My dad worked for Eckerd Drug for 32 years as a store manager. When CVS bought them, the upper management came down hard on 3 guys that were about ready to retire and let everyone go, my dad included. This is why I'll never step foot in a CVS store ever. They're crap stores anyways.
😞 I really don't care for CVS or Walgreen's. Walgreens is so expensive. Really, drug stores don't have anything of interest to me. I fill my prescriptions at the grocery store.
Rexall was one my grandparents used. They weren’t so much a chain as they consisted of mom & pop pharmacies that licensed/franchised the “Rexall” name. By the time I was born in the seventies, the brand was already in decline as it was suffering to compete with the actual chains you mentioned. Sometimes they’d take me along when I was little. I remember that particular Rexall as well as the one on the opposite side of town being depressing, as sales slowed to a crawl from diminishing foot traffic. They eventually switched to Thrifty (that sold delicious ice cream to take home and behind a counter on cones, incidentally). When a thousand Thrifty Payless stores were acquired by Rite Aid, they switched to Long’s which was bought by CVS and rebranded as such. P.S. Thanks for the well done research, Rhett! I wish you and your family all the best!
Thank you for watching Stanford and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video. I know all of the corporate Rexalls were closed a long time ago but every so often you run across a franchised drugstore that is still using the Rexall name. They are definitely a big one.
My girlfriend and I watch your channel every week religiously I just wanted to let you know how much we love the channel! If you keep making them we’ll keep watching them!
Thrifty Drug Stores were a widespread chain when I grew up. As a kid I remember the 5c single scoop ice cream cones. I don't know of a single one still in business anymore.
@@RhettyforHistory Yes, I saw the photo and it brought back the memory, we had one next to our Doctor's Office, for years. Though the Lunch Counter was removed in the late 1960s or 1970.
I’ve been going to the same pharmacy for 53 years now, ever since I was 2 yr old. It’s privately owned and is directly across the road from the house mum and dad built. Mum and dad had their house built the same year it opened. My younger brother use to deliver the prescriptions to the older people on his push bike after school.🚲 It’s still their but the owner has sold it now as he retired a few years ago. Unfortunately my parents house just sold for the first time as well. Now it’s hard going to the chemist, looking at my old childhood home is painful now. 😢 Thank you Rhett. ❤Jodie 🇦🇺 Hi Paul 👋😁🇺🇸
Thank you for watching and telling us about the pharmacy you have been going to. I can definitely see how that would be difficult to see now. There are a lot of memories that can be made in that time in the same spot.
I remember Revco, Gray Drug, and Fay's back in the 1980's. My family got our prescriptions at a local privately owned drug store. All are long gone now.
Why am I not surprised by CVS and their petulant actions? I liked Eckerd Drugs and Revco. Those are the ones I remember using in the past. Walgreens is about the only one I use now. This was so interesting - to see the changes and by whom. Money in Big pharma! Thank you, Rhetty! I hope you and your family are doing well! 🙏
@@nickimontie Really? Aetna only gives you that choice? I hope your CVS works better for you than the one I tried twice for long periods of time. When you don't feel great you just don't need pharmacy staff making you feel worse.
G'day mate, Thanks for the video, a lot of ours in Australia are gone too, we have one left named "Terry White" pharmacies.. Love your videos, Take care 🇦🇺😊
My dad was a pharmacist over 40 years in the Indy area. I miss the mom and pop stores. Used to visit his friends at their stores all the time. I got to go behind the counter all the time as a kid. Great video!
@@RhettyforHistory Yes he did. He worked for a small chain of 4 stores, Toler Pharmacy. He also ended up working for a few other stores that disappeared, People’s, Osco(in Indy at least) and Marsh Supermarket.
I recall that Eckard's had the best film developing service. The process they used just made the pictures "pop", and they were printed on a slick, glossy paper. I lived in Dallas at that time, and would pass a dozen other film processors to go to Eckerd's
That's really sad that both are gone. Which one went first? Did the pharmacy try to leave the mall and make a go at it? Thank you for watching radwolf76!
@@RhettyforHistory this all happened after I moved from the area, but Thrift Drug went first in 1997. Later a Pier One occupied that store front. The mall itself was converted into a self storage facility in 2023.
Rhetty, Discount Drug Mart from Elyria Ohio was founded in 1969 and is still in operation today. In over 20 counties with 78 stores. It is a Ohio based drug Store. Employee owned with 4,700 employees.Rite Aid is closing stores here in Ohio.
