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The closing of Super Drugs has reminded the Westwood community of the importance of its family-ru

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Sav-On opened July 1 to a variety of objections, including the lack of a Westwood Boulevard entra

A neighborhood, family-run pharmacy said its final farewell to Westwood on July 1 as the lights of its vintage green sign glimmered for the last time.

Located on the busy corner of Westwood Boulevard and Ohio Avenue, the tiny pharmacy Super Drugs, Inc. opened more than 60 years ago, and it had been serving the pharmaceutical needs of the Westwood community ever since.

“I came to visit my father so often that I feel like I grew up in this building,” Steve Loeb, owner of Super Drugs for over 40 years, wrote in a letter to the community.

Characterized by its friendly atmosphere, patrons of the pharmacy comment on the familial nature of Super Drugs. Many say that it was a very community-oriented business, and that Loeb’s concern for his neighbors was evident.

“This was a pharmacist who would give out his home number to people who were seriously ill ... they could call him day or night,” said Lila Rioth, board member of the Westwood Homeowners’ Association.

Rioth mentioned that Super Drugs had a number of elderly customers and Loeb would often open the pharmacy in the middle of the night and deliver medication to his patrons – who he thought more of as family than anything else.

“What makes leaving Super Drugs bittersweet for me is that I will be leaving you, my customers, friends and employees, who have become not only my extended family, but also to those of my wife Ruthie and our children,” Loeb wrote.

Saddened by the closing of Super Drugs many community members think of the pharmacy as one of few reminders of Westwood before it became saturated by chain stores.

“It’s just a sad situation. It’s not like he’s making millions, but he (Loeb) had his niche and his clients and it’s very sad to see that go away,” said Robert Bucksbaum, a Westwood resident and owner of Crest Theaters.

Loeb attributes the closing of Super Drugs with his desire to spend more time with his family and pursue other paths.

“I have accumulated a long ‘list’ of things that I wanted to accomplish and dreams that I would like to fulfill. Some items on my list are as simple as having more time to be with my three beautiful grandchildren. ... I might even do something I have never done before – read a book on a weekday afternoon,” Loeb wrote.

But, some Westwood officials say other extraneous circumstances may have led to the closing of Super Drugs.

“The presence of Sav-On in the neighborhood has forced Super Drugs to close. ... I think that it has forced the closure because of market conditions,” Rioth said.

The expansion of pharmacies – including Rite Aid, Longs Drugs, a counter in Ralphs and the future opening of CVS Pharmacy on July 25 – has created stiff competition, Bucksbaum said. In fact, Westwood and its surrounding area has one of the highest concentrations of pharmacies, he added.

“They’re just cannibalizing each other and eating up mom and pop companies,” Bucksbaum said.

In the face of Super Drugs’ departure, Loeb has forwarded all his patient lists to Sav-On – which opened the same day Super Drugs closed – so that no patron will be left uncared-for, he wrote.

Sav-On plans on making the transition as smooth as possible and creating the same relationship Super Drugs had with its’ patients.

Being a part of a large corporation, Sav-On will be able to provide a variety of services at competitive prices, city officials say.

Sav-On hopes to provide Westwood residents with all their health care needs and even plans on implementing a delivery service, managers say.

But Sav-on, which opened its doors for business on the heels of Super Drugs’ closure, is on terse terms with the Westwood community.

Though Sav-On will be able to provide a wide range of services, community members still have qualms with the chain-store.

Since its decision to build a Sav-On in Westwood store three years ago, the pharmaceutical chain store has been plagued with complaints from the Westwood community.

From the beginning, Sav-On representatives garnered discontent from city officials when the corporation decided to buy out United Artist Theaters in an attempt to build its store, Bucksbaum said.

The United Artist Theaters provided a unique service to the Westwood community since they would frequently show independent and foreign films, Bucksbaum said.

In addition, city officials cite numerous other infringements, and say that Sav-On has acted in bad faith over the past three years.

For example, when Rioth pushed Sav-On to comply with certain city ordinances she received a call from the pharmacy’s attorney saying that if she continued to file appeals (in the name of the homeowner’s association), 30 year-old cypress trees on the Sav-On lot would be cut, Rioth said.

“They were holding the trees hostage ... and the day we called them and said ‘no’ they got out the chainsaws (and cut the trees),” Rioth added.

Situations such as these have caused tension between Sav-On and Westwood, and many residents are skeptical of Sav-On’s commitment to the community.

Still, Sav-On hopes to create a strong bond between itself and the community.

The transfer of Super Drugs’ patient lists reveals the way in which Sav-On views the transition as a quasi-joint venture.

Sav-On has never delivered drugs before, managers say, and it’s a learning process. But hopefully, the effort will show Westwood residents that Sav-On is committed to the community.

But the question remains whether Sav-On should have come to Westwood in the first place.

“Sav-On is a nice chain, but why come here. ... There’s nothing wrong with making money in areas like Westwood, but do we really need more pharmacies?” Bucksbaum said.

Sav-On conversely says it can contribute by offering a number of potential health care programs.