The first thing you’ll notice as you come into the Farmer & Chemist storefront in Midvale is the peaceful atmosphere. There are windows covering the walls, flooding the atrium with a natural light. Plants fill the corners, and a wooden desk covered in products rests atop an oriental rug. At the end of the room is the counter, beautifully carved with artistic reliefs. A stately antique, the counter stands as a symbol of quality craftsmanship and attention to fine detail. The space is at once new and familiar, as if you’ve stepped right into your old neighborhood pharmacy.
One member of our staff, BreAnn Cook, describes Farmer & Chemist as a sort of oasis. While a lot of CBD stores have blacked out windows and an oppressive air, Farmer & Chemist feels open and airy. It’s a place where you can discuss CBD with a knowledgeable individual and feel comfortable while doing it. Furthermore, Farmer & Chemist gives you the peace of mind that so many other locales fail to. It just feels good.
The Beginnings
When Jeff Dunn and Doug Burgoyne, both licensed pharmacists, started looking into the CBD industry, they discovered just how beneficial the compound can be. They also learned how shady a lot of CBD stores are, and how this makes many people feel hesitant to try it for themselves. As a result, they took it upon themselves to create a place where people can get CBD that actually works and feel confident about it.
“We wanted to take something that is viewed with skepticism, and make it more of a normal, standard type of product,” Doug says. “Jeff and I are both pharmacists, we’ve been in the industry a long time. And we really believe in standard Western medicine. That means we’ve owned pharmacies and have worked in pharmacies for a really long time—Jeff for practically all his life. And we were really skeptical about CBD, until we started to learn more about it.
“In fact,” Doug continues, “the way we got involved in CBD is that we wanted to make sure that medical cannabis was used appropriately, like medicine. We mean that a pharmacist would dispense it and that a physician would write a prescription for it. CBD isn’t like that! It doesn’t require a prescription. Yet it is safe and effective and works really well for a lot of folks for a lot of reasons. So, we wanted to bring that pharmacy feeling to the CBD world. Where, you know, you walk into a pharmacy—think a vintage pharmacy, where you can walk in, you know somebody there, and you’re comfortable in the store. And that’s what we created with Farmer & Chemist.”
The Design
Despite the medical background of the co-founders, Farmer & Chemist wouldn’t be what it is without the vintage inspired aesthetic. This is thanks to the discerning eye of Danell Murdock, the creative director who designed the store’s interior, as well as the branding and product packaging. A veteran in the marketing and retail world, Danell knew the approachable feel that Doug and Jeff were going for could be best accomplished by turning back the clocks to the Gaslamp Era.
“It feels very established,” she says. “We came up with four logos that give us a really good feel. It is calming and comfortable and it feels like its been around forever, but it feels fresh and new at the same time. It’s a little bit Brooklyn, a little bit Salt Lake—a little bit CBD.”
When asked about the name Farmer & Chemist, Danell said, “The only reason this came about is because Doug and Jeff were able to tell a good story. A lot of that is where the name Farmer and Chemist comes from. They have growers, who are working in the farms and growing the plants, which will be the hemp. And then chemists, who are creating the different products and formulating them properly, so they actually work. They do more than is expected. And then you have the pharmacists, who help you understand how much you actually need.”
Relief You Can Trust
If you’re in the market for relief you can trust but don’t want to go the route of prescription drugs, CBD is a good option. Farmer & Chemist CBD, on the other hand, is a great option. We promise a low-stress, reliable environment--largely due to the medical background of our co-founders and the pleasant, comfortable design.
Come into Farmer & Chemist and let us know how we can help you discover the best CBD product for your needs. Or, if you’re a local history buff, stop on by and learn more about the old pharmacy in whose footsteps we follow. We promise it’ll be worth it.