Pharmacy on the Park brings back old-school-style healthcare

In 2022, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, 64-year-old Reidy Williams was denied his wife’s medication at a chain pharmacy.

Living in Geneva, Florida, Williams and his wife, who has breast cancer, were searching for an alternative remedy to treat the cancer. After doing their research, they found a small study in Europe using the medication Ivermectin.

Upon getting approval to use the medicine from the oncologist, Williams and his wife went to the pharmacy to pick it up. Williams said that the pharmacist refused to dispense it to them.

“It was quite upsetting where she said that she had to be the one that was the final decider of who was going to get what medicine,” Williams said. 

Williams said he had never experienced being denied a prescription before and immediately had to look for another pharmacy.

“If we had gone someplace else, we don’t know whether or not that was going to happen to us again,” Williams said. “We did not want that to happen to us again.”

The next day, Williams found Pharmacy on the Park and asked for their input. Ian Tasman, owner and pharmacy manager, listened to his story and said that they could help them.

“You got a customer for life now,” Williams said.

Pharmacy on the Park is an independent, family-owned business that has been open on Central Avenue in Oviedo for almost four years. Tasman said he started planning to open an old-school-style pharmacy while he was still working at a Walmart pharmacy.

“That’s what Oviedo is. It’s very hometown, support-small-businesses,” Tasman said. “So we thought that this would be a great place to do it.”

The initial spark 

Tasman’s spark for medicine began when he was an eight-year-old boy with his brother, who was playing in a pile of fire ants. His brother was severely bitten, Tasman said, which resulted in an anaphylactic reaction.

Their parents rushed him to a pharmacy where a pharmacist gave them an EpiPen which saved his life. Tasman said this became a medical moment that stuck with him and influenced his choice to go into this field. 

Choosing to become a pharmacist was a decision Tasman made when he was at Winter Park High School, after he realized he really enjoyed chemistry. The curiosity he had when he was a child, asking his grandfather about what was inside his pill box, also added to that decision. 

“Growing up, it was always something that was in the back of my mind,” Tasman said.

From an empty store to a line out the door 

After getting his doctorate of pharmacy at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, he worked for Publix and Walmart before opening Pharmacy on the Park with his family. 

Family plays an important role in the growth of this business, with each member contributing in their own way. Tasman’s wife works with marketing and public relations, his mom is a technician and his dad helps with the bookkeeping.

“It’s like a full family affair,” Tasman said. 

Along with his family, Tasman brought along employees he’s known for more than 10 years, who he had previously worked with at Publix and Walmart. 

Opening in 2022, Pharmacy on the Park’s only customers were Tasman, his family and friends. He said that they would patiently wait in the store for a customer, and when a car would accidentally turn into the parking lot, they would get excited, but the car would eventually turn around to leave for Oviedo on the Park. 

They are now getting enough customers for them to build a snack cart next to the line for people to enjoy while they are waiting for service. Tasman said they experience long lines with only two registers, so they try to keep their customers as satisfied as possible. 

“We’re really lucky that Oviedo has been welcoming,” Tasman said. 

The front room of Pharmacy on the Park is a market, managed by Tasman’s mother, filled with candies, cards, cutting board and other itms made by local businesses or by patients. 

“We don’t need to support the people who are on Amazon,” Tasman said. “We need to support the people who are selling things out of their homes.”

Along with the locally-made goods, they also carry health-related items. Tasman said they stock products for doctors’ offices and put special orders for patients.

Reinforcing their mission

Pharmacy on the Park sticks to its mission of customer service, efficiency and affordability. Starting out, there weren’t many competitors, Tasman said, but with many more now, they try to keep their focus on what makes them unique from other businesses and the chains. 

While Tasman noticed an increase in independent pharmacies locally, the National Community Pharmacists Association Digest found a small decline as of July 2025. A quick internet search by OCN found about six other independent pharmacies in the community. 

Tasman would love to see independent pharmacies grow more than chain pharmacies. The other independent pharmacies in the area work together with Tasman, and his business, as independent pharmacies represent 36 percent of all retail pharmacies in the United States, according to the NCPA Digest.

“We’re all in it together against the big boys,” Tasman said.

Human connection when communicating is the main goal for the business, Tasman said, so when there is a phone call, there is no automated message, and the team makes an effort to learn customers’ names so they can greet them when they walk in.

Pharmacist Cristina Treskovic said that in the two years she has worked at Pharmacy on the Park, it has been a different experience since her previous job at a chain pharmacy, as it is easy to make connections there. When people come in, she said she knows their names, their kids and their spouses’ names. 

“I think people are just happy to have actual customer service, and not corporate customer service,” Treskovic said. 

Workers at Pharmacy on the Park also try to accommodate their patients as much as they can. 

When dispensing medicine, they typically store it in a small, plastic Ziploc bag with a receipt. When the workers learned that Williams would rather have a paper bag, they now hand him one at every visit. 

“Little things like that makes it enjoyable to go in there,” Williams said.

Their focus on affordability for their customers is important to them, Tasman said they don’t think a customer should spend more than they have on a necessity. If a customer walks in without insurance, Tasman said they automatically apply a house discount so the customer can get the medicine they need. 

 “We are very reasonable, we are very fair, we are flexible for patients,” Tasman said.

The Pharmacy on the Park team is also willing to stay after hours or make nighttime deliveries, when necessary, Tasman said. 

Tasman recently helped a customer from Sunrise, Florida, who was desperately looking for a specific medication that treats Feline Infectious Peritonitis, or FIP. Through a community board, they found Pharmacy on the Park, the only pharmacy in Central Florida, Tasman said, that has that medication. 

The customer was willing to drive four hours, and Tasman said they were able to open after hours just to give the medication to the customer. 

“Too bad if we need to stay a little bit after work to do some extras,” Tasman said. “I have a team who’s always willing to do that.”

Tasman has been surprised by the demand for the veterinary medications they stock. They have treated monkeys, snakes, chinchillas, squirrels, cats and dogs. A corner of the market has animal-related products, such as leashes, toys and treats. 

“People really like to bring in their animals, and we love it because it breaks up the monotonous, daily stuff,” Tasman said.

Having the opportunity to make connections with customers and animals is what keeps Tasman going. However, being a business owner, Tasman said, can come with pressure.

“It’s scary to think that all these people now rely on our little family on business here off of a side street in Oviedo for their livelihoods,” Tasman said. 

Pharmacy on the Park hopes to grow in Oviedo, Tasman said. They maintain an active social media platform and keep engaging phrases in front of the store to invite customers. Sayings like “The Easter Bunny stops here 4 gifts,” or “What does CVS even stand for,” are how people recognize who they are, Tasman said. 

“The pharmacy world needs people who are fair, and I want to be as fair to as many people as possible,” Tasman said. “If someone needs a new pharmacy, give us a shot.”