Montauk is still without a pharmacy this week, but after a prolonged delay, that will soon change.
Frank Calvo, the longtime pharmacist at White’s Drug and Department Store, which closed on Oct. 31, has opened Montauk Chemists on Main Street and is selling over-the-counter merchandise including vitamins and self-care products. One week after an inspection of the store’s pharmacy, however, he is still awaiting New York State approval to operate it.
“I had the pharmacy inspection on June 5,” Mr. Calvo said on Tuesday. “However, now I am into yet another waiting game. The certificate has to come in the mail, so it has to be printed, signed, sealed, and mailed. Upon receipt, I give that to drug wholesalers and will be in business as a pharmacy.”
That, he was told, could take another four to six weeks, but “we’re putting a rush on that,” he said, lamenting a process he called “horrible” and “broken.”
“On the upside,” he added, “things are going very well for the front end of the store.”
Montauk has been without a pharmacy since the closure of White’s, where Mr. Calvo served as pharmacist for 13 years. Last fall, he announced that he would open Montauk Chemists at 725A Montauk Highway, initially hoping for an opening in December, January at the latest. Regulatory hurdles have delayed the opening.
The pharmacist plans to offer services that the hamlet had not had previously, including vaccinations in the store, virtual doctor visits, and nutritional consultants. He will sell surgical supplies, commodes, and wheelchairs, he said last year.
In November, a statement from East Hampton Town Hall reminded Montauk residents of the town’s Senior Shopping Assistance Program, which offers assistance with grocery shopping and prescription pickups for town residents 60 and above, and encouraged them to take advantage of it while there is no pharmacy in the easternmost hamlet. Under the program, which is funded by the town, the New York State Office for the Aging, and the Suffolk County Office for the Aging, senior citizens can have their prescriptions picked up by town staff and delivered to their residences. The town also offers aides who will accompany senior citizens to stores.
White’s Drug and Department Store, one of the last businesses in Montauk to remain essentially unchanged throughout the last five decades, was sold in 2023 by its then-owners, Dan Rattiner and Nancy Premisler, for $3.7 million. Deryn Trott, who owned the business for 40 years, retired.
“We are more than eager to start servicing the Montauk-Amagansett people,” Mr. Calvo said. “My staff is ready, I’m ready, we’re all ready.”