• Information about Camden, Belfast and Pittsfield
  
  
• Important Information regarding the closing of our Searsport and Wiscasset locations
   
• Waltz Pharmacy, Inc., has recently purchased Pittsfield Pharmacy
   
• Celebrating Independence...
   
• Retailer of the Year Award
   
• Walk to Hawaii?!?!
   
• Moving to A New Location In Boothbay Harbor
   
• Formal Merger Announcement Letter
   
• Pharmacist Hosts Ice Cream Social 
   
• Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
   
• Merger of Nine Unifies Waltz Pharmacy, Inc.
   
• National Public Radio Interview Aired July 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Camden, ME – Waltz Pharmacy, Inc., has recently purchased Pittsfield Pharmacy, bringing the total number of pharmacies owned by Dean Jacobs and his family, to nine.

Pittsfield Pharmacy, formerly owned by pharmacists Ryan and Christine Dyer, opened its doors on Main Street in Pittsfield in 1998. The Dyers, both graduates of University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, started their family in Pittsfield and looked to open an independent pharmacy of their own as an alternative to the big chain stores. With their business well established, the Dyers decided to sell their family-owned store and make the move back to Rhode Island in 2005.

Their search for “the right” buyers led them to the Jacobs family. Waltz Pharmacy was founded in 1948 by Jacobs’ grandfather, Perley Waltz. The original soda fountain is still a feature of their first location in Damariscotta. Dean Jacobs, pharmacist and CEO, learned from his parents, and worked with them to expand their style of professional, yet personalized, pharmacy care to include stores all along the Mid-Coast. Waltz has locations in Damariscotta, Wiscasset, Boothbay Harbor, Waldoboro, Camden, Belfast, Searsport, and a Long-Term Care Pharmacy in Camden.

“Pittsfield was a natural fit for us,” says Jacobs. “The Dyers have established a customer- centered, friendly atmosphere. The Waltz Pharmacy approach of providing a very high level of service that includes excellent accessibility to your pharmacist, is exactly the way Pittsfield Pharmacy has been operating for seven years.”

In a letter to customers dated Spring 2005, the Dyers wrote, “We feel fortunate to have found new owners Dean Jacobs and his family, who will capably carry on the same type of service that is truly only found in a family-owned business.”

The distance is not an issue, according to Jacobs. “Route 220 has become one of my favorite drives,” Jacobs adds, “and we are currently serving that area with our Long-Term Care Pharmacy services.”

Jacobs doesn’t plan to make many changes in Pittsfield, other than adding two local pharmacists to the staff to replace the Dyers. Other store employees remain the same. “They have a solid framework and a very loyal base of customers. I have no doubt that the service Pittsfield Pharmacy customers receive going forward will be as good as it’s always been,” says Jacobs.

Pittsfield is home to Maine Central Institute and has a population of 4,214. The town host to the annual Central Maine Egg Festival, which takes place July 20-23, and Pittsfield Pharmacy will again take its role as “Egg Festival T-Shirt Headquarters.”

For more information, contact Dean Jacobs at 230-1053 ext. 206.
 

Celebrating Independence...

If you missed us this 4th of July, mark your calendar for next year's Round Pond Parade!

The Damariscotta pharmacy team along with owners, the Jacobs, participated in the 2005 Round Pond parade. Brent Peters, R.Ph. Towed a giant lobster dressed as a pharmacist  as the crew threw candy to the crowds.

Retailer of the Year Award

Waltz Pharmacy Shared Retailer of the Year Award.  Click the link above to read more!
 

Damariscotta, February 2004

Youth Promise, and organization dedicated to keeping young people on-track and actively involved in positive experiences outside of school, has organized an event that is open to the public called, "Walk to Hawaii."

From February 2 - March 15th, all who participate (you must pre-register) will exercise at least 3 times per week, for 30 consecutive minutes, to earn mileage equivalents that will total 5, 118 - the number of miles it is to Hawaii.

The event is design to create awareness about the importance of, and positive benefits from, exercising on a regular basis. The Youth Promise group of organizers hopes that people will keep exercising long after the "Walk" is complete. Pedometers were given to each participants, and a luau celebration will complete the six-week event - complete with prizes and refreshments.

For our part, Waltz Pharmacy has enrolled 10 teams of 5 people, accounting for 50 of the 400 total participants in the event. If each person makes it to Hawaii, the team's members will be entered into great prizes donated by local businesses and purchased by Youth Promise. If all of our Waltz team members make it, that would equal 255,900 miles....

Great job and get movin'!
 

