While the Drug Emporium on 32nd Street and Kennedy Boulevard in Union City has always had one of the largest selections in health and beauty products, the store’s president realized that there was one section of health supplies that his store was missing.
“We always had pretty much what every customer needs for health in this store and the lowest prices,” said Drug Emporium President Allen Lalwani last week. “You could get everything under one roof here, except medical or surgical supplies. That is the new store that we added.”
The Body and Mind Shop at Drug Emporium, which opened during Christmas week, carries just about everything from wheelchairs and walkers to massagers and sound therapy products to nurses’ scrubs and uniforms.
“Other surgical supply stores are more oriented to servicing hospitals than retail customers,” said Lalwani, who has tried to make his store as customer-friendly as possible. “We tried to create a nice, bright, colorful store that customers off the street can identify with.”
Lalwani is planning a grand opening celebration for the store within the next month.
Somewhere to go
While most people do not know where to go to buy a wheelchair or crutches, the Mind and Body Shop at Drug Emporium carries all of these products and many more.
The store is equipped with a trained staff that is able to give customers the right advice and teach them how to use the products they buy.
“Many people that are going to these stores need help or to talk to someone when making these purchases,” said Lalwani.
According to Lalwani, all of the manufacturers of the products sold in the store came to the store to train the staff.
The store also services its customers by accepting Medicare or New Jersey Medicaid insurance plans as payment for most of the store’s products.
Trying out the products
Not only can customers find all of their medical needs in the Mind and Body Shop, they can also try out the products before they buy them.
“It is also an interactive store,” said Lalwani. “[A customer] can actually pick up any item and try it” Many of the full body massage chairs are on display for customers to sit in and try out before taking them home. Fountains for sound therapy are set up as well as motorized wheelchairs.
The store also carries the line of Tempur-pedic Swedish sleep systems and neck pillows.
“People who have trouble sleeping or have back problems can get a very comfortable sleep at night,” said Lalwani.
The line uses a material created by NASA for the space program that would conform to individual users and relieve the enormous forces experienced by astronauts during lift-off and flight.