Dexter Pharmacy will move to new quarters in Baker Road health complex
Artist's rendering
A.R. Brouwer Company is developing the 7.6-acre Baker Road site in the southern part of the village. Village records show the property is owned by BST Investments, of Dexter. The site is within the boundaries of the Dexter Downtown Development Authority district.
Phase one of the site plan — approved Sept. 14, 2009, by the Dexter Village Council — calls for two “outlots” on the property. The pharmacy will occupy one, and an office building will be built on the other.
The 45,000-square-foot Dexter Wellness Center will also ultimately be constructed on the site.
Wah Yee Associates, of Farmington Hills, is the architect.
“It’s a great opportunity to be in a new space and to be part of what is hoped to be a future medical complex,” said Marni Schmid, Dexter Pharmacy’s director of operations. Her father, Fred, owns Dexter Pharmacy, and despite being partially retired is “very much involved in the new store and current operations,” she said.
Schmid added that making the move “actually wasn’t a huge thing on our radar” before the development company’s president, Steve Brouwer, pitched the proposal last summer.
She said the target date for the grand opening is late October.
Colorbök, a manufacturer of specialty stationery products for the hobby and craft industry, formerly occupied the premises.
“There are a lot of buildings there that still have to be demolished,” said Dave Niswonger, vice president of A.R. Brouwer.
Last Aug. 2, a fire that was blamed on an overheated rooftop air conditioning unit caused minor damage at the Dexter Pharmacy’s downtown location at 8059 Main St. Complications with the insurance company have prohibited the store’s reopening. Schmid said all downtown staff were absorbed into the pharmacy’s second location at 7039 Dexter-Ann Arbor Road.
In 1978, the Schmids bought McLeod’s Pharmacy at 8111 Main St., moved the store to the present downtown location and changed the name. The downtown store will be remodeled and made available for lease, according to a statement released by the pharmacy. The second store will close when its lease expires at year’s end.
All employees will transfer to the new store, which will occupy the building’s 10,000-square-foot lower level. It will feature a drive-through window, as well as space inside for administering vaccines, performing health screening and counseling customers on such matters as Medicare protocols and assisted-living contacts.
The pharmacy will own the space in a condominium arrangement, Niswonger said. The 10,000-square-foot upper level remains available for sale or lease.
The pharmacy obtained financing for the purchase of its space through Chelsea State Bank. No sale price was disclosed.
Village Council president Shawn Keough said he's proud the Schmids are investing in the new facility and staying in Dexter.
“The tax revenue that the new building will create is going to go a long way towards helping our downtown be able to reinvest in keeping the community looking the way it does and making things safe for our residents,” Keough said.
He noted that the revenue will also help the DDA to improve the Baker Road corridor’s appearance.
“People take pride in a local pharmacy," he said. "They trust it. They’ve known it for years. I’m proud that we’re still able to have it in our town.”