CVS to close door on Jasper
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

CVS Pharmacy, which bought out Eckard Drugs in 2004, has decided to close its doors for good on Jan. 5, 2008.

"Our lease has expired and we made a business decision not to renew it," said Mike DeAngelis, public relations manager for CVS Pharmacy. "It was a business decision based on that location.

"Our preference is to always honor our lease agreements and when we came into that location we assumed the lease obligations of the previous business which was Eckards," DeAngelis said.

DeAngelis would not comment on what went into the decision to close the Jasper store location. He added that the 10 employees at the location have been offered jobs with the CVS locations in Silsbee and Lufkin.

It had rumored in recent months that CVS was searching for a freestanding space to place a store in Jasper but DeAngelis would not comment on that either.

"Many of our stores are free-standing but we do have some that are in shopping centers," DeAngelis said. "Most of our new stores are free-standing buildings."

DeAngelis said by law pharmacies are required to transfer all prescriptions at the store and he said they intend to transfer all prescriptions to the Silsbee location.