The Lunenburg Ledger should be available for purchase at the CVS store in the Whalom District because it contains a lot of community information.  We have been trying to make this happen ever since they opened last August and what a long, sad trip it’s been.

 Almost a year ago we spoke with the store manager who took all the contact information and said that the district manager would get in touch with us.  Months went by and we were continually fed the same line when we called. 

 This past spring our store delivery manager made a personal appearance at the store and the assistant manager gave us the name of the district manager for the Lunenburg store.  We called said-person several times and did not receive a call back. 

 At this point, nine months after our initial contact, we again called the district manager to heighten our displeasure with their lack of communication in setting up our account.  In the mean time, our competing newspapers had been for sale at the store since it opened 11 months ago.

 Now our mission was to contact a person who is in charge of the newspapers. It was the beginning of the summer and that person was on vacation.  We were told to e-mail him and that he would get back to us. 

 Guess what? 

 We waited a month and he did not respond so we went back to the district manager.  He had moved to a different position in the CVS Caremark Corporation, but he did give us the name and number for the replacement district manager.  We called him and only then did we get a response from the newspaper buyer.  He e-mailed us the following: “We are currently looking to reduce newspapers in stores so adding additional at this time is not an option ... That being said we will consider your request, however, adding it is unlikely.”

 So that’s the end of the line for us.  It is not fair that our competition is allowed to sell their newspapers at CVS and The Lunenburg Ledger is banned from the store. 

 As some of you know, all our newspapers are delivered to stores on consignment.  That means no retailer has to spend a dime to carry our newspaper.  Although it is a cash and carry system, we can invoice retailers.

 When looking at the CVS Caremark Web site, one gets a warm and fuzzy feeling as pictures of hugging people, smiling faces and camaraderie dots their part of cyberspace.  But the truth is.....CVS doesn’t really give a !@#! 

 According to CVS president Tom Ryan, who is the Chairman and CEO: “As our company has grown, we have maintained a steadfast commitment to responsible business practices.”

 Responsible business practices?  I don’t think so.