Following and making their dreams come true, Jason and Deirdre opened Pharmasave on December 17, 2007. With help from family and friends, they built the existing building from the ground up after demolishing, some might remember, the old Saddle Shop and Hardware store.
On the heels of their 10 year anniversary, they completed renovations which modernized all departments, giving the entire store a fresh new look and ambience.
The Black Diamond Pharmasave is very much a family-oriented business. Both Jason and Deirdre work full time in their store, Jason as the Pharmacy Manager and Deirdre as the Front Store Manager. They employ twenty-nine full and part time positions to a variety of wonderful people found throughout the Town of Black Diamond and surrounding area. Jason and Deirdre’s local Pharmasave family strive to provide fast, friendly customer service that the corporate box stores lack.
Pharmasave is the banner that Spicer’s Apothecary Ltd. operates under as it was a banner that greatly appealed to Jason. By operating under the Pharmasave banner, Spicer’s Apothecary is able to offer a wider selection of products and services at competitive prices. Black Diamond Pharmasave is one of over six-hundred stores nationwide that are independently owned by people in their communities.
Jason graduated from the University of Alberta in 2000 and has worked in the small towns of Strathmore, Canmore, and Banff. He also spent time in both Morley and Wabasca providing pharmaceutical services for the First Nation peoples. His work at Findlandia Pharmacy Vancouver, gave him insight and understanding of complementary medicines (Findlandia Pharmacy was established over 30 years ago and was the first alternative pharmacy of its time, and still remains in the forefront). Serving as the Pharmacy Manager, he's proud to own a Pharmasave in Black Diamond.
Deirdre runs the rest of the store. Previously a pharmacy technician, she continues to love helping people as the Front Store Manager. With a natural flare and keen eye for fashion, Deirdre embarked on growing their fashion department along with the new renovations and is excited for you to see some of the beautiful attire they now have available.
Also coinciding with their renovations, Jason and Deirdre have recently revamped their Ideal Protein Weightloss Program with a new lead coach and more emphasis on the new technologies being provided through Ideal Protein.
Since their start up in 2007, one of the most commonly asked questions was “what can I do to lose weight”; of course, the only good answer that could be given at that time was “eat less and exercise more”, which only works for a few. There have been numerous fad products that promised weight loss and were especially popular when Dr Oz had promoted them, such as raspberry ketones. Again, short lived fixes that produced no lasting results.
In the summer of 2013, another Pharmasave owner, Wendy in Brooks, introduced them to a low carb, high protein diet; of course, they were skeptical but attended an information session. After learning that Ideal Protein was a scientifically based, medically supervised, ketogenic diet that did not require strange injections and could be managed by food – they were interested.
They started the program that Fall with their beta group and were part of that group themselves. Jason reached his goal weight in about 6 weeks and Deirdre reached hers within 3 months. They’ve been able to maintain their goal weight for years and continue to work the program to this day. They believe in this program, know it works, and that’s why it is still a thriving department in their store.
Also, the rising concept of therapeutic nutrition; actually curing diseases with food, intrigued the pharmacy. Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart burn to name a few, that greatly improve and in some cases, to the point of completely stopping their pharmaceuticals, through therapeutic nutrition, led them to believe that the Ideal Protein program was capable of assisting with this process.
Jason and Deirdre are extremely community oriented and are always looking for new and better ways to serve their customers and local communities.
Come see us, we'd love to help you at our store!
Customer Appreciation Day is every 3rd Wednesday!
