Despite its New Agey image of holistic healing and alternative medicine, the opening in Wallingford Center of Pharmaca has sparked worry and even anger in a retail district concerned that corporate muscle is hurting its neighborhood identity.
Leslie Edmondson, manager of the Bee Well Vitamin Shoppe east of Wallingford Center, admitted that "we were a little upset at first" when Pharmaca moved in to that particular location, though she adds that Pharmaca employees have been "cordial" so far.
Nonetheless, a feeling of uneasiness pertains about a new pharmacy competing with established businesses in the neighborhood. "Mostly, our customers have just been concerned about our welfare," Edmond-son explained. "We've just said, 'We'll see what happens.'"
The manager said that the reality of a chain franchise, no matter what size, moving into the neighborhood is troubling. "That's not the greatest," Edmondson said. "I really wish that Wallingford Center would be more proactive about keeping small, locally owned businesses in that space, but they haven't."
'CHANGE IS BETTER'
Not every business appears upset by Pharmaca's residency in Wallingford Center. Chutney's Bistro owner Harish Khurana, whose Indian restaurant is moving from the northeast corner of the mall to the southwest corner, said everything is "cool and smooth" - though he was reticent about why his business is relocating from its current North 45th streetfront location to a spot along the less trafficked Wallingford Avenue North.
"Change is always better," Khu-rana said.
The owner said he's not worried about moving into a spot that might not have as high exposure as his current location. "We've been here 12 years, so everybody knows about [Chutney's]," he explained.
Kara Ceriello, co-president of the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce, said that it's her understanding from her discussions with Khurana that the management group in charge of Wallingford Center wanted Chut-ney's to move.
"Pharmaca has an agreement that the space next to them will never be a restaurant that does a lot of cooking," Ceriello said, adding that Khurana finally agreed to move after some kind of negotiation between him and the center.
"He did not want to move," she said. "He was made to do that. Personally, I don't understand why [Wallingford Center] management wouldn't sit down and talk with their tenants."
As of press time Monday, the Wallingford Center marketing director had not responded to requests for an interview.
MORE COMPETITION
Ceriello said she was surprised when she found out that Pharmaca carried several product lines stocked by various neighborhood businesses, including some in her own store, Not A Number, also along North 45th.
By her count, there are at least seven businesses "within about a block and a half" with whom Phar-maca is competing by carrying similar products, including Bee Well.
Ceriello said many people she's spoken to feel that what she calls Wallingford's "Mayberry feel" - with its emphasis on independent, mom-and-pop stores - could be threatened by chain stores, no matter how small and accommodating.
"Some of us chamber members, plus community members, are a little puzzled and concerned about the potential for too much competition with neighboring businesses," she said.
Nonetheless, "the chamber is very supportive of any new business coming in," especially anyone moving into the "woefully unused" Wallingford Center, Ceriello said.
What she'd most like to see, she added, is some sort of neighborhood meeting between Pharmaca and any businesses concerned about the future of retail in Wallingford.
Pharmaca manager Ann Allen said she's aware that the neighborhood feels some trepidation about the new pharmacy. "There's been some nervousness with us coming in," she said. "This community is really into their independent shops. I'm here to tell them that we're not a threat; we're here to help."
Allen said Pharmaca, which officially opened last Friday, has been introducing itself to the neighborhood and trying to put to rest any undue suspicions or misgivings folks might have.
She described Pharmaca's full-fledged pharmacy as based on a more European model, adding that one of its unique services is "compounding," the creation of personalized medicine (for instance, turning a particular prescription into something that can be ingested as a lollipop).
"If we are competing with anyone, it might be more Bartell's," Allen explained.
She said Pharmaca employees have approached the staff at Bee Well Vitamins. "We've been trying really hard to work with them. We're not here to crush anybody. We believe in what they're doing, too."
POSITIVE THINKING
Edmondson at Bee Well said that she understands the "many levels to this situation," meaning that, while Pharmaca does present the face of a chain store in Wallingford, "we see the reality that the people that are working there are people from the community."
She said Bee Well has responded to the new situation by solidifying local lines, boosting advertising, cutting down on body-care products and bringing in more lifestyle products like juicers and "things of that nature."
"It's a lot easier for us to cater to the community because that's what we're here to do," she said about the store's retail status in Wallingford.
Allen indicated that, as far as Bee Well is concerned, just what Phar-maca means to the community will be proven in the days and months to come. "We're trying to keep our feelings toward it all positive," she said, "because what else can you do?"
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