Riley Drug in Geneva ends 55-year run as independent pharmacy

GENEVA – After 55 years in business as an independent pharmacy in Geneva, Riley Drug owner Tim Riley is retiring and his files of prescriptions will go to CVS.

“Our pharmacy will close Jan. 12 and prescriptions will be confidentially transferred to CVS in Geneva,” Riley said. “We chose CVS because they are best position for pharmacy in the future. … And CVS announced there will be positions for some employees.”

He said they will start announcing it to customers after Jan. 1.

While the prescriptions will be moved to the Geneva CVS, patients can get their medications at any CVS, he said.

The medical equipment portion of the store will remain, but the new owner has not been determined yet, Tim Riley said.

Riley’s father Jim Riley bought a drug store in 1965 that had been called Wayne Drugs where old State Street Jewelers was located before moving to corner, Tim Riley said.

“Then he moved it to the current location at 415 W. State St. in 1972,” Tim Riley said. “He retired and I took it over in 1999.”

There is no one in the family willing to take it on as an independent pharmacy, he said.

After 20 years at the helm of an independent pharmacy, Tim Riley said he is ready to be retired and do some traveling – after the pandemic, of course.

“Being the owner – there’s not a lot of time off … I have not seen a lot of things in U.S.,” Tim Riley said. “It’s a difficult world for individual pharmacists, such as myself.”