Hometown Pharmacy has opened a bigger, stand-alone location in Cornersburg, consolidating its Western Reserve Road and former Sparkle Market operations into one site at 3516 S. Meridian Road in Youngstown. The new building sits directly across from the Cornersburg Sparkle Market and gives the independent pharmacy room for consultations, vaccinations and other services.
The move follows the closure of the former Sparkle Market location on Western Reserve Road, where Hometown Pharmacy had operated inside the grocery store before it shut down, according to WKBN. That Western Reserve Road pharmacy closed for good at the end of the business day on May 11, 2026, as reported by WFMJ. Patients from that store did not need to transfer their own prescriptions, since the pharmacy handled the transfers itself, and the same pharmacy team continued serving them at the new location, the station reported.
A Former Bank Building Becomes a Clinical Pharmacy
Hometown Pharmacy purchased the building at 3516 S. Meridian Road to create the additional space, according to the Business Journal Daily. The former Huntington Bank building was converted into a 1,900-square-foot modern, clinical pharmacy, per the same outlet's earlier reporting on the merger. Part of that space became a dedicated consultation and vaccination room where patients can receive vaccinations or speak privately with a pharmacist.
The Cornersburg location also includes an expanded retail area, additional employee workspace and drive-thru access, according to the seed facts behind this report. Hometown Pharmacy pharmacists Matt Mrozek and Stephanie Mrozek said the expansion helps accommodate patients and address community healthcare needs, and the pair emphasized personalized customer service and continued investment in the Youngstown community.
What the New Location Offers Patients
Beyond the consultation and vaccination room, the new site offers medication synchronization and adherence support, expanded immunization and preventive-care options, and continued delivery service, according to WFMJ's earlier coverage of the planned relocation. The pharmacy also provides long-term care and compounding pharmacy services, and it advertises prescriptions ready in 15 minutes or less, according to its own location page on thehometownpharmacies.com. The Cornersburg store is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., per the same source.
Hometown Pharmacy has served the community for more than 25 years and operates 12 community retail locations, focusing on independent pharmacy services and relationships with local patients. The business traces back to the Mrozeks' mother, Wanda Mrozek, who left a job at a big-box pharmacy to open The Hometown Pharmacy inside Joseph's Marketplace at 2716 Mercer Road in New Castle, Pennsylvania, according to the Business Journal Daily's earlier profile of the company.
Part of a Wider Shift in Ohio Pharmacy Access
The Cornersburg expansion comes as independent-pharmacy openings and closures reshape access to prescriptions across Ohio. Data from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy shows that 223 pharmacies closed statewide in 2024, nearly double any other year in the past decade, amounting to nearly one in 10 Ohio pharmacies shutting down, according to News 5 Cleveland.
Even as major pharmacy chains have pulled back, some independent operators are moving into the gaps. Elite Pharmacy, launched in 2022 by Jacob Sweet and Daniel Jones, opened its fifth Northeast Ohio location in Ravenna, taking over the former Speidels Medical Arts Pharmacy space, and also opened a store in East Palestine in October, the station reported. In Garrettsville, the chain became the only pharmacy within nine miles after a nearby Rite Aid closed in 2024, and it offers free delivery and medication compounding alongside standard prescription filling. Hometown Pharmacy's own consolidation in Cornersburg reflects a similar pattern of independent pharmacies adapting their footprint as grocery-store partnerships and competitor locations disappear across the region.