Thank you for watching and letting me know about that one Mike. I definitely need to make some future episodes because there are a lot of other ones out there.
Rite has been in bankruptcy for awhile and it looks like they will probably go completely under. Walgreens was supposed to buy some of the stores but I'm not sure if that ever happened. Even Walgreens and CVS have been and are scheduled to close some stores. Walgreens recently stated that about a quarter of their stores are underperforming. Thank you for watching Paul!
Growing up in Dallas, the big drug store was Skillern's, which advertised itself as "more than a drug store." They were owned by Zale (yes, the jewelry chain), but were sold to Revco. Their main rival was Ward's Cut-Rate Drugs, which was bought by Eckerd. A former Ward's/Eckerd/CVS store in Austin now houses an H-E-B which will close when a new H-E-B opens across the corner later this year. Eckerd entered Corpus Christi by buying a small chain called Parr Drugs (any relation to the Parrs of Duval County?). Hooks sponsored an all-state marching band in the Indy 500 parade. K&B offered its own brand liquors as well as ice cream. and its fountains were famous for the nectar soda. People's Drug sponsored the scoreboard in RFK Stadium along with The Washington Post.
I'm from NC but my mom is from Dallas. I knew Skillern's sounded familiar. We used to go visit our relatives, and my grandmother lived in Oak Cliff. There was a Skillern's in the Wynnewood Shopping Center, and that's where I remembered seeing it.
Thank you for watching Greg. I appreciate you giving us some history of what is in Texas. Sounds like you mentioned some good ones to cover in a future episode. Were there a lot of those Skillerns?
@@RhettyforHistory They were dominant in Dallas, but expanded to Austin and San Antonio in the mid-70s. They had a store on the grounds of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition.
I remember when drugstores would also have movies and serve breakfast. Me and my dad used to always go ait and eat in the morning and everyone new each other😋 man o maaaaan! Those werw the days 👍
We have Argenta Drug Company in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Been in contiuous operation since 1880. Stepping into this little store is like stepping back in time. Love your videos!
That sounds like a very cool drug store. I have been to North Little Rock to do some filming very early on in this channel. Sounds like I need to go back. Thank you for watching and telling me about that old drugstore.
Aw, you didn't cover Thrifty. I remember going there when I was like 5 or 6 with my family and getting a cone. It was also conveniently around the corner from where I lived. There was also an Alpha-Beta grocery store next to it.
I loved walking around RevCo in the 80’s. Rite-Aids are all closing around here in West Michigan..it sounds like a tough business. Thanks Rhetty, I enjoyed this!
Skillern's used to be big here in DFW. We also had a Myatts pharmacy where I live. We had Fazio's, and Texas Drug Warehouse(I worked for them twice in the early 90s).
I used to love going to Phar Mor back in the mid-eighties. They had great prices and lots of merchandise. We had Eckerd, Revco, and Rexall. We got Walgreens, CVS, and Rite-Aid later. When I moved to Raleigh there was Kerr Drug. I don't know if they're defunct but I haven't seen one in years.
Growing up we had Pay 'n Save, a great store, too bad it went away. Still have some old fishing gear with their price tag on it, want those prices back:)
That is really cool that you have some old fishing gear that has their prices on it. I remembering buying fishing gear and supplies at a drugstore but I haven't seen that in forever now. Thank you for watching and telling us about Pay 'n Save!
Eckerd Drug in Yukon was our go to as a kid. I can still remember the smell and the layout of the store on Garth Brooks Boulevard. As a kid it seemed like a really cool place. They had a bunch of toys and candy packed into that little store. It wasn’t hard to convince my grandma to buy me something fun.
The first drug store I remember was a mom and pop called Crowder pharmacy. I remember they used to give recognition to the highest achieving student in each class at my elementary school, which was never me. Then, when we moved to another town, we got our drugs at Hook's, which became Revco, and finally CVS. I remember going to that old Hook's at the Indiana State Fair as well. When we moved here, I remember there was an Eckerd's at street level right below the hotel we were staying in on a house hunting trip. That Eckerd's became a Rite-Aid and is now a Walgreens. The same thing happened to the one here is town, but since we already had a Walgreens, that building now houses a martial arts studio.
Walgreens has taken over many of the Rite Aids since they have been in bankruptcy. Now many of the underperforming stores of Walgreens are starting to close. CVS is also going thru similar moves. Thank you for watching actipton80!
Our local Thrift Drug in PA turned into an Eckerd Drugs (which I'm guessing they purchased), and then that turned into a Rite-Aid some years later, which it still remains as today.
