Wanda English Burnett, Editor

The closing of the Spencer Tyson Pharmacy is the end of an era - one that has spanned more than 138 years.

“I didn’t think it would end with me,” Jon Strautman sadly noted to a customer on Wednesday of this week, as he filled a final prescription for them.

Strautman and Associates bought the pharmacy from Alan Smith in 1985, with Strautman serving as pharmacist there until the end of business on Monday, December 15. “That will be a hard day,” he told The Versailles Republican.

Saying if he looked only at the emotional side of the coin, he would never close the store. But, Strautman is a businessman who had to look at every aspect.

“There are several facets that come into play,” he noted when asked why he was selling the store and merging with CVS.

Changes in insurance over the years have forced customers to change their pharmacy habits. While negotiations used to be normal with insurance companies, they are now non-existent, according to Strautman. Forced mail-order prescriptions have really hit the small town pharmacy hard. “We just can’t compete,” Strautman noted. He said the decline in business has been something he’s been watching for a while. This was not a decision he made on the spur of the moment. Little by little things changed that he had no control of and that caused the final decision to be closing the doors for good on December 16.

The hardest thing to leave is the people. “We have great and loyal customers...I am honored and humbled by the trust that has been placed in me to assist people with their pharmacy needs,” Strautman noted. Near tears, he said it was extremely difficult to detach the emotional side and look at the business side of the pharmacy business. Of course, he noted that the bleak outlook on the economy also came into play when making the decision.

Strautman will continue to serve the community and will be working at CVS in Versailles next week. He noted that the larger pharmacy will be able to offer more convenient hours. He also explained to a lady buying prescription needs on Wednesday that all of her records would be automatically and securely transferred to CVS. “We’re trying to make the transition as smooth as possible.”

Pam Kohlmeier has been a pharmacy technician for the entire time Strautman owned the business. She said she even goes back to working for Ray Spencer, the last of the Spencer family to own the pharmacy. According to information published in the Ripley County Indiana history book, the Spencers were in the drug store business dating back to 1868.

One of the biggest changes in the pharmacy business, according to Kohlmeier, is the electronic billing. “I used to do it all by hand,” she recalled. She said filling prescriptions without the computer was difficult when looking back. “Now it’s so much more efficient, it’s amazing,” she noted.

Strautman, who has worked primarily for himself over the years agreed it will be a change to work for a large corporation such as CVS, but is looking forward to the challenge. After all, he’ll still be seeing regular customers, he just won’t be able to be as flexible. “If someone forgets their checkbook here, I just tell them I’ll catch them next week,” he noted. That won’t happen at CVS. “It’s going to be really different,” he noted.

No initial plans have been made for the building that will be vacant on the square in Versailles when the pharmacy closes. Strautman said he is taking baby steps and hopes offices or a business will locate there. “I’ve just got to get through next Monday,” he concluded.

WANDA ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTO Jon Strautman smiles as he hands prescriptions to a loyal customer, Mary Margaret Moorhead of Versailles. "I come in here a lot," she laughed. They both were light-hearted, but felt the heaviness at the same time of the pharmacy closing on Monday, December 15. "It's sad to see it go," Moorhead noted, but said she understood. The familiar counter lined with vitamins and many other necessities in the home, will be empty when the inventory is completely dissolved but the same smile will be on Strautman's face as he greets customers at CVS in Versailles.