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Citizen complaint of the day: Roxbury losing another pharmacy
By adamg on Fri, 12/29/2023 - 9:31am
A concerned citizen files a 311 complaint about the Jan. 14 closing of the Walgreens at 416 Warren St. in Roxbury:
This is the second Walgreens to close after the closing of the Walgreens in Dudley (Nubian Square). Many residents who used the pharmacy at Nubian Square were taking public transportation to the Walgreens on Warren Street. This was an inconvenience but there was no other choice. Now with the Walgreens closing, the nearest Walgreens is located on Columbus Avenue. This will be a hardship even to travel on public transportation. Our state representatives and the mayor of the City of Boston should be very concerned for voters who no longer have a pharmacy close by to obtain their much needed medications.
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Comments
311 for a Pharmacy closing?
I guess they don't have Facebook or Twitter followers to complain to?
isnt 311
supposed to be the one-stop-shop for contacting the city about pretty much anything community related?
believe it or don't, lots of people aren't on the twitters and friendface and shouldn't be shut out of expressing a totally legitimate community need or concern publicly just because of that.
311 is to request city services
311 is to request city services: fix a pothole or burned out streetlight, deal with illegally dumped trash, tow an abandoned car. What city service is being requested here?
It's not a community bulletin board.
Sure people can post what they like,
but posting about a pharmacy closing is useless, it would be like posting that your local Dunkin didn't have pumpkin spice lattes.
It's not what 311 is for and there is nothing the staff who monitors 311 can do to help.
Believe it or not, they shouldn't be using 311 that way
In the past three years, 311.com has been used as a passive-aggressive way to vent on things that can't be controlled. That is why you see so many posts marked as "Closed" because the people at 311.com don't have time for shenanigans like "the flowers in front of my apartment wilted (sad face emoji)" or "AnGry OvEr (political concern), wE dEmAnD ACTION !!!111!!!" or tattling on others ("X's mask was 0.001mm off their face and now I'm going to get COVID (several sick emojis)")
A community bulletin board (well monitored at that) would be better for those who don't have/won't go on social media; it would fit the bill better than wasting time and resources at 311.com.
In the official complaint...
the address of Walgreens is 416 Warrant Street.
Auto correct...
Well ...
There is no 416 Warrant St. in Roxbury (or anywhere else in Boston). 416 Warren St., though, now that's a Walgreens.
Corporations Merging
This is the result of allowing big pharmacy chains to merge.
I think we're down to .. what? 3 pharmacy chains now that control 90% of the marketplace?
CVS
Walgreens
RiteAid (which is circling the drain)
(next up would be WalMart, and Target (which is just CVS))
I remember a time when a town could have 3-5 different drug stores by different owners.
Liggett Drugs
on the corner of Columbia Road and Dudley Street, right across the street from Elm Farms market. Better days...
Other pharmacy chains
Not many. There's Stop & Shop, and there's Osco in a few Star Markets. I don't think any other local grocery chains have pharmacies attached.
The only remaining Rite Aid in our area is in Revere, and I wonder how long that will stay alive.
Osco
I took a quick look to look up Osco to see if it was really a thing. Other than it just being the in-store pharmacy brand for Star/Shaw's locations and it being owned and operated by what became of American Stores (Star & Osco's original owner in the 80s/90s).. its pretty much a Shaw's/Star ONLY thing. (meaning they have no free standing stores)
It would be the same if Stop & Shop brought back the Medimart brand and rebranded their in store pharmacies to "MediMart"
Although unlike Shaw's parent, Albertson's LLC, which still owns the branding for Osco, Stop & Shop (well KKR) sold the "MediMart" stores (and branding) to Walgreens in the late 80s.
And I am surprised that Rite Aid in Revere is still there considering its across the street from a Walgreens, which is one of the busiest Walgreens I've ever been in. I used to live a block away and switched TO that Rite Aid because Walgreens was so damn busy. (RiteAid you could blow wind thru the place half the time, which is why I went there).
