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elfsOmaha and I got a surprise letter this weekend, announcing that our local, independent pharmacy, Manhattan Drugs, was going out of business. The letter was from the corporate grocer chain Safeway, informing us that the Safeway, 3 miles north of us, would be taking over their pharmacy records unless we elected to have them sent elsewhere. Safeway would, of course, be happy to have our business, and here's three $25 coupons for our next three drug purchases from their pharmacy.
I went over to Manhattan and talked to some of the women behind the counter. The landlord who owns the property has been raising the rates on everyone. It's pretty well acknowledge that he raised rates deliberately to drive the Dairy Queen out of business. The video store probably closed of its own accord. The florist shop closed up, too, when the corporate chain grocery store QFC (that I use all the time) started selling flowers "good enough" for most occasions. The teriyaki place is holding on by its fingernails.
The pharmacist, a nice older gentleman, had apparently negotiated with Safeway to make the move when he decided to close the business, and then sprang it on everyone last Monday. The pharmacy goes, the extra staff is, like myself, now without work.
There's been a sign up for years announcing that the strip here is going to be demolished and gentrified, with QFC and the new chain daycare center as anchors. I guess this is another step in that process. I wonder what the Starbucks will do.
This frustrates Omaha and I. It used to be that when we needed medicines, we could walk. Now, like everything else, our neighborhood's walkability has plummeted, trashed until a replacement comes in, because one of the major draws in this neighborhood, an independent local pharmacist, is gone.
I went over to Manhattan and talked to some of the women behind the counter. The landlord who owns the property has been raising the rates on everyone. It's pretty well acknowledge that he raised rates deliberately to drive the Dairy Queen out of business. The video store probably closed of its own accord. The florist shop closed up, too, when the corporate chain grocery store QFC (that I use all the time) started selling flowers "good enough" for most occasions. The teriyaki place is holding on by its fingernails.
The pharmacist, a nice older gentleman, had apparently negotiated with Safeway to make the move when he decided to close the business, and then sprang it on everyone last Monday. The pharmacy goes, the extra staff is, like myself, now without work.
There's been a sign up for years announcing that the strip here is going to be demolished and gentrified, with QFC and the new chain daycare center as anchors. I guess this is another step in that process. I wonder what the Starbucks will do.
This frustrates Omaha and I. It used to be that when we needed medicines, we could walk. Now, like everything else, our neighborhood's walkability has plummeted, trashed until a replacement comes in, because one of the major draws in this neighborhood, an independent local pharmacist, is gone.
