Family-owned Tuttle’s Pharmacy in Santa Rosa closing this week in sale to Rite Aid

Tuttle’s Pharmacy, an independent business that has served customers in Santa Rosa for nearly eight decades, is shutting its doors this week.

The third-generation family-owned pharmacy is closing its two Santa Rosa locations as part of a sale to Philadelphia-based chain Rite Aid, said Debbi Ling, operations manager at Tuttle’s.

The pharmacy’s Doyle Park location closed at 6 p.m. Monday and the Hoen Avenue shop is slated to close 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Ling said staffers are working to alert customers about the closure and ensure an easy transition.

“We’re doing our very best to make the transition very seamless and as easy as possible on our customers,” she said.

Few details about the sale or its impact on customers were immediately known.

Rite Aid spokesperson Catherine Carter confirmed the acquisition in an email and said Doyle Park customers will be able to fill their prescriptions at Rite Aid’s Farmers Lane location starting Tuesday and those who received their prescriptions at the Hoen Avenue pharmacy would be able to access their medication at Rite Aid starting Feb. 1.

The closure marks another blow for small, locally-owned pharmacies amid the rise in national chains and shifting consumer trends that have led more people to shop online or use delivery prescription services.

The pharmacy, owned and operated by the Pellegrini family, is one of the oldest continually operating locally owned businesses in Santa Rosa.

The Pellegrinis opened the first Tuttle’s Prescription Pharmacy in 1946 on Lincoln Street and later opened the Doyle Park pharmacy on Sonoma Avenue. They expanded into eastern Santa Rosa with the Hoen Avenue location in 1987.

Current owner Robert Pellegrini, a third-generation pharmacist, has worked in the family business since the 1970s and inherited the pharmacy from his parents, Albert and Lorraine Pellegrini.

Follow-up requests to speak with Robert Pellegrini weren’t answered by 5:30 p.m. Monday.

The family found success with loyal customers who came to enjoy the staff’s personal touch and services like free delivery. The pharmacy also was active in the community, sponsoring over the years several Little League teams whose photos hung above the counter.

Tuttle’s was the only pharmacy that remained open in the immediate aftermath of the Tubbs Fire in 2017, providing needed medication to those who were hastily evacuated from their homes.

Ling said it was a difficult decision for Pellegrini to sell the family business but operating an independent pharmacy had become difficult.

Changes in how pharmacies are reimbursed by insurers that often benefit large chains have put local pharmacy owners at a disadvantage and businesses have faced rising operations costs and hiring challenges.

Pellegrini plans to continue working as a pharmacist at the Rite Aid on Farmers Lane, Ling said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.