The closure of pharmacies in Leechburg and Lower Burrell Jan. 31 was a gross travesty (“Pharmacies in Lower Burrell, Leechburg abruptly close,” Jan. 31, TribLive). Decades of loyal customers and employees only found out that day. No notice of any kind was given. One co-owner blamed Giant Eagle for wanting it that way, I assume because Giant Eagle wanted to quickly transfer the customer prescription lists to their store. If that’s the case, don’t sign the deal, because you could easily discern the repercussions. Quite simply, you don’t treat customers or employees that way. You don’t treat them like so much trash to be thrown out with the garbage.
I picked up my last prescription at the Leechburg Health Mart Pharmacy, and I’ll always remember the tears in the eyes of the two female employees at the counter, the entreaties of frantic customers and the chaos of a TV news crew roaming the store. May the repugnance of this deal and its aftermath lead the owners and Giant Eagle to realize that people’s lives do matter. Regretfully, they both ruined their reputations.
I guess the lesson here is that money always trumps righteousness. Two questions remain: Will the employees at least get some form of severance pay? And will the Vandergrift store eventually suffer the same fate in the same way? Stay tuned.
Tom Tarosky
West Leechburg