In late July a “pharmacy” arrived at Palaceside Building. Strictly speaking, the shelves just inside the east entrance (toward the center of the building) of the first-floor west-side FamilyMart Palaceside Building store became a counter for over-the-counter medicines (photo above).
What is sold is a portion of “general-use medicines.” Medicines are classed as Category I, II or III. Category I products contain ingredients whose safety is not well established, or that are considered especially high-risk, and may cause health harm serious enough to interfere with daily life; only pharmacists may sell them, so they are outside this offering.
A look at the shelves turns up names familiar from television ads (photo at right) — cold remedies, painkillers, stomach medicines, medicated patches and the like. Most over-the-counter drugs are Category II or III, so the range is not far from an ordinary neighborhood pharmacy.
Sales hours are shorter than the store’s (7:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.): 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Credit cards, T-points and T-Money can be used.
FamilyMart moved from the east side of the first floor to its present location on July 4, 2016 — almost a year ago — expanding from 29.43 tsubo to 91.85 tsubo, more than threefold, and a medicine corner had been under consideration ever since. Tenants and many others who use the building had also strongly asked for medicines to be sold, so Palaceside Building itself had requested FamilyMart to offer them.