Michael Winton, Winton’s Pharmacies

Fresno, CA (Nov. 18, 2009) – Even though his father, Jim Winton, is the owner of Winton’s Pharmacies, Michael Winton has his own place in the business.

“I do 100 percent of the work,” he joked.

Michael’s grandfather, Martin Winton, started it all with Winton’s Vista Pharmacy on Tulare St. at Cedar in 1932.  Years later, in 1977, Jim Winton opened up Winton’s Professional Pharmacy on Herndon.  Saint Agnes Medical Center had just opened, and across from Herndon were simple empty lots.

“It was your community pharmacy,” Michael Winton said.

Michael is a graduate of Bullard High School and California State University, Fresno, where he originally majored in pre-med.  He later became a psychology major, and when he couldn’t figure out what he would do with a degree in that field, he returned to the pre-med major, hoping to someday become a pharmacist.  Michael would eventually achieve his bachelor’s degree from Fresno State in case he needed a career to fall back on.

Because of the major change, Michael had to retake some science classes, and ended up earning better grades the second time around.  

“I got all the playing out of my system, and was able to focus on what I was supposed to do,” he said.

He did so well in the classes that he later became a chemistry tutor while in pharmacy school at the University of the Pacific, where he would go on to earn a doctorate in pharmacology.

“I became so proficient at it (chemistry) that I was able to help other kids who were my equals that were struggling,” Michael said.

While in school he worked at both of the family’s pharmacies part-time.  He started out washing windows, cleaning toilets and sweeping floors to becoming involved in human resources and being a manager.

“I think it’s good to start a business at the bottom, you earn your stripes,” Michael said.

He finished with school in 1995, and went to work for Longs Drug Stores as a member of the relief team.  Michael worked in different stores in the Bay Area, where he says he gained a great deal of managerial experience.

In 1996 his father called him to let him know that he had an opening, and Michael returned to the family businesses full-time, bouncing back and forth from both pharmacies.  Eventually the manager at the store on Herndon retired, and Michael stepped in to fill his position.  At the time, his father was working full-time at the other store.

“I have pharmacists here, I have pharmacists down at Vista, and I still kind of run between both stores, making sure that everything’s running the way we need to have it run,” Michael said.

Michael calls the businesses “niche pharmacies.”  They service group homes and facilities, do special packaging, special unit dosages, and putting medications into special cards so staff at facilities can administer the right drug to the right patient at the right time.

The pharmacies also have a free delivery service with five drivers that make deliveries in Fresno and Clovis.

“You don’t have to worry about going into the pharmacy,” Michael said.  “It’s a really great service.”

The pharmacies also have the ability to take a pill and put it into a liquid form, or re-flavor medications with such pleasant flavors as bubble gum, cherry and grape.

Michael said that the relationships the pharmacy staff have with patients and their families is another way their business stands out, particularly when compared to big box stores.  

“We know them when they walk in the door,” Michael said.

Michael said that the business has become more complicated in recent years, with Medicare imposing certain rules and regulations.  Medicare now requires that pharmacies get accredited by an accrediting agency, similar to hospitals.  

“So we jumped through all these fiery hoops, and it took us about a year to go through the proper procedures and creative manuals and all this stuff to get ourselves up-to-date,” Michael said.

He believes that so far only 30 percent of the pharmacies in the nation have gotten accredited.

Michael joined the Rotary Club of Fresno about five years ago, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.  His father once was urging him to join, and now Michael is a director with the club.

“It’s not only a great leadership experience, but it’s a great community experience,” he said.  “It’s a great way to give back to the community and the world.”

He is also on the board of directors for the Professional Pharmacy Alliance, and is a member of the Fresno Madera Pharmacists Association, of which he is a past president.  He is a huge supporter of his alma mater, Fresno State, and is a leader of a Boy Scouts Webelos troop, made up of 9 and 10-year-olds.

“We’re trying to instill some good leadership and good moral values in these kids, and it’s great to see,” Michael said.

Musical ability seems to come naturally to Michael.  He plays the piano, organ, keyboards, trumpet and harmonica.  He plays in two bands, classic rock cover band Geezer and the ska and reggae band King Sugar, in which he plays trumpet and keyboards.  They have played both in Fresno’s Tower District and the Big Fresno Fair.

Michael has a wife, Georgette, a pharmacist also who is now a full-time mother.  They have three children:  Sophia, 11; James, 9; and Lucas, 5.  Sophia is a competitive swimmer and James plays baseball.

“And Lucas, well, we chase him around,” Michael laughed.

As a family, the Wintons bike and swim, and Michael wants to get them involved in skiing.

“We like to do all the things that a family does,” he said.

Michael’s goal is to stay working in the pharmacies until the original store reaches the centennial mark; it’s in its 79th year now.  He said by that time one of his kids might join the family business.

“I’d like to hit the centennial mark, I think that would be a great achievement,” he said.



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