By Bill Parry
Frank’s Pharmacy has a new home in Jackson Heights.
The 20-year-old business has been rootless since a five-alarm fire destroyed the Bruson Building, at 74-09 37th Ave., in April, displacing 50 businesses as well as the Queens Community House and Plaza College.
In the immediate aftermath of the blaze, owner Frank Buonagurio was able to retrieve prescriptions for all of his senior citizen customers, fill them at a friend’s pharmacy in Ozone Park and then deliver the medicine himself.
That kind of action endeared him to the community and their input helped secure his pharmacy’s new location.
“I know there was some feedback from the neighborhood that the property owner took into consideration when he made the decision,” CPEX realtor George Danut said. “There were some national operators taking a long look at that property, but in the end the owner decided to go with Frank because he’s so well-established in the neighborhood.”
Buonagurio is currently preparing to move his business into the former location of Maram Pharmacy and Surgicals on the corner of 37th Avenue and 77th Street. Maram went out of business in September after 30 years while the location has been a pharmacy sine the 1930s.
The new site has 2,300 square feet on the ground floor with an additional 2,300 square feet of storage space in the basement.
“Of course, the economics had to make sense for both sides,” Danut said. “But in the end it helped that he is so well-liked in the community.”
Buonagurio, known to treasure his privacy, did not return phone calls for this story.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
