With 16 chain pharmacies within a 2-mile radius, Elaine and Kip Ladd knew they had to make Ladd Family Pharmacy stand out.

And so they did, offering everything from free delivery and an extra measure of personal attention to yoga classes, a place for children to play while their grownups pick up prescriptions and a unique, handmade diaper rash cream.

"This is a big venture," Elaine Ladd said Thursday. "We put everything we have into the pharmacy. We used all of our financial resources."

The independent pharmacy, at 1109 S. Broadway Ave., Boise, is having a "soft" opening, with an official opening Aug. 2. It is one of a small number of family-owned pharmacies among hundreds of chain stores in the Boise area.

Ladd is a pharmacist and a clinical assistant professor at the Idaho State University College of Pharmacy, and her husband, Kip, has a master's degree in business administration.

"I have the vision, and he has the knowledge of how to put it together," Elaine Ladd said.

Kip Ladd continues to work as a manager for Hewlett-Packard.

The couple decided to open the pharmacy after a nearby Hill's Pharmacy on Broadway, where Elaine Ladd worked, closed. Most of the 11-person staff followed the Ladds to the new pharmacy.

Aware that the odds were against them, the Ladds worked hard to develop a viable business plan. The bank financing the pharmacy liked the detailed plan so much that it is using the plan as a template for other would-be small business owners, Ladd said.

Ladd said the pharmacy accepts all insurance plans and its prices at the pharmacy are competitive with other pharmacies, with one exception: It cannot match the $4 deals some discount retailers offer on some generic drugs.

The pharmacy's survival hinges on being able to offer services the chains, by and large, do not. Among them:

Charge accounts.

A private consultation room where pharmacists and patients can schedule appointments to go over all of a patient's medications, vitamins and herbal supplements, looking for drug interactions or ways to make the medications more effective. Older patients often take herbal supplements they don't realize can interact with medicines prescribed by their doctors.

A massage chair.

Yoga classes partially subsidized by the pharmacy.

Compounding. Pharmacists custom-make medications not available in ready-made versions from drug companies. The service is available for people and pets.

Diaper rash cream you won't find at a chain. "It's a recipe that's been handed down from another independent pharmacy, and it's a secret recipe, but we sell it over the counter," Ladd said.

Thanks to Ladd's connection to ISU, pharmacy students will hold free health fairs from 2 to 6 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month.

An area of the store is set aside for vendors from farmers markets. The pharmacy will sell their products, ranging from soy candles to lotions, without a markup.

A play area. Children can read or play with a "Thomas the Tank Engine" set while parents shop.

Bicycle couriers will deliver prescriptions for free.

Colleen LaMay: 377-6448