Progress Being Made on Troubled Rick's Pharmacy Buildings at 4 and 6 1st st NW in Downtown Hampton

Hampton, November 3rd 2022 - The City of Hampton has been working to address issues with the abandoned and dilapidated Rick's Pharmacy Building in downtown Hampton, discussing the matter at its recent Council Workshop on October 24th.

At the meeting Mayor Birdsall called for a review of the structural engineer building inspection report conducted in October, and city Manager Dunt gave an update on the report, produced after the city was awarded an administrative search warrant to assess conditions in the building.

From the report and minutes, it appears that although there are many issues with the building, the structural engineer did not recommend demolition for safety reasons at this time.

The city noted in the workshop minutes that they are doing "more research regarding grant options, ownership requirements for grants, and what the next steps should be." Dunt indicated that a group of local businesspeople has expressed interest in assisting with this project, but the Chronicle has not received details of what those might be.

In a January 4th, 2017, edition of the Chronicle, Rick's owner Richard Grote advised that the business, open 34 years, was closing and that as of December 31st 2016 they had no longer been filling prescriptions. Grote said that the decision to end the pharmacy portion of the business came because of his customer pool shrinking and over regulation on the part of the federal government.

Grote added that two years prior, he had made the decision to stop accepting insurance after companies were not reimbursing him for the prescriptions filled, which shrank his customer pool to those that still paid for prescriptions fully out-of-pocket. Grote said it was costing him more money to keep the software for prescriptions up-to-date than it was worth to sell them.

Grote claimed to have given his required 30-day notice of closure to his customers in July, but had then stayed open until the end of the year. He wasn't sure at that time what would become of the business and was saddened to be closing the business which was his "life's passion," but said two options in the space going forward were "a general store or a Christian gift shop."

Property records show that Richard and Debbie Grote bought the buildings on May 22nd, 1999, from Glee Wagner whom they had entered into a contract purchase for $69,900 each, on May 22nd, 1995. Records show Glee and Thelma Wagner bought the buildings in April and December of 1981, paying $24,000 for #6 and $55,0000 for #4. The Grotes later transferred the properties into an entity, Commdos Leasing, on November 25th, 2003, in a no value transaction, and the properties remain titled under that name.

Neither business Grote mentioned appears to have taken off and the properties have remained vacant for years, falling into neglect and becoming a headache for the city and the downtown business community.

Grote's LinkedIn page shows he graduated Magna Cum Laude from Creighton University with a BS in Science and Pharmacy after attending from 1977 to 1982, being "active in Rho Chi, Alpha Sigma Nu, Kappa Psi societies," and earning a "5-year degree consisting of 2 years pre-pharmacy and 3 years of professional schooling, all at Creighton University, Omaha, NE." Creighton University is a Catholic, Jesuit institution located in Omaha, Neb., that enrolls more than 4,000 undergraduate and 4,100 professional school and graduate students.

Grote's LinkedIn bio lists him as, "Retired Pharmacist and small business owner for 35+ years until forced out of business by predatory pricing of third party insurance companies and excessive state and federal regulations. My pharmacy, Rick’s Pharmacy (1983-2018) was built on personalized customer relationships."

Public records however tell a different story, one of "Failure to ensure legal operation of a pharmacy, failure to maintain policies and procedures, failure to maintain a continuous quality improvement program and failure to maintain records for Schedule 5 dispensing," as per State of Iowa Pharmacy Board meeting minutes.

On October 31st 2017 Grote was summoned before the State of Iowa Pharmacy board in case 2016-173 sworn May 9th 2017, against Richard Grote, Pharmacist License No. 16187, Hampton, but at which he failed to appear. At its January 16-17, 2018, meeting in Des Moines, the Board issued its conclusions in Memorandum M of the minutes, which detailed inadequacies dating back to 2008.

At the meeting Board Compliance officer Dan Sedlacek gave testimony that he had visited the pharmacy on October 23rd 2016, noting multiple deficiencies. Sedlacek gave further testimony in the hearing that contradicted claims Grote had made to then Chronicle editor Ethan Stoetzer, in January 2017, stating he had made the proper 30 day notice to his patients.

The pharmacy board proceeding record notes Grote as agreeing to send off a new closure notice on December 13th 2016. Sedlacek noted that after that date and on multiple visits he was unable to find the business open or locate Grote and that on visiting the closed business on August 2nd 2017, "(Mr. Sedlacek) spoke to a neighbor, who stated that he had not seen Respondent since December 2016 and did not know his whereabouts."

The Board was not able to find Grote for the January 16-17th 2018 hearing and instead notified him by publication when "he could not be located or served in any other manner." The board found the five counts were substantiated and Grote's pharmacy license was revoked, even though it was valid until June 30th 2018. He was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, and $75.00 in recording fees.

Attempts to reach Mr. Grote for comment for this story were unsuccessful. The Chronicle attempted to meet with city manager Ron Dunt for more details, but scheduling has prevented that from occurring thus far, though we hope to get more information about this developing story and the building’s disposition.

The City Hampton was able to get a demolition permit awarded in May against Judy Mulford, former owner of the former First Baptist Church on Central Ave in Hampton, with the court awarding a judgement against the property owner for the cost of the demolition, even though in that case the property had been quit claimed to another party. In the Mulford case the building had sat vacant for nearly a decade, and Rick's appears to now have been essentially vacant for almost 6 years.