Tiffany Hibble celebrates ownership and 64 years of Tumby Bay Pharmacy
It’s a community’s only pharmacy and for more than 60 years the same family have kept it open, now the tradition has been passed down to the next generation.
Port Lincoln
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Pharmacy runs in the family for the Hibbles but a third generation never expected to take over the business so soon.
They have been serving the community for 64 years and now the Tumby Bay Pharmacy is working towards it’s century milestone.
A country girl at heart, Tiffany Hibble, 37, knew she wouldn’t stay in the city after finishing university in Adelaide 15 years ago, but heading back home to Tumby Bay was not on her radar either.
“My uncle asked if I wanted to take over the shop but I always said I wouldn’t move back to Tumby until I retired,” Ms Hibble said.
Now the pharmacist, who employs nine local staff members, has just celebrated one year as the proud owner of the Tumby Bay Pharmacy after taking over from uncle Peter Hibble last October.
“The opportunity was there and home has always been home, so I just bit the bullet,” she said.
“This is where I see my future.
“I wouldn’t have bought into the business if I didn’t plan to stay in Tumby.”
The business has been tied to the family name for 64 years with Ms Hibble’s grandfather, Ross Hibble, introducing the family to pharmaceutical retail in 1957.
Just like the generations before her Ms Hibble is in it for the long run and said the local community was the most rewarding part of her job.
“Obviously when you study pharmacy it’s a very science based degree that can take your career in lots of different directions, whether it’s working in hospitals or research, but it’s the community, the interactions that I really love,” she said.
“And Covid has proven how important it is to so many people, especially the elderly.
“Some of our customers have lived through all three generations of owners, which is amazing to me.”
The importance of the family-ran business was recently highlighted after reports the pharmacy, the only one within a 40km radius, was closing.
However, Ms Hibble reassures it was all just a part of the handover process.
“At some stage Peter changed the name to Peter Hibble Pharmacy and I’ve now changed it back to its original name, Tumby Bay Pharmacy,” she said.
“I could have changed it to my name but there was a bit of nostalgia around renaming it back to what Pa (Ross Hibble) called it.”
At this stage Ms Hibble will be the last family member to carry on the tradition, unless a younger relative decides to become pharmacist.
“I’ll have to work until my mid-seventies to celebrate 100 years in business,” she said.
“But, Nanna is 95 and still with us, so I’m confident.”
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