Drug Emporium to close pharmacies at its 3 Kanawha Metro locations

“It’s been increasingly difficult for us, so we are transferring our pharmacy business to Walgreens,� he said. “We are hoping for a smooth transition with them.�

All 3 stores affected

A legal advertisement published last week in the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Gazette-Mail and The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington confirmed that Drug Emporium stores at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, along with stores in Kanawha City and ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s West Side, will stop filling prescriptions on Sept. 11.

Customers’ pharmacy records will be available at local Walgreens beginning Sept. 12, according to the legal ad. It said all prescriptions will be transferred to the Walgreens store nearest to each of the three stores.

Here is where prescription records will be transferred:

• Records at the Drug Emporium at 1603 Kanawha Blvd. West, in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, will be transferred to the Walgreens at 655 Washington St. West.
• Records at the Drug Emporium at 5101 MacCorkle Ave. SE, in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, will be transferred to the Walgreens at 3801 MacCorkle Ave. SE.
• Records at the Drug Emporium at 3 Mall Road, at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, will be transferred to the Walgreens at 6414 U.S. 60 East, in Barboursville.

Other departments not affected

Petryszak said all of the Drug Emporium stores’ front-end departments, such as Healthy Life Market, Carhartt, Skechers, cosmetics, beer and wine and greeting cards are not affected.

“They will remain open for business as usual,� he said.

Other recent closures

Residents in the region have experienced other recent closures of retail pharmacies. Fruth Pharmacy at 1419 U.S. 60 East in Huntington closed at the end of 2023.

Lynne Fruth, president and chairman of the board of Fruth Pharmacy, cited two main reasons for the closure: “We are being underpaid on prescriptions by PEIA [West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency] and we have also had difficulty staffing that location.