It has been a mystery to me for years. How does an obscure business, nestled between the Covered Treasures bookstore and the Bella Vi Spa Boutique on Second Street, stay in business? With little foot traffic and a collection of vintage medicine bottles as the only window display, who and where are the customers?

Step inside the Monument Pharmacy and it is immediately obvious that this is no ordinary small business. Employees are busy taking phone calls from doctors and veterinarians from around the country and creating custom medications for people and animals.

"We are a compounding pharmacy," explains Rob Frisbie, co-owner with his father, Lee Frisbie. "We provide same day service and free first class shipping to our customers, most of whom are located outside Monument. All of our products come from FDA-approved, U.S.-licensed facilities and we compound medicines specific to individual needs prescribed by doctors."

Twelve people, including four pharmacists, are employed at Monument Pharmacy, which has been in the Chapala Building for the past ten years. Rob and Lee Frisbie purchased the building from Jim Moore in 2005.

Monument Pharmacy started 14 years ago with a small inventory and space. They continued to fill conventional prescriptions while preparing to compound medicines, as they had done while working for other compounding pharmacies. The first month they had one compound prescription; the second month they had six, and it just mushroomed from there.

Much of that growth has been prescriptions for nonhuman clients, called in by veterinarians treating household pets, horses, primates, reptiles, birds and even exotic animals. "Animals use some of the same drugs as people," said Rob. "Just as we can flavor medications for people, we can also add beef and liver flavors for dogs and tuna flavor for cats." The pharmacy offers more than 18 enhancing flavors, including Cherry Cordial, Licorice Whip, Gooey Caramel and Paw-Lickin' Peanut Butter.

In addition to flavoring medications to make them more palatable or providing them in oral suspension as an alternative to tablets, the pharmacy produces drugs that have been discontinued due to newer versions or because the manufacturer decides not to make them anymore. Most large-chain pharmacies do not compound medications and often refer requests for customized prescriptions to the Monument Pharmacy.

Even though the compounding pharmacy is not in direct competition with other pharmacies in the area and does not process insurance claims, there are some local customers who bring in regular prescriptions. "We are happy to help complete the insurance claims that customers can file on their own," said Rob. "With insurance costs on the rise, customers can sometimes get three months of a prescription for less than their co-pay amount."

As for future plans, Rob said they plan to start carrying the Metagenics line of vitamins and nutritional products. "On a typical day two to four customers will come in. We would love to see more customers come into our store and always welcome visitors."

In the meantime, the vintage medicine bottles are no longer in the front window. The are being auctioned off on eBay, a little side hobby that the owners and employees enjoy. "We've been doing eBay for a year," explained Rob. "We love to sell things on eBay. Our employees bring in items they want to sell and everyone enjoys the moment when the auction ends and we learn the final price."

"Even if you don't know the value of something," Rob said, "the market will drive the price. We just sold a 1912 York and Sons tuba. We also sell some of our over-the-counter products on our Power Seller eBay site. Shipping out the auctioned or purchased items is a good fit with our business that is geared to mail order. We've also used Craig's list to sell items for pick-up at our store."

The atmosphere in the store is efficient and busy, but also relaxed. Rob's 11-year-old yellow lab, Trigger, lumbers around the building. There's the brightly-lit, shelf-lined workroom with its packaging and shipping area near the front, storage in the back, and an office in the building's basement for Rob and Lee when they aren't traveling around the country going to conventions to "meet and greet" doctors who are attending continuing education classes. "We attend about 12 conventions a year to meet new clients," Rob said. "There are lots of people in the country doing the same thing we do."

Lee and Rob are proud of the store's service and their friendly staff. "Our employees thrive on efficiency, says Rob. "When we bring in new technology, they love it; they're always up for things that improve their jobs. We have a good time working together and there are new things happening every day."

Who knew that such an interesting business was taking place beyond the quiet façade on Second Street? Monument Pharmacy is open weekdays and Saturday mornings for walk-in customers and phone calls (481-2209 or 800-595-7565), and has a website: www.monumentpharmacy.com. To think I was worried about where they find customers. Mystery solved! They find them everywhere in the United States, from doctors prescribing medications for their patients, to veterinarians in equine clinics, universities, and zoos seeking custom formulations of drugs for their nonhuman patients.