This story has been updated with a statement from Mayor Malik Evans.
Just inside the sliding front doors of the Thurston Road Walgreens is a folding sign announcing the store is closing.
Community leaders in Rochester’s 19th Ward say the company’s decision is devastating.
The closure would create a pharmacy desert, which has been shown to further exacerbate health disparities. The next closest pharmacy is a mile and a half away.
“This is tragic for us,” said Karen Emerson, president of the neighborhood association. “We use this not only for pharmacy, but we use it for some of our small grocery needs, hair products and over-the-counter medications ... and we walk here.”
She continued: ‘We have so many people who use that facility who walk. So many people who, you know, their only access is walking.”
A pharmacy desert exists if the average distance to the nearest one is a mile or more. Or, a half mile in neighborhoods where many households don’t have a car.
Emerson wanted more time – particularly going into winter – to try and fill the void.
But the decision came without warning, and very little advance notice.
Dana Miller, the city’s chief development officer and a 19th Ward resident, learned of the closing last Sunday in the pharmacy drive-thru.
“When they handed me my prescription, they also handed me a sheet that said, ‘oh, by the way, your store is closing on Nov. 7,’” Miller said. “So that was really my first knowledge of that. And so we immediately started scrambling to get some answers.”
That led to a conference call between company executives and the administration last week.
“They did actually apologize to the mayor for not giving us a heads up,” Miller said.
Company executives told the city that the store doesn’t process enough prescriptions, he said. The store sits on the corner of Brooks Avenue, along one of the 19th Ward’s main business corridors.
As for filling the void, Miller is hopeful but realistic. He has struggled in vain the past four years to try and get a pharmacy downtown.
The only other major operator other than CVS and Rite Aid (which initially occupied the Thurston Road location when it opened in the late 1990s) is Kinney Drugs, which the city has pitched on a couple of locations without success.
"The business is very competitive,” Miller said. “And in the past, where pharmacies were typically run by drugstore companies, now there is a pharmacy in every Wegmans store.”
And every Target. And Walmart.
“So it is much more difficult to get a standalone drugstore with a pharmacy in, you know, a more urban area,” Miller said. “It's just extremely challenging for us..”
A statement released by Walgreens read, in part:
“As we expand as a leader in healthcare, we are focused on best meeting the needs of patients and customers in communities we serve by creating the right network of stores in the right locations. When faced with the difficult task of closing a particular location, several factors are taken into account, including things like the dynamics of the local market and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers, for example.
“In most cases, patients do not need to take any action. We automatically transfer their pharmacy files to the nearest Walgreens.”
The nearest Walgreens is two miles away.
“I realize they’re a business, so dollars and cents are important,” Miller said. “But you know, there is some element of community service. That is also something that has value.”
Updated Thursday, Oct. 27
Mayor Malik Evans spoke out on the store closure Thursday, saying Walgreen's decision to close the pharmacy on Thurston Road in a predominantly Black neighborhood runs contrary to its stated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
"By closing it, Walgreens is creating a pharmacy desert in a majority Black neighborhood," Evan said. "They propose moving those customers to a store...two miles away...in a neighborhood that is 79% white."
Full statement from Mayor Malik D. Evans below:
I am saddened yet remain undeterred since learning about Walgreens decision to close their store at 670 Thurston Rd. in Rochester.
I learned of this closing because many of my team members and family members use this pharmacy – not because we received any outreach from Walgreens leadership. And since that day two weeks ago, we have been working aggressively to keep the store open.
The Thurston Road Walgreens store is the only pharmacy located in the 19th Ward. By closing it, Walgreens is creating a pharmacy desert in a majority Black neighborhood. They propose moving those customers to a store on Chili Avenue – more than two miles away, unwalkable on a four-lane road, near two other existing pharmacies, and in a neighborhood that is 79% white.
This decision is bad for our community, bad for Walgreens customers, and completely contrary to the company’s expressed desire to promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
I continue to communicate with senior leaders at Walgreens, and have asked that the store at 670 Thurston Rd. be retained.
I remain committed to working with Walgreens to find an acceptable solution. To not have a pharmacy in one of the most densely populated areas of the City is completely unacceptable.
