Closing the doors on a landmark

Over the years, the doors of Waltz Pharmacy have opened despite every imaginable weather condition. However, owner Phil Waltz will tell you that a different type of storm is the reason the doors of his store will close for good today.

“You could say the perfect storm made me realize the time was right,” Waltz explained. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it before. But the perfect mix of circumstances let me know it was time to retire.”

For over half a century, Waltz Pharmacy has been a mainstay in Ruston. A cherished landmark within the historic downtown, it is the last pharmacy standing from the golden years when there was a drugstore on practically every corner.

Over the years, Waltz has taken care of countless patients, something that has been the driving force behind the business’s success.

“I’ve really loved serving my customers and felt like I helped people,” Waltz said. “I decided way back if I can’t take care of someone the best I can, I need to be doing something else. So that’s what really drove me all these years.”

Waltz set up shop downtown in 1972. He had briefly worked in Baton Rouge but was thrilled to return to his hometown. With a loan from William Marbury and the old Ruston State Bank, the young pharmacist opened his doors. However, he will tell you things didn’t go exactly like he expected.

“The first day I opened, I expected everybody I knew to come rushing in to get their prescriptions filled,” Waltz recalled. “ But that didn’t happen. The first day I think I filled 15 prescriptions. I wondered what I had done.”

The burgeoning businessman endured. He made it a family affair with his wife and daughter making deliveries and helping in the store. Plugging along, he had the business paid off within a year and a half.

He never looked back.

He admits it’s been a lot of fun. However, measuring pharmacy today against such enjoyment has been instrumental in the decision to close the store.

“Honestly, pharmacy is evolving to a point to where it’s no fun for me anymore,” Waltz lamented. “ Over the last two years the whole process has been going downhill. It’s becoming harder and harder to do what’s expected for you to stay in business.”

Waltz recalls when his uncle, Dr. Calvin Reeves, steered him away from medicine and toward pharmacy so that he wouldn’t be “ stretched so thin.” But with the rise of greater restrictions and requirements from insurance companies, expanded telemedicine and e-script issues, and additional codes to scan and track where medications come from, he has found the additional layers are taking him farther and farther away from the work he loves.

“It adds so much time,” Waltz said. “ I came here to try and take care of folks as best I could. I felt like that was my job. But the new mindset seems to be different. And it doesn’t let me take time with my customers.”

Walgreens will now have first dibs on Waltz customers. The national chain purchased the Waltz inventory with everything going to the location on California Avenue. Jody Adams has bought the building, but per the sales agreement, Waltz will lease it for 12 months to ensure no other drugstore or health food store locates there over the year.

However, that will give him time to deal with some of the more personal items that have created the unmistakable ambience of the store. Like all the antique typewriters.

“That all started as a joke,” Waltz said with a laugh. “A customer brought me one and then people just started bringing more. I don’t especially like old typewriters but it’s been fun for my customers to build the collection.”

Then there’s the expansive Coca- Cola memorabilia and incredible El Camino collection.

“My parents wouldn’t let me have a Coke until I was 8 years old,” Waltz said. “I guess then I decided to make up for lost time and just stayed with it. As for the El Caminos, I’m just an El Camino guy. I love them. So, that part is really me.”

Another thing that is purely Phil Waltz has been his unwavering commitment to his customers. While he may have locked the doors at 6 each evening, he remained until sometimes 10 at night to make sure he had everyone’s prescriptions filled. Counting every pill by hand with his spatula while staying true to the old-school mindset that fueled his desire to open his shop, the customer has been at the forefront of every decision over the past 50-plus years.

“I just really love my customers,” Waltz said. “ That has made this so emotional. It was so much easier going into business than it is going out. But it’s been such a good run. And I’m really grateful for it all.”