Apotheke was slang (in northern Germany, as we learned) for a usually owner-operated tiny shop which charges enormous prices for "exotic" goods not available in department stores or chainstores. Hence the name Apotheke, as they do operate exactly the same way in Germany.
Fünfzehn Euro für einen Schraubenschlüssel? — Den musste ich bei Eisenkarl kaufen, im Baumarkt gibt's keine in Schlüsselweite 40. — Trotzdem, fünfzehn Euro. Was für eine Apotheke!
Those shops ceased to exist and in fact, today it's usually the chainstores which are heavily overpriced in contrary to small owner-operated shops which sell only through the internet. So, the meaning of Apotheke changed a bit.
Ich war noch schnell beim Blödmarkt, einen Ethernet-Switch kaufen. — In dieser Apotheke? Kannst du den nicht einfach im Internet bestellen?