Family-run pharmacy says farewell

A neighborhood, family-run pharmacy said its final farewell to
Westwood on July 1 as the lights of its vintage green sign
glimmered for the last time.

Located on the busy corner of Westwood Boulevard and Ohio
Avenue, the tiny pharmacy Super Drugs, Inc. opened more than 60
years ago, and it had been serving the pharmaceutical needs of the
Westwood community ever since.

“I came to visit my father so often that I feel like I
grew up in this building,” Steve Loeb, owner of Super Drugs
for over 40 years, wrote in a letter to the community.

Characterized by its friendly atmosphere, patrons of the
pharmacy comment on the familial nature of Super Drugs. Many say
that it was a very community-oriented business, and that
Loeb’s concern for his neighbors was evident.

“This was a pharmacist who would give out his home number
to people who were seriously ill … they could call him day or
night,” said Lila Rioth, board member of the Westwood
Homeowners’ Association.

Rioth mentioned that Super Drugs had a number of elderly
customers and Loeb would often open the pharmacy in the middle of
the night and deliver medication to his patrons ““ who he
thought more of as family than anything else.

“What makes leaving Super Drugs bittersweet for me is that
I will be leaving you, my customers, friends and employees, who
have become not only my extended family, but also to those of my
wife Ruthie and our children,” Loeb wrote.

Saddened by the closing of Super Drugs many community members
think of the pharmacy as one of few reminders of Westwood before it
became saturated by chain stores.

“It’s just a sad situation. It’s not like
he’s making millions, but he (Loeb) had his niche and his
clients and it’s very sad to see that go away,” said
Robert Bucksbaum, a Westwood resident and owner of Crest
Theaters.

Loeb attributes the closing of Super Drugs with his desire to
spend more time with his family and pursue other paths.

“I have accumulated a long “˜list’ of things
that I wanted to accomplish and dreams that I would like to
fulfill. Some items on my list are as simple as having more time to
be with my three beautiful grandchildren. … I might even do
something I have never done before ““ read a book on a weekday
afternoon,” Loeb wrote.

But, some Westwood officials say other extraneous circumstances
may have led to the closing of Super Drugs.

“The presence of Sav-On in the neighborhood has forced
Super Drugs to close. … I think that it has forced the closure
because of market conditions,” Rioth said.

The expansion of pharmacies ““ including Rite Aid, Longs
Drugs, a counter in Ralphs and the future opening of CVS Pharmacy
on July 25 ““ has created stiff competition, Bucksbaum said.
In fact, Westwood and its surrounding area has one of the highest
concentrations of pharmacies, he added.

“They’re just cannibalizing each other and eating up
mom and pop companies,” Bucksbaum said.

In the face of Super Drugs’ departure, Loeb has forwarded
all his patient lists to Sav-On ““ which opened the same day
Super Drugs closed ““ so that no patron will be left
uncared-for, he wrote.

Sav-On plans on making the transition as smooth as possible and
creating the same relationship Super Drugs had with its’
patients.

Being a part of a large corporation, Sav-On will be able to
provide a variety of services at competitive prices, city officials
say.

Sav-On hopes to provide Westwood residents with all their health
care needs and even plans on implementing a delivery service,
managers say.

But Sav-on, which opened its doors for business on the heels of
Super Drugs’ closure, is on terse terms with the Westwood
community.

Though Sav-On will be able to provide a wide range of services,
community members still have qualms with the chain-store.

Since its decision to build a Sav-On in Westwood store three
years ago, the pharmaceutical chain store has been plagued with
complaints from the Westwood community.

From the beginning, Sav-On representatives garnered discontent
from city officials when the corporation decided to buy out United
Artist Theaters in an attempt to build its store, Bucksbaum
said.

The United Artist Theaters provided a unique service to the
Westwood community since they would frequently show independent and
foreign films, Bucksbaum said.

In addition, city officials cite numerous other infringements,
and say that Sav-On has acted in bad faith over the past three
years.

For example, when Rioth pushed Sav-On to comply with certain
city ordinances she received a call from the pharmacy’s
attorney saying that if she continued to file appeals (in the name
of the homeowner’s association), 30 year-old cypress trees on
the Sav-On lot would be cut, Rioth said.

“They were holding the trees hostage … and the day we
called them and said “˜no’ they got out the chainsaws
(and cut the trees),” Rioth added.

Situations such as these have caused tension between Sav-On and
Westwood, and many residents are skeptical of Sav-On’s
commitment to the community.

Still, Sav-On hopes to create a strong bond between itself and
the community.

The transfer of Super Drugs’ patient lists reveals the way
in which Sav-On views the transition as a quasi-joint venture.

Sav-On has never delivered drugs before, managers say, and
it’s a learning process. But hopefully, the effort will show
Westwood residents that Sav-On is committed to the community.

But the question remains whether Sav-On should have come to
Westwood in the first place.

“Sav-On is a nice chain, but why come here. …
There’s nothing wrong with making money in areas like
Westwood, but do we really need more pharmacies?” Bucksbaum
said.

Sav-On conversely says it can contribute by offering a number of
potential health care programs.