By TRACEY DRURY
tdrury@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1609

Buffalo Pharmacies Inc. completed a $1.5 million expansion in East Amherst, doubling the size of its previous facility.

The company opened the 10,000-square-foot site at 6035 Transit Road, across the street from where it leased 5,500 square feet in a medical office building.

The expanded space houses a larger retail space for home medical equipment, as well as a traditional pharmacy and full compounding services for children, adults and veterinary prescription medication.

Trent Voekl, vice president for operations, says the space will allow additional growth.

"We've been able to greatly increase our selection of scooters, lift chairs and other medical equipment," he says. "With everything going on in the health-care market, people are trying to stay in their homes longer and insurance companies are trying to get people to stay in their homes longer."

The company purchased a 10-acre parcel on Transit Road for the East Amherst project. Plans call for parceling the remainder of the land for future development, according to Voekl.

His father, Joseph, is president and CEO of the company and his brother, Todd, serves as vice president of the pharmacy division.

Founded 50 years ago, Buffalo Pharmacies also has a retail site at its Buffalo headquarters on  Kensington Avenue at Eggert Road. It runs an institutional division from offices on Lawrence Bell Drive in Williamsville.

The institutional side, serving long-term-care facilities and nursing homes, is the mainstay of the overall business.

An open house at the new site is planned for Nov. 5, including free adult flu shots; and free abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screenings in conjunction with Buffalo Ultrasound.