Nantucket Pharmacy Ending Prescriptions, Closing Soda Fountain Next Month

Nantucket Pharmacy, the iconic Main Street business that has served the island community since 1937, will be closing its pharmacy department and the soda fountain/food counter on Sunday, Dec. 8, at the end of Nantucket’s annual Christmas Stroll weekend.

The front of the store will remain open for over-the-counter goods, gifts, and knick-knacks, but its primary business will cease operations as owner Allan Bell indicated it would last year as he searched for a successor to take over the pharmacy.

While there is still some interest, Bell said, nothing solidified as he hoped it would, and Nantucket Pharmacy will soon cease to be a pharmacy. Customers will be able to transfer prescriptions to the pharmacy of their choice - the only two remaining on Nantucket being the hospital’s Cottage Pharmacy and Dan’s Pharmacy on Pleasant Street - and Bell’s team will be on-hand through early January assisting with that process.

Nantucket Pharmacy currently leases the soda fountain operation to Patrick Ridge’s Island Kitchen. But the “Counter on Main Street” will also be closing down after Christmas Stroll as its lease expires at the end of the year.

Last July, Bell said the summer of 2023 would the last for Nantucket Pharmacy. Even so, his team ended up working through another full year on Main Street while his search for a successor continued. But finding someone to pass the torch to has been challenging on multiple fronts, leading to the decision to close down operations next month even as he holds out hope that something may come together in the future to revive the pharmacy.

“A pharmacy is no longer a good business model - we’re just being ravaged by the insurance companies,” Bell said, citing some of the reasons why it has been difficult to find a new operator for the pharmacy. “They choose what they will pay us. So we break even if we’re lucky, and that’s just the cost of drugs, nevermind profit. Independent pharmacies are slowly closing and the insurance companies are dragging us out of business. So many people looked and were interested but because it’s not a good business model, nothing came together.”

Bell said there were two pharmacists who wanted to come to the island and take over the pharmacy, but housing was the stumbling block for them.

“They didn’t want to pick up and move here and buy a $2 million fixer-upper,” Bell said.

Even so, Bell said there is still hope that the pharmacy could reopen next year under new management.

“We had and still have a person with island ties who would like to buy the building and rent it out and back to a pharmacy so a pharmacy can be here,” Bell said. “There are still other people coming forward. We’re not done yet.”

Nantucket Pharmacy, with its throwback soda fountain and gift store, is a cornerstone of Main Street. It’s a place where generations have gathered and islanders have forged trusted relationships with the friendly and knowledgeable pharmacy team.

On a personal level, Bell said the decision to shutter the pharmacy and soda fountain operations next month were a long time coming, and he was ready to move on.

“It’s time for me,” he said. “I’ve got hip replacement in January and other things going on. For me, it’s time, It’s a lot of work for anyone in this business, and we’re all tired.”