The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, September 13, 1995 3 — | Druggists | Ee More tratfic lights likely ' on our computer. rate.” t,~,.,-.'This is a first-name trusting . + ‘business. Now these same people, who can call us for free delivery, Trucksville Pharmacy's Neil Billek, a 15-year veteran, adds his thoughts: “We are often asked, in to wait until spring ~~ to.2 p.m. open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. EER hh Ch ve 3 “ £E:3 Ck a i 4 The-branch employs 16, and is 2 ~ I | I : I ! I I I ! ! i i ! ! i i I J are being forced to deal with large “and distant firms whose only serv- ice philosophy is based on their boitom profit line.” -Piavis says, “The past year’s closings mean that millions of ‘consumers have lost their local pharmacy and millions more are +. ‘being forced to take prescriptions to° pharmacies not of their own choosing. Worse, they are directed “to use mail-order companies which are miles away, and who may not "comply with safety regulations our {Eominonwealih enacted.” * “There goes your personal at- ; tention, Piavis adds. “Don’t think -.forone minute a mail-order giant's -‘eustomer service desk will answer your questions. They don’t even know who you are.” At the Medicine Shoppe phar- ‘macy in Dallas Shopping Center, Trucksville’s Gary Karwaski is a rally booster, and is optimistic to -.boot.. He says, “It's a start. It's 3¥ about time we let people know we “aren danger of going from the best pharmacy system in the world toa ‘mediocre system at best.” «.». Gary is a former CVS District “Manager and says, “That was OK, @ and-they are in the same boat, but "* this’is better. And I think people will fight the city-hall-type mental- ity telling them what they can or can't do. They will also be willing to pay a little extra for quality care person and on the phone, ques- tions about dosages and the like. With or without meals?” Any side effects? What about generic? We answer these and many other questions all the time, and we don’t mind. It's part of our service. Customers are going to lose all | that if they are forced to deal miles away. Generics, incidentally, are not all they are cracked up to be. They can change color, or size, without notice. Will the mail-order desks explain about that? I don’t think so.” Billek also points to the growing trend of pharmacy counters being added to supermarkets. “One more worry,” he says. “They admit profit is not a goal; the idea is go get people into the store.” On the ballots being distributed by local, county and national pharmacy organizations members are three check points for their customers: 1) To attend the rally at their local pharmacy at 12 p.m. on September 20, 2) To let their family and friends know the precarious situation neighborhood pharma- cies are in,. and 3) To tell their employers they want insurance coverage that provides high qual- ity and allows freedom of choice. Worthy goals, many would say. It was bad enough to lose the soda fountain at the corner drugstore. It would be disastrous to lose the store itself. Bob Fino actively supports next week’s “High Noon” rally day to save neighborhood pharmacies from the insurance industry giants. Bob and Ruth Fino live on Center Hill Road, and are the parents of three: Leanne, 27, who helps out in the Dallas store; Dominic, Jr., 25, a Wilkes Student and Michael, 23, a pharmacy student in Philadelphia. Fino has been in the pharmacy business 33 years. Banks (continued from page 1) L 4 longer hours made desirable in Baar by the supermarket location. “People have to get used to 3 supermarket banking,” said Pio- * neer American president Donald *: Hoyle. “We've been very pleased withthe results.” 3 The Mr. Z's branch employs six =: full and part-time persons, and *. haslonger Saturday hours, 9a.m. in addition to being ‘, While there's no drive-up window or safe deposit boxes, Hoyle says the branch offers every other serv- . ice available at free-standing of- fices. Hoyle said Pioneer considered + building a separate office, butlikes | to open supermarket offices where “possible. because of the savings. “He ‘said the bank can open six & ‘thdrket offices for the same cost as building one free-standing “branch. At the end of this year the bank will have 18 branches, eight of them in supermarkets. The Back Mountain has a total of about $200 million in deposits in all bank branches, Hoyle said, making it an attractive area for expansion. Existing banks haven't left well oO enough alone, either. Expanded | "hours, new services, and branch | relocations have been common. When PNC took over First East- ern in 1994, it merged its office near‘the Country Club Shopping Center into the First Eastern branch at the intersection of Routes 309 and 415. The result is a very busy office that the bank is ‘now thinking about expanding. probably the largest in the Back Mountain. “One of the attractive features of the branch is it covers a broad spectrum of business,” said Carl Lisman, executive vice president in charge of consumer banking at PNC. The branch performed ex- ceptionally well in a recent pro- motion to attract new accounts & ffrom persons 50 years and older, - and is “one of the best” for con- sumer loans, Lisman said. It will probably be one of the best for ATM, or “MAC” machine transactions once a new model is installed later this year. Lisman said the new “advanced function ATM" will be the first of its kind in the region, with added features such as the ability to cash checks to the penny. The former PNC branch “from a PNC standpoint, wasn’t that ac- tive,” Lisman said. From Franklin First Savings