Kemper Drug & Gifts closes after 75 years in Elk River
A fixture of downtown Elk River said goodbye suddenly this month after 75 years in the community.
Kemper Drug & Gifts shuttered its pharmacy Wednesday and closed the gift shop for good over the weekend.
"It has been an honor and a privilege serving our community, but the time has come to turn the page to a new chapter," reads a post on the business' Facebook page, announcing customer's pharmacy records would be automatically transferred to Walgreens.
"We thank you for allowing us to care for you, through the generations," the post continues. "While it is hard to say goodbye at the end of an era, we hope you'll join us in celebrating the good times, and looking forward to a bright future. We hope to see you over at Walgreens."
In an interview with the Elk River Star News, owner Deborah Leedahl said pharmacy benefit managers had chipped away at the business' profits and Kemper Drug was recently removed from the network of a major insurer earlier this year.
“It’s not right,” she told the newspaper. “People should know why we had to close, because of the way PBMs have chosen to pay us. There is nothing we can do about it.”
