{"id":45852,"date":"2013-11-28T01:20:18","date_gmt":"2013-11-28T06:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=45852"},"modified":"2013-11-29T05:11:15","modified_gmt":"2013-11-29T10:11:15","slug":"derrys-closing-end-of-locally-owned-pharmacies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2013\/11\/28\/derrys-closing-end-of-locally-owned-pharmacies\/","title":{"rendered":"Last locally-owned pharmacy closing"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/b>independent editor<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Derry<\/a>
Derry Drugs is closing shop after 60 years in business. (Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s official: a landmark Van Wert retail business is closing its doors next month after 60 years.\u00a0Derry Drugs owner Paul Svabik confirmed this week that the pharmacy will be closing, effective December 17.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter long consideration and doing our homework, we are in the process of turning over our files and business to CVS,\u201d Svabik said, adding that Derry\u2019s is attempting now to get information to its customers that they need do nothing to ensure that their prescriptions will be filled at CVS. \u201cThat\u2019s our main focus, at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was 1953 when Derry Drugs founder William S. Derry purchased the former Bower\u2019s Drug Store at the corner of Main and Washington streets and named the new business Derry Drugs. The business moved to the corner of Main and Market streets six years later, where it stayed for more than 30 years: until Svabik and Mike Krugh purchased the business in the mid-1990s and moved the store to its current location on Westwood Drive.<\/p>\n

Svabik said the closing of Derry Drugs is the end of a transition that began years ago.\u00a0\u201cWhen I came to Van Wert in 1985 there were nine pharmacies in Van Wert County,\u201d Svabik said. \u201cAs we speak today, we are the last of the nine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that neither of his two biggest Van Wert competitors were here in 1985. Walmart didn\u2019t come to the community until 1989-90, while what is now CVS was Revco back then, which CVS purchased after Revco filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

While competition has been increasing, Svabik stressed that there was no single reason that led to the decision to finally close Derry\u2019s. \u201cWe\u2019re not a sinking ship,\u201d he said, noting that economic challenges, as well as the challenges of running any small business, factored into the decision.<\/p>\n

Certainly, the playing field for small independent pharmacies isn\u2019t what it used to be, with companies such as Derry\u2019s competing against large corporations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell my friends, we\u2019re not competing against our neighbors any more, we\u2019re competing against CVS and Walmart, two multi-billion dollar corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mail-order prescription businesses have also been an increasing problem for independent pharmacies, Svabik added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mail order continues just to be a rampant progression,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has hurt us and the small independent pharmacies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering the tough economic times, Svabik said he didn\u2019t blame customers on a fixed income or without a job ordering prescriptions through the mail and online. He did note, though, that insurance companies owning mail-order pharmaceutical businesses and then requiring policyholders to purchase prescriptions by mail after a couple of refills has created an \u201cunlevel\u201d playing field for small local pharmacies like Derry\u2019s.<\/p>\n

In addition to moving patient files to CVS, Svabik said the current Derry Drugs building would be placed on the market at a later date.<\/p>\n

Svabik said that, while he was a stranger when he came to Van Wert nearly 30 years ago, he plans to stay here after Derry\u2019s closes. \u201cMy full intention is to stay in Van Wert County,\u201d he said, noting that he is very much involved in the community, serving as a trustee for the Van Wert County Foundation and on the boards of local banking institutions.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, while the locally-owned pharmacy will soon be a thing of the past in Van Wert, Svabik said he hopes CVS will step up and take a more active role in the Van Wert community. \u201cCVS has not done a whole lot for this community,\u201d he said, adding that he has had talks with the company about making some changes in that area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one thing they did have some interest in,\u201d Svabik said, but added he was just “one small person” talking to a large corporation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor It\u2019s official: a landmark Van Wert retail business is closing its doors next month after 60 years.\u00a0Derry Drugs owner Paul Svabik confirmed this week that the pharmacy will be closing, effective December 17. \u201cAfter long consideration and doing our homework, we are in the process of turning over our files and business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-06 04:01:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45852\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}