Corwin Pharmacy files for bankruptcy

LOCKPORT – Corwin Pharmacy filed for bankruptcy last week and faces several Will County lawsuits from companies saying the business owes them money.

The building, at 954 E. Ninth St., still bore the name Corwin Pharmacy on Thursday. But the store is now closed and shows space-available signs from Arcore, an Oak Brook-based real estate group.

Corwin Pharmacy was a longtime local business and a familiar store to natives of Lockport. A sign on the door still notes the business was established in 1956.

Darren Deskin, Lockport Third Ward alderman, said he grew up in Lockport and remembers going to Corwin Pharmacy as a child.

“I can remember going over there and buying our candy bars for a nickel,” he said.

He said he was sad the pharmacy, which he considers a Lockport institution, no longer exists.

The company's website is inactive, and attempts to reach Walter Beich, president and owner of Corwin Pharmacy, were unsuccessful.

Beich, owner of the company also known as Lockport Pharmacy, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Oct. 30.

With Chapter 7 bankruptcy, companies hand over their assets to a bankruptcy trustee, who then sells them to pay off creditors.

According to the voluntary petition filed in federal court, the Lockport pharmacy has between 100 and 199 creditors. It has roughly $1 million in total assets and $2.6 million in total liabilities.

The petition also states the pharmacy and Beich have several pending lawsuits.

Standard Bank and Beich have a pending foreclosure case, according to the petition. He and his Lockport Pharmacy also have two other pending cases with the bank.

In one Will County lawsuit, Lockport Plaza Association LLC is suing Beich and Corwin Pharmacy for $195,685. The company alleges it entered a lease agreement with Corwin Pharmacy’s owners, and they failed to pay rent.

In another, Masters Pharmaceutical Inc., which also does business as River City Pharma, is suing Beich and his company for $6,830 for allegedly failing to pay for goods, wares and merchandise.

Hibu, Inc., formerly known as Yellow Book Inc., is suing the company, along with Debra Hostert – listed as a personal guarantor for the company – for $12,645 for allegedly failing to pay for advertising services.

Corwin Pharmacy has its share of troubled history.

In 2012, the Lockport store was raided by federal agents and Beich was arrested on weapons charges. Beich was charged with possession of a firearm without a firearm owner identification card and possession of ammunition without a FOID card.

In July, Beich pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with no valid FOID Card, a Class A misdemeanor. He was fined $1,000 and given a conditional discharge of 12 months.