Pharmacy in Decatur closes

Pharmacist Jerry Young retires, prescription business transferred to Teasley Drug in Gravette

Jerry Young, pharmacist at the Decatur General Store, is retiring after a career spanning 50 years.
Jerry Young, pharmacist at the Decatur General Store, is retiring after a career spanning 50 years.

— DECATUR - Jerry Young, the chief pharmacist at the Decatur General Store, retired this week after a 50-year career as a pharmacist.

Young’s retirement led the business to make the difficult decision to close the pharmacy inside the General Store, according to store manager Amy Mitchell. All of the prescriptions were transferred seamlessly by computer to Teasley Drug in Gravette on Saturday and were available at the Gravette store by Monday morning, Young explained.

While the Decatur General Store will no longer be dispensing prescription medications, it will still offer the same over-thecounter medications and health and beauty aids that customers are accustomed to find there, Mitchell said.

Community members celebrated with Young at a retirement party on Tuesday morning, and General Store owner Blake Evans presented him with a gold watch.

“I much appreciate his hard work and dedication to the storeand the community. He will be missed,” said Mitchell.

Young has provided personal and conscientious care to customers at the Decatur General Store for the past nine years.

During that time, “each and every customer got to be a friend,” Young said.

Young graduated from Oklahoma University in 1961 and worked in southern Oklahoma until he bought his own store in Comanche, Okla., in 1966, which he managed as it grew and expanded over the next 27 years.

After retiring from the store in Comanche, Young moved to northwest Arkansas and worked as a pharmacist for Kmart until he came to the General Store in 2003.

Young lives in Rogers with his wife Anita, of 53 years. He is looking forward to traveling and spending more time with his three children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

“I have enjoyed the change and the variety of professional service a person can find inpharmacy,” Young said of his career.

Teasley Drug will offer free home delivery to Decatur residents on Tuesdays, according to pharmacist Lindsey Watford.

The delivery service will not only be convenient for Decatur customers butPHARMACYwill also take care of the many customers that do not have transportation and relied on walking to the General Store for their prescriptions, Watford explained.

Teasley Drug also offers a $4.99 generic prescription plan and immunizations, she said. The store is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

News, Pages 1 on 10/18/2011