Jackson Jambalaya

Their Facebook page just posted three hours ago and it didn't seem like there was anything but business as usual. The post was an ad, there's no way to tell if it was automated or not. .

I knew it was coming, but I hate to see it. Pinky grew up with my folks and took care of my family for a decade. His store always felt like what Jackson was at it's best.

Agree. I love the store. Mayberry. So sad.

McDade's.....is next.

So very sad. Is there even another independent drug store left in Jackson?

Best to Lester in retirement, he's earned it.

It's sad but simple.

A classic example of the basic principles of economics.

What's the big deal. Businesses this age typically go out of business after sixty or more years. It's no reflection on Jackson other than it's amazing it lasted this long in town.

4:07 -- McDades has already been sold. The McDades are now retired.

Never went there myself! Oh well. I prefer the Walmart Pharmacy. Everyone is so knowledgeable there, plus I use my employee discount and save A LOT of money.

The Walmart Pharmacy in South Jackson?

Can’t stand the local mom pop pharmacies. I’d rather take my Federal BCBS and go to the large retail chains where you are guaranteed a certain level of service. I don’t trust an old pharmacist that has been more than a few decades removed from formal pharmacological education. Good riddance dinosaur!

Good riddance dinosaur

Bless your heart, Susie Sunshine.

Well, I work in Flowood. That was always too far of a drive for me. I'll stick to my gas station pharmacy thank you very much.

Eckards, beemon,superD... many other pharmacies around the country continue to be gobbled up by CVS and Walgreens... I guess now I will use CVS

"A part of Jackson dies..."

So, what are we up to now, 415% of Jackson dead?

@5:21 - You can shop at Walmart, Sam’s, Lowe’s, or any of the big biz stores. They are great until something goes wrong. When you have a problem, it is worth the extra nickel to be able to talk to real people like Lester Hailey, Johnny Maloney, and all the other “dinosaurs” referred to by @5:40. I will stick with local.

"Good Riddance Dinosaur"
I hope I never end up with your attitude. Beemon's has been a mainstay of my family for over 60 years--- Mr. Beemon, Mr.Shows, Lester Hailey and the wonderful staff old and young. Truly personal and professional service beyond compare. They know you there. So take your big retail chain and enjoy it.

Beemons has always been service first and Lester is a fine person who would give you the shirt off his back.

Congrats to Lester but I really hate the way he is going out, mug guess is his employees would have bought him out given the opportunity. Huge void to fill.

Isn't Kroger now the # 3 pharmacy?

My parents did business with Beemon's, from the time they opened until about 2 years ago. Lester knew the family and there were a few times where he would actually "front" a med or two for my elderly parents. My Dad was a retired Navy Officer in his late 80's early 90's still doing business with Beemon's, then one day he received a letter in the mail from the Admiral of the Navy convincingly telling him he'd have to sign up with a mail order outfit, Express Scripts I seem to remember out of Arizona, if he still wanted Medicare and Tri-Care to pick up the tab for his meds. Dad was livid. It was if the Federal Government had taken away his freedom to go to the drug store of his choice in person to get what he needed. A few years of Express Scripts mail order drugs went by, he'd get a bottle of 300 of something when he already had 4 unused bottles of the same stuff on hand. On his behalf, I tried contacting Express Scripts to cut off the excess prescriptions that they were billing the Feds and he didn't need. I spoke with Lester at Beemon's about all of this and rightfully so, he wasn't too happy losing a longtime good customer to an outfit he couldn't compete with, by design. In the end Lester and the staff helped me get my Dad out of the Express Scripts nightmare and back as a local customer.

My dear friend Jim used to drive the Chevy Chevette drug delivery vehicle in the summers back in the late 70's early 80's and would laughingly proclaim "I get to drive around and deal drugs out of a 'vette".

And finally. It is true. Lester was once in a band named "Smokey Bear and the Hot Bowl of Soup".

It's usually a lack of business when a retail operation like this closes rather than passes on to the next generation or is sold to someone else who wants to operate it. At that point everyone laments about it, but the time Beemon's needed your concern was before they closed, not after. I encourage everyone to shift their shopping away from the chain stores to the locally owned stores, provided there are any left, to keep them from suffering the same fate as Beemon's.

