St. Charles to lose downtown drugstore

A downtown tradition for nearly 70 years in St. Charles will soon vanish, as it appears there is no cure to keep Burger Drugs open.

Store employees on Monday confirmed that the pharmacy and general store will close for good. They deferred all comment to the Burger family, who own the establishment. The family is expected to describe the reasons for the closure this afternoon.

The shelves of the store remained stocked Monday. Even the display window on Main Street, facing city hall, remained warmly decorated with beach balls and tools to make sandcastles with. There was no "Going Out of Business" sign to be seen, only notice of a 30 percent off sale on store items.

Mayor Don DeWitte said he only learned of the pending closure Monday afternoon. He deferred comment on the loss of the business until he has a chance to speak with the Burger family, whom he described as personal friends. DeWitte did say the Burger family had expressed some concern for the first time ever about nearby street closures during community events negatively impacting business.

"I don't know if that's something they can hang their hats on at this point, or if it's just something that might be part of a larger issue," DeWitte said. "It's the last independent pharmacy in St. Charles."

Charlie Brown knows a thing or two about the current pressures on independent pharmacists. He was once the owner of the Klick and Worthey drugstore on First Street where Za Za Trattoria now stands.

Brown is now a customer of Burger Drugs. He said he knew of the closure, and isn't surprised to see the store shut down. However, that doesn't mean it makes it any easier to see it go.

"It's a shame," Brown said. "It's too bad that the discounters of the country have ruined pharmacy as a profession. Everybody is being put to the test because of insurance companies. They are currently ruining medicine in the country. If, say, 50 percent of customers are on an insurance program, that means that the insurance companies are billed. However, they are often two or three months behind in making payments back to the businesses. Small businesses just can't afford to have that much money tied up like that."

The closure of the store would leave the space vacant for now.

DeWitte said he believes it's the only space on the block not currently owned by the adjacent Harris Bank.