So yeah surprised its still there. Also surprised they didnt sell this location to Walgreens when Walgreens was buying up RiteAid locations.
Osco used to
have free-standing stores.
CVS on Brighton Ave in Allston was Osco a few decades ago and just to the left of it was a dentist office.
Osco -> Brooks Pharmacy -> Rite Aid -> Walgreens
Brooks Pharmacy took over the old stand-alone Osco stores, then Rite Aid bought Brooks, then Walgreens took over almost all the old Rite Aid stores.
Former Osco Stores
Unless the new owner has remodeled the store in the past decade, its obvious which stores were former Osco stores.
That RiteAid in Revere opened as an Osco and retained its Osco look & feel.
The old Osco/Brooks, now a Walgreens, in Meffa on the Fellsway still has that Osco look & feel minus the newer signage.
The overall Osco look & feel is... "dated". The stores look like they are stuck in 1988. Very bright, long aisles, lee-press-on-floor tiles, little frills and colors. Very bland.. similar to a 1980s KMart.
Walgreens has not updated any former Osco (well Brooks/RiteAid) locations, CVS on the other hand has remodeled most to match their other stores.
Davis Square also
The former Yee's Village was across the street was amazing
Wegman's
Has an in-store pharmacy.
Not all Wegmans
I only go to the Medford store and there is no pharmacy there.
And there just aren't that many Wegmans compared to the need for pharmacies (my local pharmacy (CVS) always has a line).
I thought Walgreens bought
I thought Walgreens bought Rite-Aid, because most Rite-Aids around here became Walgreenses. But it turns out they proposed buying them but the FTC wouldn't allow it, so they bought many of the stores instead.
Also
A major contributing factor is theft. Since 2020, it has been a free for all at most stores (cost of goods has not helped either). All that matters to businesses is the bottom line and if a store is not making enough profit it’s only a matter of time before it shutters.
Perhaps you missed the news, but that's all bullshit
Yes, bullshit:
Em, Adam
I don’t think you read the article which you cite. The overstatement is on the effect of organized shoplifting. The amount of “shrinkage” is an objective fact. $45 billion is $45 billion, regardless of who is taking it.
Bullshit coming from someone, with all due respect.
Shrinkage
Isn't just a result of unlawful activity.
That's from the NRF: https://nrf.com/blog/reality-retail-shrink
Okay, let me give you a quote from the story
To be clear, my earlier number was wrong, as I just gave the first number to reflect the whole. I'm not going to doubt that NRF inflated numbers at one point, but just the effect of organized theft, which was the point of the story that Adam missed. $94.5 billion is the total value of the thefts nationwide. To put the bottom line into perspective, the state budget recently passed was $55 billion.
At the end of the day, stores won't remain open if they take losses, and this is yet another case. Keep an eye on the fate of the Downtown Crossing Roche Brothers. I give it 2 years tops before it closes down unless there's a miracle.
No, you're misreading this article and quote
Compare this:
With the important context from the next bit that Adam quoted:
(emphasis added)
It should be clear from comparing these statements that $94.5 billion is not the total of all theft - it's the total of all shrink, which includes a bunch of other stuff. Originally the NRF said "half of that number is theft", but then had to retract that, and notably, didn't ever provide any other number!
So, ultimately, we have no real knowledge of how much of it is theft, and notably, it seems like retailers don't really either, which also ought to make any rational observer suspicious of any claims from these retailers that theft is actually the problem here.
Ohh
So shoplifting has not increased over the past few years? A week doesn’t go by with out a video of a large group ransacking a store or better yet a security guard getting fired for an altercation while trying to stop said theft. But ok, I’m sure “shrinkage” had nothing to with this place closing. Just an unlucky location. Facts are facts, if that location was making money it would remain open. Theft plays a role in the stores income. Big role/ little role who knows- they won’t say as most theft goes unreported and they just chalk it up as a cost of doing business until they no longer want to do business.
Over-reliance on self-checkouts
leads to lots of petty theft.
