Glen Alpine's Clinic Drug to close after 87 years of business

An independent pharmacy, which has been a staple of the Glen Alpine community for 87 years, will soon close its doors.

Owner Jeff Czarkowski announced on social media Dec. 22 that Clinic Drug’s last day of business will be Tuesday, Jan. 6. On Jan. 7, all records will be confidentially transferred to CVS in Morganton at 200 N. Green St., where he will be taking a pharmacy position.

Clinic Drug was founded in the 1930s by Hilliard Fletcher Bobbitt, according to the Burke County Public Library’s Picture Burke. Czarkowski bought the store in 2011 from John Bennett, who ran the store for about two decades, and the store has had previous owners.

Czarkowski stated that his family had exhausted all resources to keep the business running, but it wasn’t enough. For a small, rural pharmacy, many factors contributed to the stress that eventually led to the decision to close.

Drugs have been getting more expensive, yet Czarkowski said the margins have been shrinking. For name-brand drugs, which he wasn’t getting reimbursed for, he said he was losing about $20 to $80 per prescription. The goal for pharmacies is to fill that gap with sales on generics, but being a small, rural pharmacy, the sales weren’t enough to fill the gap.

“You’re going to need to be doing a lot of volume,” Czarkowski said, for any pharmacy to be successful.

While Czarkowski is transferring prescriptions over to CVS, he said he wants to clarify that the chain is not shutting down his business. “They’re trying to help me get out of that, and they obviously value me and my services. That’s kind of what’s pushing that forward, but ultimately, I don’t want people to think that they’re closing me down.”

Since announcing the decision to close, Czarkowski said he has received support and understanding from the community.

“Everyone’s very sad from it, but also people are understanding because I’ve been pretty open about what’s going on in the industry and informing my patients on what’s going on, but obviously it was a shock still.”

“For a lot, they were hoping it wouldn’t happen, kind of like I’ve been,” Czarkowski said.

He said he’s going to miss the flexibility of owning his own business, but with the responsibility comes more stress and more hours. “The closer you get to the break-even line, the harder and harder it is because you’re really putting in a lot of hours to try to be efficient on what you’re spending.”

The past couple of years, he said, have been very difficult and time-consuming, but he doesn’t regret owning Clinic Drug.

“If I knew everything going into it, I still don’t regret doing it,” Czarkowski said. “It’s been a pleasure to serve so many good people, and it’s sad that it just has to end this way because it’s so dear to so many people.”

When it comes to the future of the Clinic Drug building, which he owns, Czarkowski said he’s going to talk to Glen Alpine officials about how to make best use of it. “We knew what a burden on the community it is to have to make this decision, and so we want to help them as much as we can.”