Anxious Montauk residents can breathe a little easier now: While the hamlet’s only pharmacy, White’s Drug and Department Store, will close on Oct. 31, its pharmacist, Frank Calvo, has secured a location for a new iteration, to be called Montauk Chemists.
He announced the news on Facebook about three weeks ago, saying, “This took a very long time, but the lease has been signed. . . . Thanks for your patience and support.”
The new spot is a stone’s throw from the current pharmacy on Carl Fisher Plaza: 725-A Montauk Highway, next to Anthony’s Pancake House, in the 1,300-square-foot space formerly occupied by a pet store.
“Everybody knew that I was looking for space. My customers were coming in with ideas,” Mr. Calvo, who lives in Springs, said by phone on Tuesday. “I did check out 99 percent of what was available. I did want to stay right on the main street. I did not want to go down by the docks — not that that wasn’t viable — but the pharmacy needed to be on Main Street.”
Mr. Calvo cautioned that there will still be a time when customers will need to fill prescriptions at the CVS pharmacy on Pantigo Road in East Hampton, where prescriptions will automatically be forwarded on a temporary basis. That’s because it’s going to take several more weeks to build out the space appropriately, secure a license from the state, and arrange coverage through customers’ health insurance plans. He expects Montauk Chemists to open its doors sometime between Nov. 15 and Jan. 1.
The state’s pharmacy board “will inspect the premises. There can’t be anything in the store except for the fixtures. As soon as they give me my license number, then I have the ability to order the drugs and stock the shelves.”
He is working with Stony Brook University’s Small Business Development Center and M&T Bank for support. “They have been holding my hand through the whole process and have been absolutely wonderful.”
His announcement on Facebook drew hundreds of reactions from community members.
“We’re saved, I do feel that we’re just saved,” Clio McNicholl, a frequent patron, told The Star on Sept. 10. Mr. Calvo is “not just a guy in a white coat — he’s really there for you, he has our back, he cares, and we’re thrilled he found a new space.”
In an email to The Star, Lynn Blumenfeld added, “I’m so happy that Montauk will continue to have a pharmacy. And I know it was a time-consuming and arduous path, which reflects Frank Calvo’s devotion to our community.”
Chris Pfund, whose family owns the building where Montauk Chemists will be located, said while it was sad to lose the pet shop, he is happy that the hamlet will retain a pharmacy.
“My grandfather came here in 1928 and opened up the first hardware store in ‘47. We very much are interested in seeing mom-and-pop stores be successful out here,” Mr. Pfund said yesterday. “We’re very happy to have Frank coming in and continuing that Montauk tradition. I’ll certainly give him any assistance that he needs to make that happen.”
Mr. Calvo had revealed at an East Hampton Town Board meeting in early April that the new owner of the White’s Drug and Department Store building intended to close it by Oct. 31, potentially leaving Montauk residents with no brick-and-mortar pharmacy. The building changed hands in December 2023, selling for $3.7 million; its new owner is a limited liability company called Set Wave Properties.
The new Montauk Chemists will be a state-of-the-art pharmacy, Mr. Calvo said.
“We’re going to start doing vaccinations in Montauk, which we don’t do right now,” he said. “There will be a room for the counseling that pharmacists give, but we’ll also have different disciplines come in, like a nutritionist to do consultations. . . . It will also open for the public so if someone wanted to do a virtual doctor visit, they could have that capability of doing that there. And of course, I’ll stock health and beauty aids and a full vitamin line, and the front of the store will be for different hostess gifts, fragrances, bath and body products — a pharmacy alone doesn’t make money. I need to sell other things in order to survive.”
“It’s going to be a nice store, and it’s something that Montauk needs,” Mr. Calvo continued. “It is exciting. It was overwhelming a month ago, but now it’s just work. We’re getting it done.”
