Lauderdale County, AL had 46 health and personal care store employers in 2023, the Census group that includes pharmacies. Pharmacies pay wholesalers for stock and wait on third-party payers. This page covers the counts, pharmacy business loans and working capital, equipment, buying a pharmacy, and the records partners read.
At a glance
- Employer establishments
46 employer locations countywide (CBP 2023)
- Fewer than five employees
39.1% of the county's 46 (CBP 2023)
- Annual payroll
$16.2 million across 447 employees (CBP 2023)
- Without paid employees
90 counted with no payroll (NES 2024)
Pharmacy and Health Store Counts for Lauderdale County, AL
Among health and personal care stores (NAICS 4461, which includes pharmacies and drug stores), Lauderdale County, AL had 46 employer establishments in 2023 with 447 paid employees and $16.2 million in annual payroll; 18 of them, or 39.1%, had fewer than five employees, and 28 used a ZIP 35630 address (County Business Patterns and ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). That is about 9.7 employees per establishment and about $36,197 of payroll per employee (our arithmetic).
Nonemployer Statistics, a separate program that uses NAICS 2022 codes, counted 90 businesses without paid employees in health and personal care retailers (NAICS 2022 4561) in the county in 2024, with $2.2 million in combined receipts, or about $24,789 each (our arithmetic). The two programs count different businesses and are not added together here.
Pharmacy Business Loan: How It Works in Florence, AL
A pharmacy's cash cycle is unusual. Wholesalers are paid on short terms; patients pay a copay at the counter; the rest of each prescription is paid by insurers and benefit managers on their own schedule. The pharmacy carries the difference. Funding requests fall into stock and working capital, equipment such as automation and compounding gear, and the purchase of a pharmacy.
Pharmacy Working Capital: What Partners Review in Florence, AL
Working capital bridges the wait for third-party payments; a line of credit fits a gap that repeats every payment cycle. A partner reads third-party receivables and their ages, wholesaler terms and bank deposits.
Pharmacy Working Capital Plan: When It Fits in Florence, AL
- Set out weekly wholesaler payments for the next three months.
- Set out expected third-party payments by week, from recent remittance history.
- Find the largest gap between the two, and the week it falls.
- Ask for the size of that gap rather than a round figure.
- Plan the paydown from the remittances that close it.
Loan to Buy a Pharmacy: What Lauderdale County, AL Owners Compare
Buying a pharmacy means reading its prescription volume, payer mix, front-store sales and stock. A term loan may carry the goodwill and equipment, with inventory financing for the drug stock. The article on buying a pharmacy in Florence, AL walks through the steps.
Pharmacy Equipment Financing: When It Fits in Florence, AL
Dispensing automation, compounding hoods and pharmacy software are planned purchases with long lives. Illustration only, invented figures: $35,000 of counting automation financed at 10% a year over 60 months costs about $744 a month, about $44,619 in total. If it frees $1,400 a month of technician time, it covers its payment with $656 to spare (our arithmetic on invented figures).
Pharmacy Loan Calculator: What Partners Review in Florence, AL
The calculator on the resources page turns an amount, a rate and a term into a monthly payment and total cost; it is built around a restaurant line of credit but works for any loan payment. Partners do their own sums from the pharmacy's records, so run your own figures first and compare them with any offer.
Records a Partner Reads for a Pharmacy Request
- Prescription counts and revenue by month
- Third-party receivables and remittance history
- Wholesaler statements and terms
- Front-store sales
- The firm's bank statements and its returns
A Remittance Gap Worked Through for a Shoals Pharmacy
Illustration only, invented figures: a pharmacy pays its wholesaler $95,000 every two weeks and collects $18,000 in copays and front-store sales over the same two weeks; third-party payments of about $88,000 arrive on a cycle that runs two to three weeks behind. In a month where a payer's remittance slips a week, the pharmacy is short about $77,000 for a few days. A line drawn for that amount at 11% a year for ten days costs about $232 in interest (our arithmetic on invented figures).
Questions to Settle Before a Pharmacy Request
- Which payers account for the largest shares of prescription revenue?
- How many days, on average, from fill to third-party payment?
- What are the wholesaler's payment terms, and is there a credit limit?
- For a purchase: will the selling pharmacist stay for a transition, and is the lease assignable?
- Is the pharmacy part of a buying group, and does that affect wholesaler terms?
Retail and Health Care Employers in the Shoals
| ZIP (USPS name) | Retail employers | Share with fewer than 5 employees |
|---|---|---|
| 35630 (Florence, AL) | 226 | 41.2% |
| 35661 (Muscle Shoals, AL) | 123 | 41.5% |
| 35653 (Russellville, AL) | 59 | 49.2% |
| 35674 (Tuscumbia, AL) | 52 | 53.8% |
| 35660 (Sheffield, AL) | 40 | 50.0% |
ZIP 35630 held 28 of the county's 46 health and personal care store employers, or 60.9% (our arithmetic; ZBP and CBP 2023). See retail store business loans in Florence, AL for other store types.
By Coastspring Funding Group · Updated