Starting the first week of December, Annandale will be a one-pharmacy town.
Thrifty White Pharmacy is scheduled to close on its purchase of Arenson Annandale Pharmacy on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
That purchase, following Thrifty White’s purchase of Keaveny Drug on Oct. 25, removes both independent pharmacies that had previously served the area.
"My store is the last independent pharmacy in Wright County. The last one," said Mark Arenson, owner of the Main Street pharmacy and store since 1990. "It’s a trend that is all over the nation, and it’s been hard. No (pharmacy) has opened in any other town around here that hasn’t had a pharmacy in almost 50 years now. That’s telling you something. The opportunities are not there."
Arenson Annandale Pharmacy will close at 3 p.m. on Dec. 6 to complete the transfer of ownership and to transfer inventory. On Wednesday, Dec. 7, all prescription files will be available at the new Thrifty White store near McDonald’s and Dollar General on Highway 55.
Arenson said his employees – including longtime pharmacist Craig Bechtold, two part-time pharmacists, two technicians, a checkout employee and delivery employee - all have the option to work for Thrifty White.
Arenson will continue to run his store without the pharmacy through the end of the year before assessing his options, and may retain an employee or two for that purpose.
"The store will operate at some level with gifts and cards and the ice cream shop at least for the immediate future, until additional decisions are made," he said.
"We’re going to take this right up to Christmas, for sure, and after the first of the year that’s when we’ll really make adjustments to our schedule and start entertaining offers on the property. There is room for several businesses in here, or renters. I do have nine apartments currently, with no vacancies."
Arenson said a number of businesses have inquired about leasing his 6,000-plus-square foot building for their own shops, but declined to provide any additional details for the time being.
"This is the old style store that served our customers very well," said Arenson. "The majority of our customers still write checks, but things are changing. The writing was on the wall a long time ago."
Long local history
Arenson’s parents, George and Maureen, opened Arenson Annandale Pharmacy as newcomers to town in 1971.
By 1980, the successful drug store operation expanded, becoming an independent retail member of Snyder’s Drug Stores. Mark joined the business in 1981, then purchased the business from his parents in 1990, continuing the Arenson Snyder Drug operation into 2004.
With the decline, and eventual closing of Snyder’s Drug Stores, Arenson ended the Snyder’s pharmacy relationship and joined with HealthMart Pharmacies, a new company developed for independent pharmacies, in 2005.
Though it was a successful national company, Arenson said HealthMart never really caught on in the five years it operated in Annandale. As a result, Arenson began discussing options with other companies. After visiting other former Snyder’s locations that had joined Thrifty White, Arenson became an independent Thrifty White affiliate in 2011.
Through that connection, Arenson’s business continued to operate independently, but with the support and pricing advantages of Thrifty White’s group buying power, until the present.
"The Thrifty White company does have the ability to do a lot of things that I no longer can do. A lot of it is based on affordability," said Arenson, adding that his pharmacy’s volume of sales has actually increased in the past few months, and that many Keaveny customers switched to Arenson after last month.
Like Deb Keaveny, Arenson said he had fielded calls from larger chains like CVS and Walgreens in recent years, but never felt those companies would be the right fit for Annandale. Ultimately, Arenson said, going with one of those buyers would eventually have left Annandale without a pharmacy at all.
"We have been a successfully growing company for years. I joined Thrifty White because they gave me a chance to get where I am today, to give me an exit strategy," said Arenson. "The other thing I wanted to assure our customers and Annandale itself is that there would be a pharmacy in Annandale. That’s what we’ve done. We’re just a niche market here, and a Thrifty White type operation can make it here."
Points of interest
■ Bechtold, Arenson’s pharmacist, has been with the business since 1973. He has not yet committed to working at Thrifty White.
■ Since 1971, the Arenson Pharmacy has employed over 20 pharmacists.
■ Since the 1990s, the Arenson Pharmacy has worked with the North Dakota State University School of Pharmacy to provide internship opportunities for up to four students per year.
Thrifty White transfer
Thrifty White is employee-owned through an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, and Keaveny said last month that the chain is independent-minded despite its size. Thrifty White, which is based in Plymouth and has been in business since 1884, includes 95 stores and 77 affiliated pharmacies across six states in the Upper Midwest.
Thrifty White will offer the same services currently provided to Arenson customers, and current phone numbers for the pharmacy will continue to be used.