CVS Buys Bay Pharmacy

The last independent pharmacy in Door County will close its doors on Sept. 12 after 40 years in business.

Tom Voegele, CEO of Bay Pharmacy in the Cherry Point Mall, Sturgeon Bay, said the pharmacy end of the business has been sold to CVS Pharmacy, which is building a new store kitty-corner from the mall at 1407 Egg Harbor Road, and is scheduled to open on Sept. 14.

“CVS kind of controls the process on how much information they put out, but it has sold,” Voegele said. “We will be maintaining the home medical equipment business under a different name.”

Voegele said he will continue with the home medical equipment business, along with about half of Bay Pharmacy’s 30 employees, and the remaining employees, he hopes, will be hired by CVS.

In an Aug. 19 press release, CVS said it is “in the process of interviewing Bay Pharmacy employees for positions at its new Sturgeon Bay location.”

“They are hiring as many of our people as they can, so, hopefully, customers will be seeing some familiar faces over there,” he said. “We have an excellent staff here. I’ve always said to my employees, if we take care of the customers, the bottom line will take care of itself. It did for a lot of years. But with four pharmacies in town, mail order and consolidations, it gets to be a lot. It’s a tough environment out there in health care, that’s for sure.”

Voegele said he has been talking to customers who are concerned about the transition.

“Of course, they’re concerned about their service,” he said. “I’ve told them the prescriptions will transfer over there right around the 12th. I’ve been encouraging them to at least try CVS. If they don’t meet their expectations, of course they can transfer their prescriptions any time, but we’re hoping they stay with us through the 12th and at least give CVS a try.”