[Grovenet] Medicine Shoppe Closing

Fri Dec 7 23:03:45 PST 2007

Forest Grove is already a "bedroom" community Carol. It has been for many
years. The bulk of the residents there drive elsewhere to work and it's very
easy for them to shop on the way home. Even if they go shopping on the
weekends, they are used to driving to Hillsboro, Beaverton or even Portland.
Even if they know of a store  that carries what they want, why take a chance
that the Forest Grove store is out of stock or perhaps the owner decided to
close early when they can pick up what they need on the way? Most Forest
Grove businesses are closed by 5 or 6 p.m., just about the time commuters
start arriving. 

That is a very tough issue. As long as the nearby communities are there,
they are serious competition. 

One of the things I like about living near Newport (pop. about 10,000)  is
that we can find there all the things we used to have to travel many, many
miles to Portland, Hillsboro and Beaverton to find there. Buy clothes? We
have four or five "discount" clothiers and a dozen or more upscale boutiques
in Newport. Need office supplies? There are several fully equipped stores in
Newport, including a Staples. Of course there are dozens of restaurants of
all descriptions, lumber yards, hardware stores, crafts stores, home
improvement, appliance and home furnishing stores and more, all in a town
half the size of Forest Grove. We even have three or four supermarkets (I
haven't tried them all yet) compared to only one there. What's the
difference? Even though it's only 10,000 people, Newport is the biggest city
in the area. Everyone for miles around goes there to shop. That supports a
large number of boutiques and "mom and pop" stores as well as big boxes like
Lumberman's, Staples, Fred Meyer, Safeway, Rite Aid, Biz Mart, and Wal Mart.
Remember, this is all in a town HALF the size of Forest Grove. 

I won't even go into the restaurant and entertainment possibilities. This is
a beach town, after all <G>.

I don't know the answer for those who, like we did, who want an independent
Forest Grove where you can find most, if not all, of your needs in town. Not
as long as  Forest Grove residents spend much of their time elsewhere and
only come to Forest Grove to watch TV and sleep.  

It does surprise me that there isn't more demand for a pharmacy in Forest
Grove. After all, Forest Grove has one of the the largest populations of
"senior citizens" in the USA! Maybe they all get their prescriptions filled
by mail. 

Ron D'Eau Claire 

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of Carol Morgan
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 8:16 PM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Medicine Shoppe Closing

It is always sad when local niche business close up.  Sort of.  

I always wondered whether the Medicine Shoppe (gritting my teeth about extra
e's) offered services other than just a big name pharmacy.  But I never
really knew. This is the first time that I am hearing it. 

I will be the first person to say so if there is a reason to choose local
non-chain businesses over local ones, I would shop there.  But even if I
were willing to only patronize a business because it would be sad if they
went out of business, it wouldn't be enough.  That business would still
close because of the overwhelming forces that are bigger than my individual
choices or what I end up voicing publicly about my feelings. 

The real problem (at least the problem that we could actually solve if we
wanted to) is when we can't see the consequences of actual political
decisions made at a local level.  Even as conservative as I am about the
freedoms of the capitalist machine that employ and sustain my own family, I
too wish that my own community in Forest Grove could retain its own flavor
in various ways.  

I think some people end up being the opposite, they have regrets about the
changes in their own communities so that ends up pushing them into a less
conservative or pro-capitalist stance at the national level.  But local
decisions and local politics are the only ones that end up making a
difference in terms of what businesses are in walking distance of their
houses. 

One of the main reasons that local businesses are shuttering in favor of
ones that we have to 'commute' to is that our city government are forcing
this town into bedroom community status.  When we bemoan Walmart and instead
invite through the back door the kinds of attitudes that sustain Walmart
(and all other chains) we don't have any ground to complain.  Our city
government allow any and all developers to come here despite what kinds of
homeowners would purchase the properties. 

If I could vote to eliminate any one evil that changed the overall character
of this town it would be the per-unit building fee.  Because of the
structure that our city has of financing itself, the new chain-style
consumer patterns are reinforced.  I don't know who thought of them, but it
ends up that these per-unit building fees are waved in front of our
government officials like steak in front of a dog and, when forced to make
tough choices about what they finance and who they turn down, then they end
up saying they don't have a choice.    

Before the per unit fees, builders weren't encouraged to do things on the
mass market, Walmart scale, now they are almost forced to.  It would be too
expensive to go back to the old ways were everyone builds on the property
that he himself purchased.  Because homes are built in the mass market
economy, I think it end up encouraging the kinds of consumers that do
likewise, and most of their business goes outside the city boundaries. 

We end up with a town where because an acre is divided into twenty
odd-pieces for the mass housing of the commuter from Hillsboro or Portland,
that person is also driving through Hillsboro to do most of their business.
And thus if price is an issue, they are less likely, knowing the owner or
whatever else the consideration, to use anything else other than lowest
possible price to sway where their dollar ends up.  It is too easy to sway
someone that doesn't know the difference between two options that their best
bet is to stretch their own income.  It probably is their best bet, because
they don't know what they are giving up. 

If someone doesn't want to loose any more local businesses, they should be
careful about what actual decisions are within their power to make.  It
won't help to discuss whether we want a business around or not, because
ultimately twenty years+ from now someone else is going to be making those
decisions anyway.  What each of us does a about local government funding and
officials are some of the decisions that have actual collective consequences
toward whether the Medicine Shoppe or Safeway are filling our prescriptions,
whether or not we are happy about it. 

------ Original Message ------ 
Received: 07:17 AM PST, 12/07/2007 
From: chuck <chuck at grovenet.net> 
To: Forest Grove local interests list <grovenet at rdrop.com> 
Subject: [Grovenet] Medicine Shoppe Closing 

My wife received a letter yesterday from the Medicine Shoppe informing 
her that all prescriptions would be forwarded to Safeway. It seems the 
Medicine Shoppe is closing. I know Rodney has been there forever, and 
is ready to retire. The Pacific Compounds portion of the business would 
relocate to the Hillsboro location. 

There's a gap that will not be easy to fill. We have both found the 
Medicine Shoppe to be extremely useful, and much more personable than 
Safeway's pharmacy. I guess it will be back to BiMart for us. 

chuck 
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