A community pharmacy may be a large retail grocery or drugstore chain, an independently owned small business, a pharmacy based within a clinic or hospital, or a federally qualified health center.

Retail pharmacy is also called community pharmacy. They can be easily located in your locality. These are most traditionally called chemist or pharmacist shops. These shops offer the community access to medications they need and advice to ensure the effective and safe use of medications that they provide.

Community pharmacy, also known as retail pharmacy, is the most common type of pharmacy that allows the public access to their medications and advice about their health.

Are they the same thing? In NZ, Australia and the UK the term Chemist used to refer to pharmacies and pharmacists. Now we typically distinguish between a chemist (person who has studied chemistry), a pharmacist (a health professional) and the place where pharmacists work (often a pharmacy).