Stacey Schulz parks in a rear lot to avoid the crowded Main Street entrances to her local pharmacy. "During the summer, it's kind of hectic," she said after greeting the pharmacist and technician by name. That's because Schulz's pharmacy is tucked inside Wall Drug, a tourist attraction that takes up almost an entire block and draws more than 2 million visitors a year to a community of fewer than 700 residents.
The business is named after the town of Wall, which is just off Interstate 90 near Badlands National Park. Colorful, hand-painted billboards dot the roadside for hundreds of miles, telling motorists how far they are from Wall Drug's free ice water, 5-cent coffee, and homemade doughnuts. Visitors can pan for gold, listen to singing animatronic cowboys, try on Western wear, and shop for souvenirs, including plush jackalopes — mythical jackrabbits with antelope horns.
Despite being part of a booming tourist attraction, Wall Drug's pharmacy faces challenges common to independent rural pharmacies. It's the lone pharmacy in Wall, serving locals year-round. Some, like Schulz, live in town, while others live on ranches as far as 60 miles away.
The next-nearest pharmacy is a 30-minute drive northeast. Wall Drug also serves tourists who forget their prescriptions at home, get sick while roaming the country in their RVs, or hurt themselves while hiking through the otherworldly rock formations of the scorching Badlands, said Cindy Dinger, its sole pharmacist. Wall has no hospital.