When I was fifteen years old, I used to deliver prescriptions all over my neighborhood on my bicycle. The company's name was Fred's pharmacy. The head guy's name was name Roy. Who knows what I was delivering to all those old seniors back in the early nineteen ninety one I laugh when I think about it.
K&B purple is its own color. That place was an institution down here. The first time i ever drank scotch it was K&B brand scotch. I almost died in a K&B parking lot in high school.
My dad worked for a automatic door company that put 99% of the doors. End for hooks drugstore chain. Also I been to the hooks headquarters in Indianapolis, Southeast of town.
I remember my grandparents getting their prescriptions from Hook's. In the small town that I live in, our Walgreen's closed this past spring. We now only have three places left where we can fill prescriptions - Kroger, Walmart and CVS.
Thank you for watching and letting us know what you have as well as what happened to your Walgreens. Both Walgreens and CVS are closing some of their non performing stores this year.
Mine was a little mom and pop drugstore. They had an actual soda fountain from the '50s there, and we'd go there on Christmas to watch the town's parade every year. Funnily enough, more than 25 years later, I met who would become one of my best friends, in a city nearly 200 miles away. Come to find out, his uncle actually owned the store and still ran it. Small world.
I remember when we had Perry Drugs, Arbor Drugs (my favorite radio ad from 1989 was for its photo processing service with a guy named Normie saying in a deep voice "That'll Be Fine")....we didn't get Walgreens in the state of Michigan until much later. But we had our scripts filled at a Ma and Pa pharmacy called Bloch's in Macomb Township, at its original location in a small strip mall where a 7 Eleven now stands (said 7 Eleven used to be a Quik-Pik Convenience Store in the late 1970s/mid-1980s).
Thank you for watching and sharing some of the drugstores that you had in your area. I'm almost shocked that you didn't have Walgreens there earlier. I guess those pharmacies were pretty strong where you were.
Thank you for memories ❤ I really enjoyer seeing the old Hooks bags at the end of the vid. Living in North Central Indiana, Hooks was favored drug store of my family.
In my town back in the 1960s and 70s our family went to our locally-owned Hess & Hess Drug store. It used to seem strange to me that the pharmacy in the back of the small store was higher than ground level. Years later Jerry Seinfield, (the comedian), came up with what I thought was hilarious regarding this "upper level" in pharmacies. "Can you give me an explanation as to why the pharmacist has to be two-and-a-half feet up above everybody else? What the hell is he doing, he can't be down there on the floor with you and me? Brain surgeons, airline pilots, nuclear physicists, we're all on the same level. Oh no, he's gotta be two-and-a-half feet up. "Look out, everybody, I'm working with pills!" ~Jerry Seinfeld 😂
That's funny! I just always assumed it was to keep people from steeling drugs, help keep watch over the store etc. I remember customer service squares or just open offices in grocery stores that were also elevated. Thank you for watching and sharing the pharmacy you used to go to.
An Eckards that used to be in my neighborhood growing up is the first drugstore I can remember my parents taking me to. (around 1975) Later on when I got to be around 7 or 8, I started going there on my own with pockets full of change I either found or earned. I can't begin to imagine how many packs of baseball and football cards I bought there...along with probably half a ton of candy from the penny and nickel machines!!!
Thank you for watching and sharing your memories with us Roger. Did you happen to save any of those baseball and football cards? I bet some of those are worth some money.
@@RhettyforHistory : Yes, I still have my entire sports card collection from when I started collecting them until when I stopped around 2010. They are meticulously organized in plastic sheets in big 3 ring binders. There are over 25 binders!!!
Your videos are the highlight of my weekend. I have the day off to enjoy it even more. Thank you for your videos! They are entertaining, fun, relaxing, and wholesome! I see you hitting 1 million subscribers in no time!
I used to go to a locally-owned pharmacy in Pittsburgh when I was a kid with my mother and grandmother. It had a lunch counter and a soda fountain. It was a fun time.
In Ohio, we had one called Drug Emporium. Our location looked like a hole-in-the-wall on the outside, but like a Walgreens on the inside. We had a SupeRX inside the mall, and we'd go in to buy Snapple (and probably candy) in the 90s. I remember Phar Mor, too. They had a coupon machine towards the back, and you could scroll through and print out the coupons you wanted.
Thank you for watching and letting us know which ones you had in Ohio. Phar Mor in our area just had ads but a whole lot of products besides drugs in them.
