Mansfield News-Mirror By Nicholas Sakelaris Special to the Star-Telegram?
??It?s just not what it used to be,? Danny Ray …?After 65 years in business, Danny Ray closed the doors on Ray?s Pharmacy in Mansfield, a victim of drastic changes in the healthcare industry.? {{more: continue …}}??The pharmacy business is just not what it used to be, especially retail pharmacy. It?s kind of time for me to do something different,? Ray said. ?I?ve had the store 40 years and my dad 25 years before that.??Business has been squeezed by insurance companies that charge higher copays to local businesses instead of chains. He also has to compete with insurance companies having their own mail-order delivery.?Kennedale locations shuttered ??
Danny Ray surrounded by Kennedale store staff (Photo: Ray?s Pharmacy Facebook)
Ray is also shutting down the Kennedale location, which will sell its customers and inventory to the Albertsons located at 301 Southwest Plaza in Arlington.
?The 17 employees who work at the Mansfield and Kennedale locations have mostly found work at other pharmacies, including the Market Street and Albertsons that took them over, Ray said.?
Founder Lee Roy Ray in photo from 1961 (Photo: Ray?s Pharmacy)
Some of Ray?s most loyal customers have been with him for life, going back to when his father Lee Roy Ray owned the original location on Main Street in downtown [Mansfield]. Lee Roy Ray is 92 years old and still lives in Mansfield.?
The pharmacy harkens back to a simpler time when people had a relationship with their pharmacists just like they do with their doctor ? and their doctor knew the pharmacist, Ray said.?Supporter of Kennedale community ??As recently as this month, Ray?s Pharmacies/City Drug put on a Community Water Drive and collected over 130+ cases of water for our local First Responders. Ray?s Kennedale location chose to donate their portion to the Kennedale Professional Firefighter Association.?Read full article @ Mansfield News-Mirror
