By JEFF MORRIS
Someday, if you look up “coming full circle,” the illustration could be Theresa Giannone. Or Katonah Way Pharmacy.
The two may be interchangeable. To many in Katonah, they are certainly inseparable.
Longtime customers will recall Giannone — or just Theresa, as everybody knows her — from her long tenure as the pharmacist at CVS on Katonah Avenue. Or, they would have until June 2023, when CVS closed that location for good.
Some may have followed her to the CVS on North Bedford Road in Bedford Hills, which was where she next wound up. But her tenure there only lasted six months.
It was in December of last year when she was finally convinced — notably by Anthony Costa, her brother-in-law — that it was time to do what she was always meant to do: open her own pharmacy.
According to Costa, it was her loyalty, dedication and work ethic that made Theresa’s time in Bedford Hills so frustrating. He said finally convincing her that she could expend all her energy on behalf of her own customers rather than having to battle the corporate powers-that-be — plus coming up with a doable lease — changed her mind about going out on her own.
The idea became reality when Theresa and three partners — Costa, Christopher Ryder and Frank Duhanaj — negotiated a lease with David Firestein, owner of the Katonah Shopping Center, for the same location where she had worked for 26 years: 294 Katonah Ave. Only now, it would be the Katonah Way Pharmacy, with Theresa as both pharmacist and owner. It was truly a dream come true.
After three months of work to transform the space with new floors and fixtures, Katonah Way opened in March, with its official grand opening April 13. Since then, Theresa and her coworkers have reestablished Katonah Way as an independent neighborhood pharmacy with the emphasis on friendly, personalized service.
And while the Katonah area may be known as home to some other celebrities, it is Theresa who has that cachet. With her signature purple hair and multicolored manicure, she has enough star power, and enough of a following, to have enabled the store to put up a full-sized cardboard cutout of her image with the simple message: “I’m Back!”
At Katonah Way, Theresa does everything from counseling customers, to filling prescriptions, to administering vaccines. She appears to be indefatigable, working six days a week, and apparently enjoys every minute of it.
She loves what she does, she says, because she has a personal relationship with all of her customers.
“It was important to me to bring back a family, which is what this store was,” Theresa said. “Everybody who came in here felt like they were part of the family, and that’s how I treat everybody, as if they’re my mother, my sister, my brother.”
That level of personalized service is something she cherishes being able to provide, and is a real contrast to what one may experience at many an understaffed, overcrowded chain pharmacy.
“It was more important to me to be able to have personal contact with people, and to be able to give them the attention that they need and answer the questions that they have,” she said. “It’s been overwhelming the response that I’ve gotten, because the community seems to be very happy that we’re here and that we’re back.”
She recalls people and families from over two decades in Katonah, watching kids grow up and sharing meaningful moments with them. Now, young mothers she served years ago bring their own teenagers in to get flu shots.
“It’s kind of like I grew up with a lot of these people,” Theresa said. “I knew the babies that are now in college, getting married and having babies of their own, I knew their grandparents. It’s definitely more like a family unit than just a pharmacy — it’s a welcoming place, and that’s what I wanted it to be. That’s why it was important. I found the corporate places were not welcoming.”
Now Katonah Way has gotten through its first months and settled into a nice routine. Word has slowly spread that Theresa is, indeed, back; she is navigating her way through an initial flu season and the store’s first holiday period. The staff are all helpful and welcoming, the premises are clean and bright, the shelves are well-stocked with all kinds of health and beauty products, gifts, cards, and more, and the customers seem comfortable and satisfied.
And, Theresa said, it’s good to be home.
Katonah Way Pharmacy is located at 294 Katonah Ave., Katonah, next to the post office. For more information, visit katonahwaypharmacy.com.