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Six of 10 locally owned Mina Pharmacy locations will be renamed Longs Pharmacy, following the purchase of the isle pharmacy chain by Rhode Island-based CVS Health, Longs’ parent company.
"Longs Drugs and Mina Pharmacy share a commitment to providing the people of Hawaii with high-quality pharmacy care and superior customer service," said Harold Morse, general manager of Longs Drugs in Hawaii, in a statement.
CVS purchased all 10 Mina locations but will close four stores due to their proximity to existing Longs Drugs stores. Most of Mina’s employees have been hired by CVS, though the larger company did not divulge numbers. The Mina corporate office was not answering phone calls Thursday.
Effective Monday, all the stores’ prescription and insurance data will be transferred from Mina to Longs as well, so Mina customers in Aiea will be offered prescription service at Palama Supermarket, 98-1005 Moanalua Road; Kapolei Mina customers’ prescriptions will be available from Longs Kapolei at 590 Farrington Highway; Wahiawa Mina customers will go to the Longs at 302 California Ave.; and Kapalama Mina customers will transition to the Longs pharmacy inside Times Supermarket in the same shopping center.
The six stores to be renamed and blessed Monday morning are at 1441 Kapiolani Blvd. in the Ala Moana Building, at Hale Pawa‘a at 1401 S. Beretania St., and at 1029 Kapahulu Ave., as well as Mina locations in Hilo, Kona and on Maui.
Mina was established by Adel Etinas and Hany Guirguis 18 years ago.
"It’s been a privilege for us to serve this community," Etinas said in a statement released by CVS.
The business partners "spent a lot of time evaluating several options, and Longs Drugs was the best choice for our patients and our employees," the statement said.
