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Wednesday
Sep122012
Brook Pharmacy Closes, Rite Aid Possibly Moving In
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 2:22PM 
Brook Medical Pharmacy, on Fifth Avenue between 15th and Prospect, closed last month and it looks like a Rite Aid might have purchased it.
Signs in the window indicate that a Rite Aid is slated for the space, which has been gutted. Construction has slowed to a crawl, though, so no word as to whether they'll follow through with those plans. If they do, that'll mean two Rite Aids less than six blocks apart (the next closest one is the behemoth on Tenth Street).
The Brook Medical and Dental Center is still open next door, and while the lady who answered the phone there confirmed that the space next door is no longer owned by them, she couldn't comment as to who, if anybody, would be taking over the space.
tagged Closed for Business in Storefronts
Closed for Business in Storefronts
Reader Comments (9)
The death of the mom and pop pharmacy is a sad statement about the condition of the US health care system. Like the family doctor, the local pharmacist gets to know you and your family, can offer helpful advise and can watch for dangerous interactions between medicines, which are so common these days. Large chain pharmacies that do volume and are impersonal eliminate that lifeline for customers. Glad that Palma Chemists still seems to be going strong.
you don't know what you're talking about, stella. my father was a pharmacist at a 'large chain pharmacy' in the bronx for over thirty years. he knew everyone in the neighborhood, was not impersonal, nor was affected by 'high volume.' just because it's a big chain doesn't mean it doesn't care about locals.
your father is the exception to the rule. walk around to the chain pharmacies in park slope. majority are staffed by people very different than your father. customers at your father's pharmacy were fortunate to have him.
I walked around the chain pharmacies. I prefer about half of them to a ma and pa shop.
Does anyone else find Neergaard on 5th like the 3rd Circle of Hell whenever one has to drop off/pick up a prescription? I keep going there, of course, but it's like the DMV. Enthusiasm organization and, ahem, personal grooming seem a little secondary there, eh?
Wouldn't another Rite Aid just dilute their business down (and up) the street? I like the convenience of not having to walk that far, but having a Rite Aid/Chase/Talde every four blocks seems to be a poor use of free space.
Thoughts?
RN - you don't know what your talking about! I'm a pharmacist and things have changed a great deal since your father worked. Now the chains monitor how fast you work. If it takes more then 5 minutes to fill an rx you can be sure the pharmacist well heat about it. At the same time they expect you to immunize patients and provide consultations! There are many young pharmacists who burn out after a year or two. I always go to a private pharmacy and instructed my family to do the same. Additionally, pharmacists are often transferred from one pharmacy to another in order to cover for someone else. Do you think they are familiar with the patients in that area?!
I left chain pharmacy (Duane Reade and cvs) a long time ago for a hospital position. Although the pay is slightly less, I can't be happier.
Pharmd: Thank you for your input. I am in the medical field and have frequent contact with pharmacists. There's nothing like talking to a pharmacy professional at a private pharmacy. They know their patients, they know their patients prescriptions, they can alert you to potentially dangerous drug interactions, they can alert you to narcotic abusers who bring in prescriptions from multiple doctors. And, that's only the beginning.
When I call a Duane Reade, a CVS or a similar chain, I often get a different pharmacist each time I call the same store. English is often not their first language, so I need to be concerned about the accuracy of prescriptions and doses and, most annoyingly, because of how busy chain pharmacists are, they are often in a rush, making the accuracy of prescription information a potential risk.
@fufflefliicker: Neergaard is one of the finest 24 hour pharmacies around. Because they are 24 hour, they are often busier than other pharmacies. But, their pharmacists are professionals, courteous and helpful. Never a complaint about them in more than 20 years of contact with them.
The phamacists and the people working at Prospect gardens pharmacy on 7th and Union are terrible. CVS and Duane Reade is much better. once again stella doesn't know what the hell she's talking about.
@PatrickStewart: you are right. I withdraw all of my comments to date.