A few huge corporate entities
Now control brick & motar and online pharmacies. I find CVS to be particularly aggregous and odious. Obviously industry lobbyists but off politicians in DC and state houses. This is also connected the immense power of hedgefunds and Wall St.
What are the reasons for their closures? Was their a lot of shoplifting boosting? Robberies? Violent neighborhoods?
yup
My fav thing is how each of these retail pharmacy chains now has their own pharmacy benefits manager that insurance companies use.
Some, like CVS, have even spawned into having clinics inside their stores. Great for consumers, horrible because it blurs the line between doctors office and pharmacy.
This all seems to be bit of a conflict of interest. But regulators disagree and let them do this.
mom and pop pharmacies
As a prescribing NP I suggest using small independent pharmacies for easy, respectful, and timely service. Galaxy, Crawford, and Hamilton are all in Dorchester and S Boston.
Not many independent drug stores left
There used to be two in Harvard Square and one in Kendall Square, all gone now. Cambridge still has Skenderian and Inman pharmacies. Somerville has none.
For those in the Roslindale area
There's Sullivan's.
Sullivan’s is FANTASTIC!!
Used them when I lived in Roslindale… the pharmacists knew me and my history, and even flagged some meds I would react badly to.
Interestingly enough. The CVS I use now in Easton is fantastic. Unlike the one in West Roxbury on Center Street (story for another day which involves much needed opioids for pain and my skin color…)
Peace/out
Heard nothing but good things about Crawford
Unfortunately, independents cannot always get all the drugs. We were told at Crawford they couldn't get my daughter's stimulant meds, which are something you have to renew monthly.
Insurance companies
Sometimes that's an insurance requirement. I have a medication that my insurer requires that I get through CVS specialty pharmacy, and it has been an endless nightmare. My independent pharmacy can get it, they're just not allowed to by my insurance.
I’ve moved to Union Pharmacy in Newtonville
Even though I have to drive to get there. I get most of my medication mailed but there is one I have to get in person. But that option isn’t available to so many who need to use public transportation. If this is the Walgreens I’m thinking of, I git two Covid shots there and the pharmacist was very good.
Pharmaluxe in Eliot Sq
Awesome new local pharmacy
Walgreens took over the
Walgreens took over the Strand Pharmacy, killed it (not that it had been doing very well), then went belly-up themselves (Bowdoin-Geneva location).
Great. That leaves zero
Great. That leaves zero pharmacies near where I live. First the CVS on Harrison closed so I transferred my scripts to the Walgreens in Dudley, then that closed so I transferred my scripts to the Walgreens on Warren and which was a 10 minute walk from my house, now that's going too.
I am so sick and tired of late stage capitalism.
Pharmaluxe
There's an amazing new pharmacy in Eliot Sq not too far from Nubian called pharmaluxe. Independently owned, fantastic service, and I believe their main business is local delivery if you don't need the prescription same day. The pharmacist and his assistant are both super friendly and helpful, and they answer the phone instead of sending you through a phone tree. Except for weekend emergency prescriptions for the kids, I've moved all our scrips to them and have been super happy.
Good to know, thank you!
Good to know, thank you!
A few options
The Pharmaluxe on Centre and the Kornfield Pharmacy in Nubian are both independent pharmacies that don't seem to be going anywhere. Both seem competent.
Fenway Health's pharmacy has home delivery. They do ask that people have a reason for needing delivery rather than being able to pick up, but don't have strict criteria for what constitutes this. The main Boylston location considerably more competent than the Berkeley South End location.
Kornfield Pharmacy also known
Kornfield Pharmacy also known as Kornfield Drug is a historic convenience store and pharmacy business in Nubian Square, Roxbury at 2121 Washington Street across from the graveyard. Looking at some of the Google reviews however it is a shadow of its former self when it was the only pharmacy in Dudley Square. The next closest one would have been across from Boston City Hospital on Harrison Avenue back in the day. Boy I'm old...
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