By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Middlebury’s local drugstore, Hop Brook Pharmacy at 900 Straits Turnpike in Middlebury, suddenly closed its doors last Wednesday. This reporter learned of the closing when she called the Hop Brook telephone number today for a prescription refill, and the call was answered by CVS. Thinking she had somehow misdialed the Hop Brook number, she hung up and dialed the number a second time. Again, the number was answered by the automated answering system at the CVS at 1279 West Main St. in Waterbury.
The recording instructed former Hop Brook Pharmacy customers to speak to a pharmacist. This meant going through the menu until reaching the “speak to a pharmacist” option and then waiting … and waiting … and waiting on hold until a pharmacy representative answered.
When we told the representative Hop Brook had not notified its customers of the closing, she said, “They didn’t even tell their employees.”
In fall 2013, when Hop Brook Pharmacy opened, Middlebury once again had a local pharmacy after being without one for about six years. What’s more, it was staffed most of the time by pharmacist and Middlebury resident Matt Carrano, who told the newspaper at the time how happy he was to be working in the town where he lives.
Sirisha Mallidi, a pharmacist and one of the owners, said at the time that the owners, who also own pharmacies in Newtown and New Fairfield, Conn., opened the Middlebury store because they saw the need here for a small hometown pharmacy.
Today’s events seem to explain the mailing Middlebury residents received yesterday from the Naugatuck Pharmacy. That mailing, which welcomed neighbors from Prospect, touted the business as “an independently owned local pharmacy” and mentioned long waits and the service customers receive at chain pharmacies.
We will provide further details on the closing and the switch to CVS as we uncover them.
