For the first time in more than 50 years, there will be no neighborhood pharmacy to directly serve residents on the southeast side of Columbus.
The CVS pharmacy, located in the State and Mapleton Plaza shopping center at 2150 State St., will close its doors for good at 5 p.m. today, store manager Tammy Cline said.
A CVS spokesperson said the company decided against renewing its lease at the State Street location, where eight people were employed.
All prescriptions for the State Street location will be transferred to the CVS pharmacy at 2423 N. National Road, spokesperson Stephanie Cunha said.
The State and Mapleton Plaza originated with the 1961 construction of a free-standing 1,850-square-foot bank building now occupied by the Flowers from the Woods flower shop.
Two years later, a larger building was built to the east. For decades, the plaza’s two anchor stores consisted of a supermarket and a pharmacy, located there.
JayC Foods was the first grocery store in the State and Mapleton Plaza. It later became a Ruler Discount Food Store.
Hook’s Dependable Drugs was the first pharmacy, later followed by SuperX and Revco, which was renamed CVS.
For a time, the chain-store pharmacies had competition just across the street. Dibble Drugs at 1911 State St. closed in 1994. The building is now occupied by Low Bob’s Discount Tobacco.
CVS is a subsidiary of the Woonsocket, New York-based CVS Health, one of the nation’s largest corporations, which last month reported second quarter revenues of $45.7 billion.
CVS closed 30 of its 9,600 pharmacies during the first half of this year while opening 87 new outlets and relocating 20 others, according to company information.
The Columbus store closing comes about year after ownership of the 19,425-square-foot State and Mapleton Plaza changed hands. A Great Neck, New York, commercial real estate investment firm purchased the property last September in a deal worth more than $1 million.
Namdar Realty Group, which acquired the property, owns and operates more than 20 million square feet of commercial real estate across the country.
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Although the CVS Pharmacy at 2150 State St. will close permanently after 5 p.m. today, three other CVS pharmacies are located in Columbus.
- 1865 N. National Road, inside the Target Department Store: 812-376-6938
- 2425 N. National Road, corner of 25th Street and National Road: 812-372-7804
- 4495 State Road 46W, west of Westwood Boulevard: 812-342-6817
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