Hoping to provide more convenience for its customers, Downtown Drug has moved a couple doors down from its previous location to a new home at 119 S. High St. in Hillsboro.
“There are a lot of reasons we decided to move, but it was mostly for the convenience of our customers,” new owner Marcus Barr said. “At one end of the building we now have a drive-thru available and we also wanted to refresh the place, make it a little nicer, and we have some new products.”
Barr said some of those new products include medical supply rentals and over-the-counter items. He said Downtown Drug is also offering free delivery for pharmacy customers, providing immunizations and also has dose packaging that supplies customers with the exact amount of medicine they need each day.
The drive-thru window opened Monday. The window, located at the side of the building where an alley passes through, was constructed after an outside Design Review Board from Wilmington came to Hillsboro and recommended approval of the window. Approval from an outside board was sought because the building is owned by Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings.
The business offers pharmacy delivery to all parts of Hillsboro and Barr said it is expanding delivery to the Rocky Fork Lake, New Vienna, Leesburg and Lynchburg areas.
Downtown Drug originally opened around 1999 and was purchased by Barr in August of last year. He said that when he thought about moving the business he never considered leaving the uptown Hillsboro area.
“We’ve always been uptown, we’re part of the uptown business area, and we’re not going to leave uptown. A lot of people walk to us, we’re the only independent pharmacy in town, and we’re the only pharmacy on the south side of Hillsboro,” Barr said. “We are excited to be here, to be able to serve the community, and to grow our business.”
Barr said that while he is relatively new to the area, he has been a pharmacist for more than 10 years, and that former Downtown Drug owner Randy Teter still works there about one day a week. Barr said he lives in Wilmington, but has family from the Hillsboro and Rocky Fork areas. He also said some of his employees are longtime local residents.
The pharmacy technicians are longtime Hillsboro resident and six-year Downtown Drug employee Aimee Ames, along with Geneva Rosenberg of Wilmington. The delivery driver is longtime Hillsboro resident Phil McElwee.
The business is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The drive-thru has the same hours. The phone number is 937-840-0136.
“We’re excited to be here, love the community, and want to help its residents live happier and healthier lives,” Barr said.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or on Twitter @13gillilandj.
