The Sweet Spot on West Burlington Avenue.

Summit Pharmacy opened its doors Aug. 17. It is run by Dr. Bryan Vander Linden, who spent the previous seven years managing the pharmacy at Fairfield Hy-Vee.

Managing his own pharmacy has been a dream of Vander Linden's for the past eight years, and now his dream has come true.

The Sweet Spot, an ice cream shop and restaurant, closed its doors last fall. Vander Linden saw the building as the perfect spot to start his own pharmacy, something his family knows all about. He and his wife Hannah grew up in Pella, where his great-grandfather opened a pharmacy in 1912. It remained in the family until 2002 when Vander Linden's father sold it.

When his father was getting ready to sell the business, he asked Bryan and his brother if either was interested in buying it.

At the time, they both said no. Bryan had been working construction for eight years before he decided to continue the family tradition of working as a pharmacist.

Bryan and Hannah moved to Fairfield hoping to start their own pharmacy, but the timing wasn't right until early 2020. In January, the couple took a long look at opening a store in the former ice cream shop. They ultimately purchased it and took ownership in March.

'After I took the job here in Fairfield, we thought we might do something sooner, but it didn't pan out,” Vander Linden said. 'But the doors swung open at the beginning of this year, and all the pieces came together.”

Vander Linden said the pandemic didn't hurt him too much in the spring, because he was busy remodeling the interior.

'I was able to keep my job at Hy-Vee a little longer because people weren't asking as many questions about what's going on in the old Sweet Spot building,” he said.

The pharmaceutical industry was slowing down at that time anyway because so many people were delaying medical treatments such as elective surgeries due to the coronavirus. In turn, that's reduced the need for medications and other services they would get at a pharmacy.

Vander Linden said his pharmacy offers the typical services of a pharmacy such as prescription medications, immunizations like flu shots, over-the-counter medications and supplements. He offers medication therapy, where he sits down with a patient to see if they're getting the best medications for their ailment.

He said what he hopes will set his pharmacy apart is its focus on 'whole health.”

'Prescription medications are part of that, but they're not an end-all,” he said. 'If we can find ways to pair with small businesses in town, to get people to live healthier through physical therapy, exercise, gymnastics, we will. Those are things we see doing differently here.”

He said the pharmacy won't sell 'beer and cigarettes,” nor will it sell candy bars. Instead, it will offer healthy alternatives such as protein bars.

Another way in which the pharmacy is 'whole” is that it involves the whole family. Vander Linden's parents, Tom and Susan, work at the pharmacy, and his five children, ranging in ages from 3 to 9, help stock the shelves. His wife helps, too, when she's not busy home-schooling the kids.