Remember Walgamot’s Drug Store and soda fountain? It later became Walgamot and Orahood, then Orahood and McCarthy, and then just McCarthy Pharmacy.
It closed in 1998. That was when Rite Aid bought the business from Bill McCarthy. The soda fountain was gone. Later Rite Aid obtained Shields Pharmacy accounts from Tom Shields. This all left Dave’s Pharmacy as the town’s only locally owned drugstore.
Although pharmacies with a soda fountain are a thing of the past, small businesses are still the heart and soul of a rural community and areas like Marysville and Union County. We say that because large outlets seem to do what they want, when they want and don’t focus much on relationships with their locale.
Ironically, big pharmacy giant CVS recently bought those old McCarthy/Shields accounts from Rite Aid which will still be open as a retail store. We have heard from several Journal-Tribune readers who were surprised to hear about that since they don’t want to do business with CVS. Those who spoke up were not happy that CVS is taking over their accounts.
We think Dave’s Pharmacy does a better job of supporting local families and taking care of their needs. In our experience, Dave’s has always gone the extra mile for their customers, even coming in after hours to fill a prescription for a person who had poison ivy on their eyelids.
We urge those who have a choice in where they fill their prescriptions to choose the small, locally owned drugstore that takes pride in helping the community.