Pharmacies dot Pittston’s downtown, but competition isn’t what drives Vincent Peck III.
“I don’t worry about them; I just worry about us,” said Peck, owner of Fino’s Pharmacy on Main Street. “I don’t worry about what they do; I worry about what we do.”
For Peck, the important things Fino’s does include free delivery and 24-hour emergency service.
“If somebody needs something, they need it,” he said. “They come first.”
This mentality has driven Fino’s “every day since ever,” Peck said. For the pharmacy, “ever” dates back to 1957 when Pat Fino founded the eponymous store at 14 N. Main St. In 1962, a fire forced the pharmacy to move to its current location at 32 N. Main St. In 1967, the shop was passed down to a second generation when Pat passed away.
That generation included Mike and Vincent’s mother Mary Ann, who owned the shop until her death in 2010. Vincent and his wife Annette then became third-generation owners, while Mike and his wife Judy still work in the shop to this day.
A former CPA who began working at the shop with her husband in the early ‘90s, Annette does “what everyone else doesn’t want to.” She maintains the pharmacy’s books, handles billing, acts as an on-site HIPAA officer, handles Medicare issues and more.
She enjoys working at the shop because the patrons make it a delight.
“We have some really great customers, really just some nice, nice people, and it’s pleasant to come to work and be able to see these people,” Annette said. “If I’m redoing the card racks and I’m up to my elbows with dusting, I’ll hear, ‘Hi, how are you doing? You’re doing a good job.’ They’ll share some things about their lives, they’ll compliment you on things, they’re just nice people.”
Vince Peck IV returned to the shop for that very reason after studying pharmacy at Temple.
“Everybody’s like family,” he said. “Multiple generations of families have been coming in here and, our generation, they’re still coming in because their parents come in.”
Along with Vince, 34, the fourth generation at Fino’s Pharmacy includes Nick, 30, Dominick, 26, and Alexandra, 19. Nick handles the shop’s marketing and does a majority of product buying, while Dominick is a pharmaceutical sales representative in California who does some buying for the family business. Alexandra works at Fino’s and is studying to be a dentist at The University of Scranton.
Vincent started working at the pharmacy when he was 10, and he “loves” working with his family by his side.
“I don’t know if they love it so much,” he said. “I get to see them every day.”
His oldest son, who started at the shop when he was 16, echoed his father’s sentiments.
“It’s rewarding and challenging at the same time,” Vince said. “Working with family can be tough sometimes, but I love what I do and it’s better to work with family than strangers. It isn’t like going to work every day here.”
Fino’s has also given Vincent and Annette an extended family, which includes pharmacy tech interns and employees like Jack McCawley, 82, who has worked with the family since he was 17.
Jack loves what he does — serving the community as a pharmacy tech — because it’s “all about the people.”
For the crew at Fino’s, their extended family seems to include the people of Greater Pittston, too.