Boothbay Harbor, August 2003

The small but quaint Waltz Pharmacy on Boothbay House Hill will be moving to the Townsend Ave. Meadow Mall on August 25th! Taking over the old Harbor Insurance location, adjacent to the House of Pizza, the new pharmacy will occupy a 4,000+ square foot location. The pharmacy will now be able to carry many new product lines thanks to the additional space. One unique aspect of the new store is a kids area, with toys and games and child-sized seating. Local gifts and natural products will be new for the Boothbay Harbor Waltz.

Lots of parking, extended hours, delivery service and a larger staff will compliment the new location nicely. Also new in pharmacy service is "meet or beat" pricing - we promise to beat any written cash prescription price you've obtained from our market area. Call for details, and be sure to stop in during grand opening week, August 25-29 for door prizes and refreshments!

633-5323 or 1-800-793-5181

Camden, December 12

A formal letter has been published and is in the process of being distributed to customers, physicians and other medical professionals, announcing the merger of the seven pharmacy locations under Waltz Pharmacy, Inc. 

Click here to Read the letter
 

Boothbay Harbor, October 31

Ice Cream, good friends, and memories were the highlight of this year's Ice Cream Social at Boothbay Harbor Pharmacist Patrice's house. In an effort to preserve history and many years of memories from her father's pharmacy in Boothbay Harbor, Patrice refurbished and installed the original soda fountain from her father's store, in her house. She added the fountain to a special room in her home, which is filled with pharmacy nostalgia from years gone by.

The Ice Cream social was held on October 31, and was the site for many friends and neighbors to gather - some in costume, some not - and catch up over coffee or a frappe.

Waltz Pharmacy Teams Up to Make Strides Against Breast Cancer
Damariscotta - October 6, 2002

A gorgeous Sunday afternoon was the setting for the fourth annual American Cancer Society's "Making Strides" against breast cancer fund-raising walk. Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Damariscotta to participate in a non-competitive 3 mile walk. Waltz Pharmacy, entering a team of 19 this year, continues to see growth in participation from all locations. Donations totaling over $1,000 were collected by team participants this year. Money raised goes to support research efforts (30 of American Cancer Society's previously selected researchers have gone on to receive a Nobel Prize), education, detection and treatment costs. For more information, visit www.cancer.org.

Thanks to everyone who showed their support by walking and donating!

Waltz Pharmacy, Incorporated, Now Nine Locations Strong
     Camden - October 1, 2002

October 1, 2002 marks the first day that Waltz Pharmacy, Inc. officially operates as seven retail pharmacies, one long-term care pharmacy, and a home office providing management functions to all locations. In all, 105 people make up the staff and management of what was, in 1948, only one store in Damariscotta, run by Perley Waltz.

Today, 54 years later, his grandson, Dean W. Jacobs is the spark behind the growing family of pharmacies. His philosophy of providing highly personalized prescription services, combined with competitive prices and a vast selection of over-the-counter "wellness" medicines, has endured.

A good portion of Jacobs' growth in locations has come from buy-outs of Pharmacist-owned stores where the pharmacist has remained on staff even after the buy out. The most recent purchase involved buying out his last remaining partner - in Camden Drug, Searsport Drug and Belfast Drug - whose expertise and focus is now solely respiratory therapy.

Jacobs, along with his parents Winton and Jo-Ann, and sister Christie, currently make up the board of directors for Waltz Pharmacy, Inc. Winton Jacobs, a pharmacist, and Jo-Ann Waltz Jacobs, a retail manager, are both very visible in the original Damariscotta location. When Perley Waltz, Jo-Ann's father, became ill, it was Winton who took on the task of running the family business. Dean represents a third generation of pharmacists in the Waltz family.

Clockwise from Top Right: Dean W. Jacobs, Winton O. Jacobs, Jo-Ann Jacobs, Christie Jacobs

In time, Jacobs sees all the pharmacies carrying the name of Waltz. "There are many reasons to do this, not the least of which is gaining efficiencies in operating a business. Accounting and finance functions are much simpler. The Waltz name also carries a very positive reputation from 54 years of friendly, family-oriented service. Recognizing the importance of good prices along with good service, incorporating will translate into savings from a vendor perspective, which in turn can be passed on to our customers" Jacobs explains. Although the pharmacies will not undergo visible changes, a more unified and consistent approach will be seen from store to store.

Waltz Pharmacy, Inc. has locations in Boothbay Harbor, Wiscasset, Damariscotta, Waldoboro, Camden, Belfast and Searsport. Camden includes a retail pharmacy, a long-term care pharmacy and a home office of 15 administrative and management personnel. For more information, read the history of Waltz Pharmacy, or contact us directly.

     Copyright Protected. Made Available with Permission from National Public Radio, September 2002.