Standard Drug to close after 90 years

A 90-year-old drugstore that once served milkshakes and Green River sodas to kids in bobby sox is closing.

“I grew up sitting on stools and drinking milkshakes,” recalled Gary Price, the third-generation owner of Standard Drug, which is closing on June 9.

Standard Drug Inc. won’t be going away entirely — it merged its mail-order business with Union Center Pharmacy in Seattle, a division of Kelley-Ross & Associates, Inc. that also fills prescriptions by mail.

Price, who has run the business at 1814 N. Division for nearly 25 years, said the decision to close the family business was tough.

“The customers are the hardest piece. I still had customers who knew my grandfather” and father, Price said.

Price’s grandfather, Ray L. Price purchased the business, which initially operated on the southwest corner of Indiana and Division, in 1933. Gary’s father, Bob Price, took over the family pharmacy in the 1960s and around 1969 the family moved the store to its current location. Eventually, Bob Price passed the store along to his own son.

The forward-thinking company implemented a successful mail-order prescription service 30 years ago. Today, it serves tens of thousands of customers across the country. Price said the mail-order business opened the door for the merger of that operation with Union Center Pharmacy.

Standard Drug carried a familiar mix of over-the-counter drugs, greeting cards, candy and gifts — the type you’d see in an old-fashioned community drug store.

Patty Eslick, an employee for 19 years, knows most customers by name, especially those who rent post office boxes there. One man has had a P.O. Box at the store for more than 40 years and kept it open even after moving to Seattle.

“He would come over once a month to get his mail and say ‘hi,’” said Eslick, whose two children and grandson also worked at the store.

Being a small business with committed ownership enabled Standard Drug to provide personal service, she said. A handful of homebound seniors phoned in merchandise orders that Eslick would fill and ship by mail with a bill, which they paid later. Eslick said she also hand-delivered other items.

“We liked to do things for people who were like us — hometown people.”

But, like other small pharmacies, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find the right niche to compete with big chain stores, Price said. In the end, he saw the direction the industry was moving and decided to move on.

“It was a wonderful experience. It was a tough cycle to break but it was time,” Price said.

The pharmacy department is now closed and the store is selling off its remaining merchandise. Some regular customers are pledging to stop in on the last day, to say goodbye. Eslick said.

“I don’t think it has really hit me yet — probably it will next week.”