Sood Chemists

In Sood Chemists everybody goes about their business with quiet efficiency. It’s a self-​contained environment that speaks for itself. In many ways it’s a typical chemist, with all of the regular products on sale, but there’s a difference. Sood makes an easy marriage between the conventional and the complimentary, positioning alternative health products side by side with orthodox remedies on the shelves. It’s true that many chemists these days are venturing into the diverse market of complimentary health, but none have done so with as much commitment and knowledge. This is probably due to the fact that the pharmacists at Sood possess a long standing interest in alternative medicine rather than it being a new fad that the not so knowledgeable have opted to bandwagon. It may also be in part due to the Soods cultural heritage. India is the home of auyrevedic medicine where herbalists and homoeopaths are as common as GP’s. A greater general understanding of the different types of treatment and therapy plans exists there. It’s a much more integrated state of affairs over there.
I first came across Soods when I lived in St Andrews and was registered at a surgery about quarter of a mile away. These days, having moved out of the area, I use it less regularly, but always stop to read the notices in the window if I’m passing. They publish a wealth of information to be viewed form the street, and it always throws up something new that’s of interest.

Sood Chemist is unusual, more like a foreign pharmacy than a typical chemist. They have the basics in stock and you are guaranteed to find the drug/​toiletry you want, but a quick browse may leave you feeling a little bit confused. Much of the stock is out-​of-​sorts — odd items and weird things are abundant. Cheap, flavoured condoms at the till is just one of the strange oddities you might come across. Things are a little bit higgledy-​piggledy here but you may be surprised to get some good bargains on completely useless, unnecessary items. Worth a browse!

Soods Chemists provides a range of medicines and remedies for your well being. Presenting its wares in a slightly chaotic manner, it makes a refreshing change to the impersonal environment of chemists such as Boots. Staff are friendly and accommodating, and keen to help with any health queries you may have. Prices are also reasonable, and student discounts are provided.

Sood Chemist has always seemed to me a very community based place. The products on offer are as you’d expect from any high street chemist but different somehow. It’s as though they’ve built up their collection of pain killers, bandages and mosquito repellents over a long time, as opposed to getting fresh orders daily. The layout is almost verging on haphazard, but nothing suffers because of it.
Second to their slightly outdated and erratic stock they also provide a lot of very good services and information here such as pregnancy testing and unwanted medicine disposal. This is a chemist that is very much as it should be, for the people not the profit.