The impact goes far beyond needing a new place to fill prescriptions. Residents can get flu shots and other vaccines and have their blood pressure checked, a huge service in a majority Black community (90% of its residents) that disproportionately suffers from the ills of high blood pressure.
Walgreens isn’t just a drug store. It’s a much-needed healthcare facility.
Sadly, research shows that major drug chains close stores first in minority areas like West Dayton. Those closures create pharmacy deserts that make it harder for residents to get the health services they need.
Dollar Tree, the parent company of Family Dollar, announced it’s closing hundreds of underperforming stores nationwide, including the one on James H. McGee Blvd. that’s just 1.4 miles east of the Hoover Avenue Walgreens.
I’m not sure how much profit these businesses thought they could squeeze out of these neighborhoods. In the Walgreens census tract, the median household income of less than $20,000 is one of the poorest in the country. The Family Dollar, from an economic perspective, is even worse. The median income of $14,000 annually is nearly four times less than Ohio’s median. I mean, both of these corporations knew where they were opening businesses. It’s not as if, all of a sudden, those neighborhoods would find a pot of gold that would suddenly boost each store’s profitability.
It’s even more galling that both businesses preach a message of community.
Walgreens touts a “caring culture” designed “to help everyone find a bit of joy in their daily lives.” Tell that to the people who have depended on that Hoover Avenue store since it opened more than two decades ago and will soon be greeted with a “closed” sign.
Dollar Tree “carefully considers how we impact the communities where we open our stores,” its website says.
There’s no mention of what happens when stores close.
Businesses could do a far better job of talking to the community about their plans and how they can help alleviate any pain. It’s nice, for example, that Walgreens will automatically transfer prescriptions to its Salem Avenue store, about three miles away. But it should also make clear that it will help transfer to a closer competitor that’s about a mile away. It should help its clients sign up for mail-order prescriptions. It should work with community leaders to explore ways that people who need blood pressure checks can get them.
Instead of selling its wares at 30% off, Family Dollar could donate goods to any of the area churches and nonprofits that help those in need. A little help might go a long way in soothing any hurt feelings while reminding people that Dollar Tree/Family Dollar tried to, in some small way, “impact the community,” as its values statement says. Such an effort could even lead to additional brand loyalty.
Dayton — all cities, really — have been stung, far too many times, by businesses that close and leave a neighborhood hole that’s hard to fill.
So anytime a conglomerate wants to close, cities and leaders should make one simple demand: Show a little decency when you’re headed out the door. Help us find a way to help our community that will miss the services you provide.
Ray Marcano’s column appears on these pages each Sunday.
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