Dean’s Pharmacy turns 20

By Christina Verderosa

In 1992, Dean Watts was a district pharmacy manager for Walmart in North Carolina when he decided, If I wanted to work that much, Id work for myself.

Meanwhile, back in DeWitt, Larry Barnes, owner of Hampton Drug, decided it was time to sell his business. Both Barnes and Watts got what they wanted, and 20 years later, Deans Pharmacy is celebrating its anniversary.

Deans Pharmacy in 1992 was a much different business than it is now. It was located on Court Square in part of the building that now houses Cox Realty, and was mostly a drug store, although it offered a few additional services such as UPS pickup and photo developing. But then Deans Pharmacy began to expand.

Traffic slowed down [at the Court Square location], he said. I had the opportunity to buy the lot out here [on Whitehead Drive, across from DeWitt Hospital] and capture the traffic patterns that were changing.

In June, 2000, the new Deans Pharmacy opened in its current location. Watts said the advantages were evident immediately. Were right across the street from the hospital and the doctors offices, he said, and we have plenty of parking.

But Deans was not finished expanding. In 2002, when Jack Whitmore opened ALPS, a discount food store in Stuttgart, a branch of Deans Pharmacy moved in. (It moved to Mayflower when ALPS closed). In 2009, Watts acquired the third location in Marianna.

There was no real master plan, Watts said to grow to three locations, but it certainly helped when he married another pharmacist, Karen Snyder, in 2002. In addition to working as a pharmacist, Karen Watts has played a major role in building Deans gift business. The gift business has expanded four- or five-fold, Watts said.

In 2010, Deans made another major change when it bought DeWitt Economy Drug from Alton and Kathryn Chambless. The move brought new customers and also new staff.

The Economy Drug crew is still working here, Watts said. While Alton Chambless has filled in at the pharmacy, Kathryn Chambless has been working with the new Medicare Part D drug programs to help customers find the program they need. This is something we become very involved in every year, Watts explained. Trying to get seniors matched up with the plans that will provide the most coverage for their prescription drugs can be complicated.

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Dean’s Pharmacy turns 20