Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Menlo Park

When people are ill, they usually either make a doctor's appointment or lie in bed and wait it out. Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy has created a third option. Visits to its full-service pharmacies, which are scattered across the western U.S., are more casual than a doctor's visit but less passive than bed rest. Each location's team of health experts, including credentialed pharmacists, naturopathic doctors, herbalists, nutritionists, and more, consult with customers—no appointment needed.

But Pharmaca aims to serve its customers every day, not just on sick days. Its stores have been drawing droves of clients since 2000, partly because they meet so many needs in just one spot. In addition to a full-service pharmacy, Pharmaca offers organic and food-based vitamins from MegaFood and New Chapter; professional-grade skin care and cosmetics from Jane Iredale, Sanitas, and Dr. Hauschka; and therapeutic-grade supplements from Pure Encapsulations and Thorne Research. Customers can also choose from an assortment of natural and organic facial and skin care, homeopathic remedies, herbal formulations, OTC products, toiletries, gifts, and fair-trade chocolates.