People’s Pharmacy, a longtime independent Austin pharmacy founded in 1980, has been sold after 46 years of Swail family ownership.
People’s Rx
People’s Rx, a family-owned fixture in Austin for nearly 50 years, has been sold to the owner of local compounding pharmacy CPRx in a deal that will bring physicians and nurse practitioners into People’s four retail locations.
CPRx owner Kimberli Wiley purchased People’s with financing from Austin-based Victory Medical Center, which will collaborate with People’s to provide the new medical services.
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“People’s and I go way back,” said Bill Franklin, Victory Medical founder and medical director. “(People’s founder) Bill Swail and I were friends back in the early days.”
For customers, the most visible changes will be the addition of medical providers and new products.
“Well, we don’t take away what people already have. I mean, they’ll still offer all the same supplements,” Franklin said. “You know, they’ll still fill all the same prescriptions. We’re literally just adding services and products.”
The pharmacies are expected to begin hosting physicians and nurse practitioners about one day a week, initially for half-day sessions. The schedule could expand depending on demand. Providers will be able to see patients at the pharmacy, including people interested in GLP-1 medications for weight loss. People’s also plans to expand its selection of peptides and other products.
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The addition of medical providers isn’t entirely new for People’s. CEO Stephen Erickson said the pharmacy had practitioners working with customers in its stores several years ago, although that program eventually ended.
Erickson said the purchase was structured as a stock sale and the new ownership plans to retain the People’s name and continue offering its existing prescriptions, supplements and other products.
“I think this is a great opportunity to make sure that People’s Pharmacy can continue,” he said.
Earlier this year, People’s Rx Westlake store moved to its new location at the Mira Vista shopping center on Bee Cave Road.
Errich Petersen Photography
The leadership team at People’s will also remain the same, with the exception of Erickson, who will consult with the company during the transition period.
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“Leading Peoples for the past five years has been a highlight of my career,” he said. “The customer loyalty and appreciation and high regard held for Peoples is unparalleled.”
The sale follows several years of financial and operational changes at People’s.
When People’s founder Bill Swail died, his four children inherited the company through a trust. The business subsequently struggled financially during the COVID-19 pandemic. After it returned to profitability, the family decided to sell and considered multiple potential buyers before Wiley.
In the years leading up to the sale, People’s also overhauled its operations.
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Erickson described a company in the process of modernizing its technology and operations, including updating its computer systems, streamlining paper-heavy processes and refreshing its stores.
“A lot of it was just bringing People’s into the 21st century,” he said.
Swail founded the pharmacy in 1980, building it around conventional pharmacy services alongside supplements, compounding and a holistic approach to health care. In 1989, People’s made national news by ending cigarette sales and publicly burning its remaining inventory on National Smokeout Day.
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In 2015, it entered into a partnership with Apple to provide pharmacy services to employees and dependents at the tech giant’s North Austin campus. The partnership expanded again in 2026 with a People’s location at Apple’s second Austin campus.
“People’s has persisted and it really does have a strong brand and it has a strong reputation because they help people, you know, and that’s really what it’s all about,” Franklin said. “We intend to preserve that as much as we possibly can. That’s not going away.”