Manchester's Lenox Pharmacy closes after 64 years

Photo | Journal Inquirer/Jim Michaud The Lenox Pharmacy on East Center Street in Manchester will close Thursday.

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By Christopher McDermott | Journal Inquirer

After 64 years in business, Manchester's Lenox Pharmacy at 299 E. Center St. will fill its final prescriptions on Thursday and close the store, the pharmacy’s manager said Tuesday.

The pharmacy accounts were sold to the CVS Pharmacy at 260 Main St., she said.

“It’s been a tough week,” said pharmacist and manager Margaret Kelly. “We’ve all been here a long time.”

Kelly was a partner in the business from 2010 to 2015, when she co-owned it with one of the original founders, Philip Feltman. Feltman and James D’Amato founded the pharmacy in 1955.

Lenox Pharmacy and Westown Pharmacy on Hartford Road are owned by New Jersey-based pharmacist and businessman Ravinder Rao Annamaneni, who also has a stake in Manchester Pharmacy. Annamaneni did not respond to phone calls on Wednesday seeking comment.

“It’s pretty unheard of for a town of our size to have three independent pharmacies,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately, we had to be the one to go.”

Lenox Pharmacy clients will have their accounts transferred to CVS at 260 Main St., Kelly said. After the pharmacy closes at 6 p.m. Thursday, clients who call Lenox’s phone number will be directed to the CVS.

“What we have is a wonderful patient base,” Kelly said of Lenox Pharmacy. “We prep weekly medicine boxes which are gonna be tough to switch out…. We have really gone the extra mile, gone to people’s homes, fixed (medicine) boxes, or helped with dosages. On our way home from closing our store at night we made deliveries.”

Staff of the pharmacy learned about the sale only last weekend, Kelly said, giving them less than a week’s notice. The pharmacy employs two full-time pharmacists (including Kelly), two part-time pharmacists, three clerks, two pharmacy technicians, and a delivery person, Kelly said.

All the pharmacy’s employees were interviewed by CVS on Monday but still do not know if they’ll have jobs after Thursday, Kelly said.

In its early years the store had a soda fountain and lunch counter, but it has focused more recently on the pharmacy business.

Kelly herself started working at Lenox Pharmacy in 1979, moving to Manchester from Stonington for the job. She said she stayed for 40 years through marriage and raising her children because the pharmacy consistently cared about people.

“It’s all about family,” Kelly said. “We’ve loved taking care of Manchester all these years.”