For more than 120 years, Hartig Drug Co. has grown alongside the communities it serves. Started as A.J. Hartig’s corner drug store in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1904, the business was built on a simple promise: Know your customers, take care of your neighbors and do the right thing. That spirit still guides Hartig’s work today across Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin — even as the business of pharmacy becomes more complex and challenging.
Community pharmacies everywhere are managing shrinking reimbursements, workforce pressures and increasing demands on many fronts. Those challenges are real, and they affect Hartig’s people, its patients and its communities. Hartig continues to face them head-on — advocating for fair reimbursement, using its available resources to invest in its workforce, and keeping pharmacy care local and accessible, especially in rural and underserved areas where a pharmacy is often the front door to health care.
Hartig’s connection to the communities it serves is the reason it has lasted for over 120 years. Hartig supports local organizations, public health efforts, schools and neighborhood initiatives not because it looks good on paper, but because its associates live and work in the communities it serves. Its stores are gathering places, its pharmacists are trusted resources, and its teams take pride in helping people through everyday health needs as well as some of life’s hardest moments.
Hartig’s strength has always come from its people. Many of its pharmacists, technicians and store leaders have spent most — or all — of their careers with the company. Their relationships with patients, their commitment to service, and their willingness to go the extra mile are what define the company far more than any program or technology investment ever could. At the same time, Hartig continues to focus on training, development and supporting the next generation of community pharmacy professionals.
Hartig points out that while it is rooted in tradition, it is not standing still. The company is investing in tools and approaches that help its teams serve patients more efficiently and safely. This includes its work with artificial intelligence company Synerio and other thoughtful technology that supports workflow, improves accuracy and allows pharmacists to spend more time with patients — not less. These investments are practical, not flashy; they are meant to support the pharmacy staff and strengthen care, not replace the human connection that defines community pharmacy.
Hartig is also expanding services where they make sense for the patients and partners it serves — including 340B collaborations, long-term care pharmacy, hospital discharge (meds-to-beds) programs, and evolving clinical services where reimbursement and community need to align. The common thread across these efforts is simple: Meet patients where they are and help bridge gaps in the broader health care system where revenue-generating opportunities exist.
Advocacy remains an essential part of Hartig’s role. It continues to engage at the state and federal levels on such issues as pharmacy benefit manager reform, fair reimbursement, sustainable pharmacy networks and recognition of pharmacists as frontline health care providers. It does this not only for the organization but for the survival of community pharmacy as a whole — and for the patients who depend on it.
“As we look ahead, we know the path isn’t always easy,” said chief executive officer Charlie Hartig. “But our commitment hasn’t changed. We will keep investing in our people, standing up for our profession and finding practical ways to adapt — all while staying true to the values that built this company in 1904.”
More than a 120 years later, Hartig remains what it has always been: a family-founded, community-anchored pharmacy that believes access to care close to home still matters.
Hartig Drug Co.
KEY EXECUTIVES
Charlie Hartig, CEO; Dawn Meade,
CFO; Dan Simon,
Vice President of Operations
HEADQUARTERS
703 Main St., Dubuque,
Iowa, 52001
Phone: (563) 588-8700
Website: hartigdrug.com
TRADE CLASS — Drug Chain
FULL-YEAR RESULTS
Sales — $124.1 million
Number of drug stores — 23
Number of states operating — 3
