Evans City residents express concerns about closure of neighborhood pharmacy

EVANS CITY, Pa. — A longtime beloved neighborhood pharmacy in Evans City has officially closed its doors. Many customers are devasted and say it’s a huge hit to the small town.

David English, a longtime customer said, “I was quite disappointed,” said David English, a longtime customer. “But I do know the back story and I know the difficulty of running the business.”

Evans City Pharmacy and Gift Shoppe is a family-owned business along Main Street that has been around for decades.

“It’s been a mainstay. We’ve had so many things come and go but this has stayed here,” said customer Cheryl Harancher.

However, the business announced it has closed for good on New Year’s Eve. The business shared online and posted a sign on the front door saying that it was a difficult decision but due to rising costs and low, unfair drug reimbursements, they have ceased all pharmacy operations and have transferred everything to Hometown Pharmacy about five miles away in Zelienople.

“This is a walking community and there are those who don’t have access to vehicles to drive to another town to get their meds,” said English.

Channel 11 interviewed the owner Jeff Mustovic last year in May. He told us he was losing tens of thousands of dollars, and his business was in jeopardy because his pharmacy and many others were not being fairly reimbursed for medications by pharmacy benefit managers. Mustovic suddenly passed away weeks after we talked to him. For months now, his wife has tried her best to keep the pharmacy open for its loyal customers.

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“This is a small town. Everybody knows everybody. You go to bigger places, it’s not warm. This is warm and fuzzy when you walk in here. You get a greeting you wouldn’t believe,” said Harancher.

Customers said they understand it’s been a struggle but are sad to say goodbye. What’s next for this building is still unclear.

“I just know another small-town pharmacy couldn’t come in here and survive because nobody worked as hard as Jeff to keep this going and Faith his wife,” said Harancher.

The owner said the gift shop inside will remain open for the next two weeks.

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