Not one single person has noted the high probability that the owners of Maywood Mart may have doubled his rent just like they tried to do with Ace Hardware. McDades may have been sold but they could very well be next on the chopping block. Lease matures, rent goes up, local business can't afford to pay and presto, we have Moes and a Dollar Store. Oh yeah, and screw up your parking lot with speed bumps and a new layout. The Ace space got carved up into three storefronts with Moes taking one of them. Moes is probably paying the same if not more than Ace was for one-third of the space. Simple economics but it may not make good long term business sense. McDades Grocery, McDades Liquors and Beemans drive a lot of customers to Maywood Mart.

Um, if Lester is retiring, isn't that a good thing, at least for him? Lots of folks actually look forward to it and he certainly isn't obligated to die at his desk just so a handful of folks can shop like it is 1959 again. Shit, why not just wish the man well and hope he enjoys a well-earned retirement?

Beemons is one of the busiest independent pharmacy in Jackson, MS. It isn't the lack of customers because they are closing. As for Walmart Pharmacy being good, I don't think so. They close at lunch time where other pharmacies don't. It takes all day to get your prescription filled. You have to wait in line for 30 minutes to get your prescriptions.

Capitalism is a cruel taskmaster.

I shop at Walmart.com, Amazon.com, Ebay.com, Zennie.com optical & Canada's Parma's. Hate having to go to an actual store & see all the grotesque overweight people. Soon Kroger.com & will put my cold & frozen delivered food in my refrigerator.

Service Drugs on 51. Great folks. Tripplet-Day in Gulfport- the best drug store in the state.

My understanding is he tried to sell it for two years but none of his people wanted to purchase the business.

As for MM itself, well, the rent goes for around $40 per square foot.

One local group was interested in buying it a few years ago, New York wouldn't even call them back.

@4:17, not sure about Jackson, but Polk's is local and they have several locations. The BEST in Rankin County is Brandon Discount Drugs. Lots of local Pharmacy's in the 'burbs.

Lester and all the staff at Beemons are great, you don't get customer service like that at a national chain. Thank you, Lester and crew, for being part of our family for so long (3 generations in fact). Lester I hope you enjoy retirement, you've earned it! We will miss all of you.

@ 8:39
The difference is Polks has multiple locations unlike Beemons... the 1 shop pharmacies are as good as gone in today's pharmaceutical world. Polks saw this happening long ago and wisely expanded.

Out-of-town ownership of MM and HV has driven many locally owned stores out of those facilities. Afraid the small independent stores will be in steady decline with online retail in general.

I remember when Brent's closed as a drugstore too. If I recall correctly, the drugstore portion was bought out by CVS so they could shut that portion of the business down so they wouldn't compete with their store not too far away. I bet the same goes for Beemon's since the prescriptions are being transferred to CVS. So he is probably getting something for the business.---On a separate note, we did business with Brent's for years before they quit existing as a drugstore. Drug delivery, personal service etc. Mr Heflin even came in one Sunday when my mom's prescription, unknown to us, ran out and it was critical that she not miss a dose. If he was out of a specific drug he would call Lester to see if he had it in stock. Don't get that level of service any more. Sad

I love going to Beemons. I quit using the chain stores a while ago when there would be nobody in the store and my prescription would take 30 mins to fill. Lester Hailey is most certainly a class act, and the best to him and his family for retirement.

Didn’t realize so many on here were so into drugs. What is this world coming to? How about go for a jog and eat a salad occasionally and your local pharmacist won’t become part of the family.

I feel as if we have had a death in the family with Beemons closing. I have been a customer for over 45 years. It is such a loss. I will not go to CVS. I wish some young ones could have taken it over. Loved all the women who worked there and the young guys. They knew you and served you. This also shows how Maywood Mart is going down hill. Since the out-of-state owner has taken over, the only thing left is Watercolor, Logan Farms, and McDades. Since McDades has been bought out, I cannot say much about them. The quality has gone down hill. It is such a shame to see how Highland Village and Maywood has changed. The City of Jackson also does not realize how important Northeast Jackson is to the survival of Jackson. With our streets, we look like a third-world country.

PAID TROLLS for Big Box Pharma? Looks like we've heard from several (or maybe one posted several times). How does that work? Do they have some sort of bot trawling the Internet, looking for news and blogs with headlines which include the word,'Pharmacy'?

Most folks in Jackson use the street pharmacy anyway.

@ 2:46
I can only assume your referring to the owners of highland village ridding of local shops as we as Maywood mart. Lost pizza is fairly local and there will be another restaurant where Beemons was. Highland village has that awful Lulu lemon and vineyard vines shop. Buffalo peak red square Maison wiess etc.

The only thing I hate about LuLu Lemon is that my girls spend an inordinate amount of money there. I wish I owned that shop.