WINONA, Minn. – The last independent Winona drug store, the 130-year-old Goltz Pharmacy on Third Street, locked the doors for the last time. Brother Dan and Paul Goltz had kept the pharmacy going until 2016, when they sold the business to Colony Rx, a collection independent companies, that they hoped could keep it going. The Goltzes, fourth generation pharmacists, foresaw the end. For the past few years insurance companies were reimbursing customers at lower copays at high-volume chains like Walgreens. In the end, Walgreens bought Goltz from Colony Rx and picked up the dwindling list of loyal Goltz customers. The store had 10 employees. Nationally 4,000 independent pharmacies closed last year because of the squeeze from insurance managers.
Remember when
Generations of customers not only picked up Rx’s at Goltz. The shop had the best newsstand in town. It sold and rented medical equipment like wheelchairs. Yes, there once was a soda fountain.
Another downtown vacancy: 274 East Third Street.