A BELOVED pharmacy is shuttering for good in just days after over a century in business.
It comes amid widespread shutdowns and even bankruptcies from competitors in recent years.
A beloved pharmacy’s shelves will be empty later in July (stock image)[/caption]
It’s closing for good after 117 years (stock image)[/caption]
At the end of the day on July 15, 2025, the Central Drug Store in the Excelsior District of San Francisco, California, will close its doors permanently.
Central Drug Store is the oldest retailer in the area, per The CW local affiliate KRON4.
It’s served consumers for over 117 years at the same spot and stayed family-owned throughout that time.
The current operator, Jerry Tonelli, confirmed his retirement and Central Drug Store’s shutdown in a post on Facebook.
No other family member will be taking over the pharmacy.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement,” Tonelli wrote.
“Yes, after almost 50 years of serving the Excelsior as your neighborhood pharmacist, Central Drug Store will be closing its doors for the last time on July 15, 2025.”
“We are a small, but mighty, pharmacy. And we are proud to say that we have outlasted Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and mail order services,” he added.
“I am pleased to say this is my choice and I am leaving on my own terms! It is time for all of us to start a new phase in our lives and spend more time with out families.”
“Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts,” the note continued.
Tonelli’s father had bought Central Drug Store in 1965 from the previous owner, per CBS affiliate KPIX.
He worked there alongside his mother and father since high school, taking it over after his father’s death.
Pictures and mementos from the decades that have passed still line the pharmacy’s walls.
While Central Drug Store stood the test of time, Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid have opened and closed locations nationwide amid industry expert warnings of “pharmacy deserts.”
CVS closes 900 stores
CVS Health is finishing up its three-year plan to close 900 stores.
CEO Karen Lynch said it has shut down 851 so far, The Associated Press reported in August 2024.
The company announced the plan in November 2021, saying that the closures would lead to a retail presence that ensures it has the “right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers and for the business,” per CNN.
The shutdowns amount to almost 10% of CVS’s footprint, in response to the shifting of “consumer buying patterns.”
The closures are part of a wider change in strategy of the company’s almost 10,000 locations.
Some stores have been removed to include more health services, such as primary care, and an “enhanced version” of CVS’s HealthHub layout.
“We remain focused on the competitive advantage provided by our presence in thousands of communities across the country, which complements our rapidly expanding digital presence,” Lynch said in 2021.
The shutdowns cost the company approximately $1 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to CNN.
HEADED OUT
Rite Aid recently filed for its second bankruptcy in two years in May of this year, with the first being on October 2023.
Not long ago, it was a leader in the space, but it’s now axing or selling around 1,200 stores as it navigates “financial challenges” admitted by CEO Matt Schroeder in a press release.
Those challenges included significant debt, sales dips, and continued competition.
There have been multiple rounds of closure notices from Rite Aid since the second bankruptcy filing, with 600 confirmed in June and now about 1,070 as of July.
Prescriptions are also being sold off to top rivals like Albertsons, CVS, and Walgreens.
NOT ALONE
Except, CVS is also navigating changes.
CVS is in the middle of three-year restructuring plans “intended to streamline and simplify the organization,” according to an annual report filing from earlier this year.
The restructure includes the removal of underperforming locations.
At least 900 were closed between 2022 and 2024, with another 271 to be shuttered by the end of 2025.
CVS currently has over 9,000 stores nationwide.
Specific considerations for the shutdowns were “population shifts, consumer buying patterns, store and pharmacy density, pharmacy care access, and community health needs,” according to what a spokesperson told Newsweek recently.
The spokesperson emphasized the footprint reductions are completed strictly to meet the needs of customers, not because of economic uncertainty or industry fluctuations.
“We’re focused on ensuring we have the right kinds of stores and the right number of stores in the right locations,” they said.
Walgreens also placed “closing down” banners on at least 54 locations in 17 states in May.
The CEO of Walgreens also confirmed earlier this year that a controversial policy backfired.
