Brown's Pharmacy to close after nearly 70 years
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By Bruce Edwards Herald Staff - Published: October 22, 2007
BRANDON — For nearly 70 years, it's been a fixture in downtown Brandon. But next month Brown's Pharmacy will close, marking the end of the town's only family-owned pharmacy.
"It's been kind of an emotional roller coaster here," said owner Bill Brown, who started working at the store when he was eight years old.
He said closing the pharmacy that his father Francis started in 1938 wasn't easy. But family-owned pharmacies are dwindling in number in Vermont and elsewhere.
Small pharmacies face stiff competition from chains like Rite Aid and Walgreen's. In fact, it was Rite Aid, which has a store in Brandon, that purchased the prescription client list and inventory from Brown's Pharmacy. Brown said the 1,100-square-foot building at 10 Park St., will be sold or leased.
Brown, 65, had hoped to sell the business to another independent pharmacist, but the changing face of the industry made that difficult.
"It's not just the competition, but mail order prescription is getting bigger and bigger and I don't blame people for using it because they can save a little bit sometimes," he said. "The margins are being crunched by insurance companies, more government regulation, are not providing a real comfortable playing field for an independent."
Complicating the problem of running a small pharmacy, he said, is a nationwide shortage of pharmacists.
Brown and his brother, Tom, both worked in the pharmacy with their father for a number of years. The brothers eventually purchased the business in 1976. Brown and his wife, Shelley, assumed sole ownership in 1995.
"I was working here since I was eight years old probably, doing odd jobs … and enjoying the people and the pharmacy itself and what it stood for at that time," he said.
Brown attended the University of Connecticut's School of Pharmacy. He worked as a pharmacist in small pharmacies around New England, including the Boston area, Burlington, and Springfield. He came full circle when returned home in 1970 to work alongside his father.
He said his customers understand the decision to sell the business and have wished him well. He said unless told otherwise customer records will automatically be transferred to the Rite Aid store across the street.
Brown credited the success of the business over the years to his employees and their dedication to customer service.
Although the pharmacy is closing, Brown will remain a familiar face to his customers. He's agreed to work at Rite Aid as a full-time pharmacist for six months and if all goes well on a part-time basis after that. Several of the nine Brown's Pharmacy employees may also make the move to Rite Aid, he said.
The closing of the family business will have its benefits.
"I'll probably do a little more fishing, hunting and playing golf," Brown said. "We're building a new home on Lake Dunmore and I'll be involved in that."
Brown's Pharmacy will remain open until Nov. 14.
Contact Bruce Edwards at bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com.
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