With pharmacies Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens seemingly on every corner, it's refreshing to hear about an independent pharmacy opening for business.

Morrisville Pharmacy & Compounding is already serving customers, though it will celebrate a grand opening April 18. The store is in the Morrisville Market shopping center at Davis Drive and Morrisville-Carpenter Road.

Owner Chioma Ugwa is originally from Nigeria, but she has worked as a pharmacist for a decade at major chains including Harris Teeter, Wal-Mart, CVS and Eckerd, before Eckerd became Rite Aid.

Those pharmacies too often lacked a personal touch, she said.

"I'm not trying to criticize them, but in the chains, I found I did not have time to sit down with the customers," she said. "Where I come from, the pharmacist knew us by name. They knew I was the daughter of so-and-so, and that was what was missing."

The store definitely gets bonus points for customer service. If you live within a five-mile radius, you can get free delivery of your prescriptions to your door every day but Sunday.

Morrisville Pharmacy & Compounding is noteworthy because it offers compounding -- the custom blending of drugs. Few pharmacies in our area offer that service, and it can be quite valuable for those with special medical needs.

One of the few other shops in our area to offer compounding is Tom Jones Drug Health & Wellness Center in Garner, which will move into a larger store at Timber Drive and Vandora Springs Road in June or July.

Until then, you can find Jones at 107 Vandora Springs Road.

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The folks who ran Cardinal Art Gallery in Raleigh's Stonehenge Market for 21 years have embarked on a new retail venture.

The art gallery closed at the end of January, but Myrna Goldberg and Judy Jaenicke are opening BirdTweets in the Wakefield Commons shopping center at 10750 Wakefield Commons Drive in Raleigh this weekend.

The store sells birdhouses, feeders, baths, seed and other backyard items and even looks like someone's backyard garden.

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We've reported before that The Fresh Market is planning to move from its location in Raleigh's Falls Village down the street to Sutton Square, at the corner of Spring Forest and Falls of Neuse roads. But until now, we couldn't say when. A sign in the store says that the expected moving date is April 30. There's still no word yet on what will replace the Fresh Market at Falls Village once the store moves.

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Other items:

At Cary Towne Center, shoe retailer The Walking Co. is open between the Children's Place and American Eagle. ... In Holly Springs, The Goddard School is open at 801 Earp St. The center is a preschool child-care center. ... Also in Cary, Clothing Consignment opened in the South Hills Emporium, selling women's and children's clothing on consignment. The emporium, at 1301-B Buck Jones Road, is a collection of about 50 vendors selling home decor items, antiques and collectibles. It is open Tuesday through Saturday.