Bank's perspective, the old PNC office is just fine. Franklin First moved into the building in June, after several years in the Dallas Shopping Center. Having an ATM atall is a move up for the office, as well as drive-up windows, safe depositboxes and a night deposit, all of which were unavailable in the cramped former quarters. And it's paying off, said Frank Ferenchick, manager, pointing out that the branch, which is eight 16 Carverton Road, Trucksville call Anead CTR PR T0IY Eat in or Take Out Try Our Wings! Mon.: 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm Tues., Wed., Thurs.: 4:00 pm - 11:00 pm Fri.: 11:00 am - 12:00 Midnight Sat.: 12:30 pm - 12:00 Midnight * Sun.: 2:00 pm - 11:00 pm times the size of the old office, was justnamed branch of the quarter. “When PNC left, they left a void,” Ferenchick said, which he is trying to fill. Richard Mebane, executive vice president of Franklin First, de- scribed the old office as “woefully inadequate,” especially consider- ing the bank's growth. “Across the board, things are growing," in the Back Mountain, Mebane said. While deposits and mortgages have been increasing at the bank's two Back Mountain branches — the other is in Shavertown — the addition of trust services and a new emphasis on business bank- ing require more space and per- sonnel. Franklin First now employs about eight persons at each branch. Mebane thinks the spurt in banking offices here could simply be coincidence, that perhaps several banks simply saw the opportunities here at the same time. - the banking industry thinks is “It's an indication of what happening in the Back Mountain.” Mellon Bank has maintained an office in Dallas for several years, one which was retained when Mellon took over United Penn Bank. Even that office has been affected by the changes, recently adding Saturday morning hours. And First Fidelity, which took over the former Merchants Bank offices in Shavertown and Dallas, continues to operate both offices. And First Valley Bank, which is the former Hanover Bank, runs a thriving office along Route 309 in Dallas. WV More to come More expansion is on the way. Grange National Bank, headquar- tered in Tunkhannock, hopes to open by November, 1996 in the retail complex that is slated for the former “Duke” Isaacs auto dealership property in Trucksville. Tom McCullough, the bank's president, says he has signed a letter of intent and made a deposit on space in the first of three build- ings that will be constructed there, and is negotiating a lease. He's pleased that a traffic light will be installed at the entrance because that will make the branch “very safe and very accessible.” Grange National had purchased a lot on Route 309 next between Mountainside Manor and the for- mer Coscia’'s Restaurant, but decided the Trucksville location held more opportunity. McCull- ough feels the mergers of large banks has created an opportu- nity for smaller ones, as some customers inevitably become unhappy with the changes. With six branches including one in Bowman's Creek, Grange National has total assets of about $88 million, which, McCullough says, is large enough to meet depositors’ needs but still small enough to provide personal serv- ice. : American Red Cross BLOOD DRIVE To be held at Dallas United Methodist Church 4 Parsonage St. September 21 from 10 to 4 Sponsored by: ENCON ENERGY CONVERTORS, INC. DALLAS, PA ELECTRIC HEATING ELEMENTS SHEATH OPEN COIL By JOHN SANSEVERE Post Correspondent LEHMAN - The Back Mountain Transportation Management As- sociation was told Sept. 7 that work on traffic signals along routes 309 and 415 will probably not take place until spring. Intersections at Franklin Street and Center Street in Shavertown, and Main Street and Center Hill Road in: Dallas, will be widened and new or upgraded lights will installed. “Most of the work will take place in the spring,” said Bob Hassel project manager for the Pennsyl- vania Department of Transporta- tion (PennDOT). Bidding for the projects will start on October 5 and will take 45-60 days to make sure all legal require- ments are met. Fair Queen runner-up Marina Knappman of Trucksville, a junior at Dallas High School, was voted first runner-up in the Luzerne County Fair Queen contest Saturday. She's the daughter of Richard and Marlene Knappman. POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Fabricating the signals for the intersections will take another 45 days, and will be done over the winter for work to resume in March, according to Hassel. Funding for the project comes 80 percent from the federal gov- ernment and 20 percent from the state. The $2.5 million budget is partofa 12-year master plan which is broken down into four-year segments. Transportation plans will be updated statewide in the first two weeks of November by the state transportation commission. Part of the review will examine cost overruns on the projects on Route 309, Route 118, Route 415and the intersections. “The five intersections pushed the cost above the original project money available,” said Ron Bacci, traffic engineer for PennDOT. A Newspaper collection in Lake Twp. Sept. 16 Newspaper will be collected at the Lake Township Drop Off Center on Route 29 on Saturday, Sept. 16 from 9a.m. to 11 a.m. Paper should be packed in paper bags and all glossy inserts removed. Items from every department. BACK-TO-FALL SALE Special Groups of Fall Merchandise 1/310 1/2 oft All Sales final. Lay-a-ways not included. \ he kidvie Fogpe United Penn Plaza, Kingston Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri. & Sat. 10-5:30... Thurs. 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