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In 1875, Peter Merz, a Chicago pharmacist, opened Merz Apothecary on the city's North Side. In a way, it was not much different than the other corner drugstores which existed in every American neighborhood and town at the time. It was a place to fill prescriptions and, more importantly, it was a source of information and remedies for common ailments. The pharmacists were consulted like family doctors and they would hand-mix formulas for each customer's specific conditions and problems.
However, there was a major difference between Merz Apothecary and a typical drugstore. The clientele at his shop consisted mainly of European immigrants from the surrounding neighborhood. For that reason, and because Merz was of Swiss descent, he decided to call the store an "Apothecary" in the European tradition. Like his overseas counterparts, he focused heavily on herbal medicines and traditional formulas, which were already popular and familiar to his international customers.
Although Merz Apothecary was a humble store, it served as a gathering place for the community to which it catered. Comfortable leather chairs allowed patrons to sit and chat as they waited for their prescriptions to be filled or their remedies to be prepared. Merz and his pharmacists spoke many languages allowing customers to shop and seek advice in their native tongues. It wasn't long before the store's reputation spread.
Over the next 85 years the business continued to grow and the store was passed on; first, to Merz's son, Lee, and later to Lee's sons, Ralph, Melvin, and Earl. The store retained its international focus and developed a loyal following among Europeans throughout the Midwest.
In the early 1960s, corner drugstores throughout the United States began to die off. Low margins on prescriptions and competition from large chain drugstores drove independent pharmacies out of business. The American pharmacist was quickly reduced from a trusted source of health advice to a mere pill-counter. But such was not the case at Merz Apothecary. Its loyal customer base and traditional herbal approach to health allowed it to thrive during this difficult period. As the majority of the country sought salvation through prescription drugs, Merz Apothecary maintained its unique balance between modern (allopathic) medicine and traditional remedies. Its customers continued to seek out the advice of its experienced pharmacists and requested their hand-mixed formulas from the vintage Apothecary bottles which lined the shelves.
Despite the success of the business, in 1972 Ralph Merz was ready to retire�without a successor. The store, which had been in the family for three generations, was about to close permanently. One month before the scheduled closing, a 26-year-old pharmacist, Abdul Qaiyum, walked into Merz Apothecary after hearing about it from his German in-laws. He immediately fell in love with the store. As a recent pharmacy school graduate, Qaiyum had quickly become disenchanted with his job at a large drugstore chain and was ready to leave the field altogether. But Merz Apothecary, with its focus on traditional natural remedies, reminded him of his family's business and the healing traditions in his homeland of Pakistan. He purchased it a few days later.
However, there was a major difference between Merz Apothecary and a typical drugstore. The clientele at his shop consisted mainly of European immigrants from the surrounding neighborhood. For that reason, and because Merz was of Swiss descent, he decided to call the store an "Apothecary" in the European tradition. Like his overseas counterparts, he focused heavily on herbal medicines and traditional formulas, which were already popular and familiar to his international customers.
Although Merz Apothecary was a humble store, it served as a gathering place for the community to which it catered. Comfortable leather chairs allowed patrons to sit and chat as they waited for their prescriptions to be filled or their remedies to be prepared. Merz and his pharmacists spoke many languages allowing customers to shop and seek advice in their native tongues. It wasn't long before the store's reputation spread.
Over the next 85 years the business continued to grow and the store was passed on; first, to Merz's son, Lee, and later to Lee's sons, Ralph, Melvin, and Earl. The store retained its international focus and developed a loyal following among Europeans throughout the Midwest.
In the early 1960s, corner drugstores throughout the United States began to die off. Low margins on prescriptions and competition from large chain drugstores drove independent pharmacies out of business. The American pharmacist was quickly reduced from a trusted source of health advice to a mere pill-counter. But such was not the case at Merz Apothecary. Its loyal customer base and traditional herbal approach to health allowed it to thrive during this difficult period. As the majority of the country sought salvation through prescription drugs, Merz Apothecary maintained its unique balance between modern (allopathic) medicine and traditional remedies. Its customers continued to seek out the advice of its experienced pharmacists and requested their hand-mixed formulas from the vintage Apothecary bottles which lined the shelves.
Despite the success of the business, in 1972 Ralph Merz was ready to retire�without a successor. The store, which had been in the family for three generations, was about to close permanently. One month before the scheduled closing, a 26-year-old pharmacist, Abdul Qaiyum, walked into Merz Apothecary after hearing about it from his German in-laws. He immediately fell in love with the store. As a recent pharmacy school graduate, Qaiyum had quickly become disenchanted with his job at a large drugstore chain and was ready to leave the field altogether. But Merz Apothecary, with its focus on traditional natural remedies, reminded him of his family's business and the healing traditions in his homeland of Pakistan. He purchased it a few days later.
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