Being a pharmacist wasn’t something Andy Stepp always knew he wanted to do. It just kind of happened. Within a month or two of his freshman year of college, Stepp decided he wanted to be a pharmacist but still has no clue as to why.
It’s worked out for him though.
After graduating from the University of Mississippi’s pharmacy school, Stepp vowed he would never work retail pharmacy. He worked at a hospital in Batesville until he broke that vow and went to Fred’s pharmacy for a couple of years.
Then, a long time friend Stepp had from living in Sardis, Ward Dawkins, decided to open a grocery store in Bruce and wanted Stepp to run the drug store in it.
“I came to Bruce, looked around, it was about the same size town as Sardis,” Stepp said. “I decided hey, I could starve here as well as anywhere else, so I moved to Bruce.”
That was in 1984.
Ten years later, the shopping center Stepp’s drug store was in was sold, and the businesses surrounding him were closing.
“I just knew I couldn’t stay there,” Stepp said. “I found this lot available, bought it, built it, and here we are.”
He opened Stepp-Saver Pharmacy in its current location on North Newberger Avenue in 1994. Stepp-Saver is one of only two independent pharmacies left in the county and will celebrate its 22nd anniversary this month.
Walking into the pharmacy, a section with a variety of gifts and greeting cards are at the front, further back is the traditional-style pharmacy and counter, and behind there is Stepp’s office, where there isn’t an open space on any of the walls. Stepp has plaques and framed awards and diplomas hanging all over.
Lining the walls in the main area, is Coca-Cola memorabilia, trinkets, and antiques from previous students he’s worked with, locals who know he collects the items, or from the time he spent working for Coca-Cola in high school and college.
“I did everything from sweep the floor to drive 18-wheelers,” Stepp said looking at his collection. “I’ve got bottles from all over the world and antique uniforms I wore.”
He said opening his first pharmacy was scary, but he has prayed about it a lot and toughed it out.
The people are what makes Bruce special to Stepp. Rex Jarrett was the only person Stepp knew when he originally moved to Bruce, but over time and through working daily, he’s met many more people, including his Bruce-native wife Linda.
“Everybody knows everybody,” Stepp said. “I go to different places and I see pharmacists that don’t have a clue who they’re talking to. They don’t know anything about them. That’s what attracted me to a small town.”
Stepp said all of the workdays are the same but different.
“You deal with problems when they come along and work through them and get everything covered and make sure everybody’s semi-happy,” he laughed.
When the store originally opened Stepp worked “from candle to cake” but is only scheduled for Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays nowadays, still visiting the store practically everyday.
“We’re open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.,” Stepp said. “But if you call me, I’ll come back down here. The only thing worse than calling me is calling my competitor.”
Stepp said there are challenges to running an independent pharmacy, like the difficultly of retirement being on his own account and the business depending a lot on the customers’ employer insurance.
“Some insurance requires them go to a chain store, some requires them to do mail-order, some of them are okay with us doing it,” Stepp said.
Despite the challenges, Stepp said he has moments that make him proud every day.
Some of those moments are when he works with the Ole Miss pharmacy students he hosts at his store. Stepp is a clinical instructor for the University of Mississippi, helping to teach students the business side of pharmacies. He’s been doing that for more than 20 years.
He prides Stepp-Saver on its commitment to personal, friendly, and professional customer service and the business they do.
“I’m the biggest drug dealer in the county,” Stepp laughed.