The Plain City Druggist will celebrate its 20th anniversary this weekend. Pictured in the November 1999 photo above are, from left, Mary Lou Lovejoy, Bud Lovejoy, Betty Craft, Robin Craft, Joe Craft, Mary Mitchell and Mayor Levin Murphy. (Photo submitted)
A pair of Plain City businesses are celebrating decades of business in the area.
This month marks the 20th anniversary of Plain City Druggist, as well as the 10th anniversary of Smile Works Family Dentistry.
To celebrate, the two businesses will host a tailgate party during the Ohio State vs. Rutgers football game on Saturday, Nov. 16 in the pharmacy parking lot, 480 South Jefferson Avenue, Plain City. The event will begin at 2:30 p.m., an hour before kickoff.
The tailgate will feature the OSU football game on a large screen within a heated tent. There will be food, trivia games, raffle prizes donated by other local businesses and a tethered hot air balloon offering rides. There will also be activities for children, including a bounce house and face painting.
The event will feature a fundraiser to benefit Black and Orange Cat foundation, a local organization that helps to spay and neuter feral and stray cats.
Plain City Druggist opened on Nov. 1, 1999.
After graduating from Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy in 1995, Joe Craft was mentored by Ernie Sparks of Ernie’s Pharmacy in London.
Craft said he dreamed of owning an independent drugstore and, since he and his wife, Robin, lived in Plain City, he decided to open one in his hometown.
Initially, he said he hoped to buy an existing store but without an opportunity to, he began a new one in a town that had been without a pharmacy for eight years.
Later, in March 1999, Robin Craft graduated with her pharmacy degree.
Plain City Druggist was originally located in Lovejoy Plaza at 220 West Main Street. It outgrew the 1,000 square-foot location and moved to 480 South Jefferson Avenue in January 2007.
At that time, Midwestern Compounding Pharmacy was also set up within the lab at Plain City Druggist.
In December 2014, Joe and Robin purchased Family Medical Pharmacy on Karl Road in Columbus and changed the name to Happy Druggist Pharmacy. They opened a second Happy Druggist location in West Jefferson in July 2016.
On Nov. 1, the 20-year anniversary of Plain City Druggist, they purchased The Village Pharmacy in Mechanicsburg.
In 2018, Tayler Yutzy and Meghan Nestleroth became the manager and assistant manager of Plain City Druggist.
The Crafts, along with Yutzy and Nestleroth, said they are thankful to the community for supporting them for the past two decades and invited them to this weekend’s tailgate.