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By: Benyamin Davidsons
Pharmacy chains are in tumult throughout the country, and New York is no exception. Multiple branches of the large chain pharmacies have shuttered permanently, pharmacists are quitting over poor working conditions, and stores are compelled to lock all their products behind plexi-glass cases, to deter shoplifting. The extra security at these stores has also cut into revenues and led to higher prices.
As reported by the NY Times, all these changes are making smaller mom and pop drugstores preferred as more convenient to the chain pharmacies- even in places where a chain store is still open. In the South Bronx, where one of the few Rite Aid’s survived on Southern Boulevard, customers are still turning towards the smaller local pharmacies.
That’s because at the chain even basic items – including Kit Kats, chips and soda, are locked up and require a key to access. On the same street, a bustling shopping mecca, four mom-and-pop pharmacies have seen their businesses improve. Their shelves are filled with unlocked merchandise. Some pharmacist and technicians also noted a preference to working at small stores versus a chain.
“I’m the kind of person who likes to speak to the patients,” said Dr. Rana Makki, supervising pharmacist at Bronx Specialty Pharmacy, located close to the Rite Aid. “We know who you are, delivery is faster here and there you have to deal more with people stealing.” Several other local pharmacists agreed that the locally owned stores are more community oriented, have a better connection with patrons and can keep watch of theft better in a small store.
On the flip side, however, a problem with the smaller pharmacies is that some customers have insurance with certain unions and employers which doesn’t cover medications at the independent pharmacies, and they are now required to get their medication through mail order or travel to a distant chain pharmacy.
In many areas across the country, big chains have declined significantly since the coronavirus pandemic, and there is fear that the closing chain pharmacies will lead to higher costs and hard to fill prescriptions due to lack of pharmacies. In NYC, however, smaller mom-and-pop pharmacies are more than filling the void. In fact, the total number of pharmacies here actually grew slightly in 2023, the Times reported. Out of the 2,964 pharmacies registered with the state as of November, only around 15 percent were part of the three major chains.
To be sure, the big chain names have dwindled their presence in NYC. In 2019, NYC was home to 606 branches of the three major chain pharmacies —namely CVS, Duane Reade/Walgreens and Rite Aid. That number dropped to 435 stores by December 2023, as per a new report by the Center for an Urban Future. Duane Reade/Walgreens led the closings since the pandemic, shuttering some 106 stores across the five boroughs. Rite Aid, which recently filed bankruptcy, shrank the most this year, shuttering roughly half of its NYC stores.
Per the NY Times, the smaller independent stores are also starting to feel the pain of shoplifting though. Overall, NYC drugstores- including chains and independents- experienced twice as many thefts in 2022 compared with 2019, rising from 6,031 to 12,343 incidents. Pharmacy theft has soared by over 500 percent since 2006— marking the highest increase of any other category of retail, per a recent report by researchers at John Jay College. “I have 32 security cameras, and people still have audacity to steal,” said pharmacist Henna Patel.”.
