Curtis Pharmacy opens at new Washington location
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Pharmacy manager Michelle Swarrow responds to a phone call at Curtis Pharmacy’s new location – 575 Henderson Ave., Washington.
Observer-Reporter
Curtis Pharmacy’s location, at 575 Henderson Ave. in Washington
Curtis Pharmacy’s new home is just what the doctor ordered.
The pharmacy opened Monday at its new location, into the former Foodland store at 575 Henderson Ave. in Washington. That is three-fourths of a mile uphill from its previous spot – 869 Henderson, in Canton Township.
Uphill is the operative word for this move. The Canton location, near the Washington line, sits at or below the flood line of Chartiers Creek. The pharmacy experienced flooding twice in seven months – July 2017 and February 2018 – the second occurrence more serious.
“We had no out-front merchandise after the floods, just prescriptions, because fixtures were damaged so badly,” said Erich Cushey, pharmacist and co-owner with his wife, Tina. They have a second location, the original Curtis Pharmacy, on Main Street in Claysville.
Conversion of the old Foodland, which closed in December 2017, into a pharmacy took time. It began last summer and took the better part of five months. But the new Curtis is up and going.
A blue sign with white lettering sits atop the entrance, and the sign from the Canton store will be added, said Michelle Swarrow, the pharmacy manager. As the interior hummed with activity Wednesday morning, the parking lot was being paved, a project that Swarrow said was expected to be completed by the evening.
Plans originally called for Curtis to share the former Foodland space with Countryside Deli, which wanted to open a grocery store there. But that didn’t happen, so the Cusheys are looking for a tenant to occupy more than 6,000 square feet.
Curtis Pharmacy has a long tradition. It has been operating in Claysville for more than 100 years, a multi-generational family business that has had only four owners.