Growing up in Virginia, we had Peoples Drug which began in Washington DC. They were bought out by CVS/Pharmacy in 1990 and by 1994 all Peoples Drug where changed to CVS
Rhett, I enjoyed your video about drugstores that no longer exist. I remember my late parents and I going to People's now known as CVS they used to have a counter where you could buy some "fast food," then. Have a fantastic weekend. Take care 🐎
The Hooks Drugstore Museum is a must see when you go to the Indiana State Fairgrounds where it is located. It still has a working soda fountain. You can purchase vintage candies and gifts. I work for an Indy hospital network that had a rehab unit named Hook Rehab. Named after the Hook family. When they relocated the unit into a freestanding hospital, the name Hook unfortunately was dropped. I’m proud to say I was a former Hooker!
@@RhettyforHistorywhat?? No sir, It was a random store. It was like Ross. I truly enjoy your channel. Please stay well. P.s you ever thought about doing the early 2000s?
Growing up in NH, Wellby Drug Store was everywhere. I remember my brother and I liked to go there because our mom would let us get a comic book or wrestling magazine if she needed to pick up a prescription. They had a huge magazine section.
When I was a kid back in the 80s and early 90s we went to Phar Mor to rent our movies and video games. They were a lot cheaper than Blockbuster. They also had a lot of other "junk" that we didn't need but wanted. We bought everything there but prescriptions.
They really did have quite the video rental selection. They had a lot of other things to buy and it was set up to tempt you. Thank you for watching Josh!
Where I grew up in San Jose we had a Key Rexall in a shopping strip mall! Something you could always count on was the pungent smell of moth ice and cheesy plastic Paula Sillisculpt figurines in the gift section! You know, the blobby cherubic kids with arms stretched out proclaiming "I love you this much!" Haha! Merrill's Drugs was a presence here in the North Bay Area and there used to be three of them in SF alone! All gone now except one empty and unused storefront on Market! Whenever I needed something for costumes I knew I could count on them for "old lady supplies"! Longs Drugs wasn't as old as some, but they don't exist anymore and have converted to CVS!
Thank you for watching and letting us know what was in San Francisco. I need to cover Long's in a future episode. It's always interesting to hear what is or was in different areas.
😂😂😂Happy Harry's must have had some pretty good drugs!😂😂😂🎉🎉 We had Rose, Applegate's and Rexall drugstores just in our downtown area. They are all gone now. What I miss were the cool vintage soda fountains. Ny granny used to fet her chocolate cokes with peanuts at Rose's. I remember the decor was aqua in color.
We had a mom&pop drugstore in my neighborhood in the 60’s that had a soda fountain ,t he guy behind the counter was. a retired gentleman who did magic tricks while we drank our fountain sodas,good times.
I remember several of the drug stores you mentioned. In my hometown, we had SuperX, Revco, Thrift Drugs, and Begley’s Drugs. Those were the chains. Also, my town had some mom & pop pharmacies. These were Steele’s pharmacy, Lane’s, and Meyer’s pharmacy. All these stores are closed. I remember in the mid 1990s, Thrift Drug Stores were bought out by Eckerd’s.
In my area, my favorite drug store was Crown Drug’s. It was bought out by Eckerd, who was bought out by Rite-Aide, that was bought out by current Walgreens.
For my area Peoples Drug Store was our go to. Drug stores nowadays are awful so it is no surprise many are closing. It's just too convenient to get everything sent right to your doorstep.
Thank you for watching and sharing what you had in your area. I do thing the pharmacy delivery services are what is killing the brick and mortar locations. Their own drive thru sort of put a dent in their spontaneous buys as well.
I grew up in West Palm Beach. The main two neighborhood drugstores we frequented were Super X and Gray Drugs. Super X was a chain. Not sure if Gray was a chain also or just a local.
I remember going to Drug Fair, on hwy. 9 near Freehold,especially the day of my elementary school graduation. I used to buy my Maybelline makeup there!
Great Video as usual. About an hour south of Chicago we had DOCS Drug Store. The owner had 14 stores and he sold out to CVS in July 2017. I put your voice narrating up there with the Frontline narrator!👍🏻🇺🇲
@@RhettyforHistory The specific drug store in my neighborhood just changed names. They kept all previous employees and no updates besides the sign change. The store itself is OLD, it needs entry door updates, new floors and so on. I was personally a little sad it felt like the day the local video rental store closed for good. Thanks again for the EXCELLENT CONTENT!👍🏻🇺🇲
