| History of Ava Drug Company |
In 1949, E. Boone Norman, Sr. contacted Gorman Dye, Sr. about building a drug store on an old lot just
off the Ava Square where a couple of shacks stood. Gorman owned the land and agreed to build the building.
Boone, Sr. called his son, Boone Jr. who was working for Raymond Medley in Lebanon at the time. He asked him
to come back home to Ava and go into the drug store business with him. Boone Sr. had sold his interest in
Norman-Gentry Drug Company to Wayne Hicks and had been out of the business for about a year. The Norman father
and son began to make plans for a new drug store to be called Ava Drug Company. About the time the building was
bing completed, Dr. Marvin Gentry asked if they needed another partner, and they certainly did! Ava Drug opened
its doors in the spring of 1950 with Boone Sr., Boone Jr., and Dr. Gentry as equal partners. Boone Jr. was the
pharmacist and manager. Boone Sr. had the years of experience but was not a registered pharmacist, and Dr.
Gentry didn't play an active part in the operation of the business, although he was in and out of the store at least
twice a day for coffee. In 1953, Ava Drug bought the building next door (Strong's Café) and expanded to nearly
double the size to about 4500 square feet. The front door was moved as close to the square as possible, because
there was still doubt that a major business could be successful and not be on the square.
In the spring of 1958, Ava Drug was destroyed by fire. Salvaging what he could, Boone Jr. opened the
store in temporary quarters across the street on the corner until August, when Ava Drug opened with an all
new fountain, fixtures, and merchandise.
The partnership of the three men remained intact until 1960 when Boone Sr. retired at the age of 65,
and the other two partners divided his share equally between them. He continued to work part-time
until the late 1970s and passed away in 1981. In 1965, Boone Jr. became the sole owner of Ava Drug when
Dr. Marvin sold him his shares; in 1967 his son David graduated from St. Louis College of Pharmacy and
came back to Ava to work in the store with his dad and granddad. Boone Jr.'s other son, Stephen, also
graduated from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 1972, and the two brothers became partners in Ferguson
Drug Company in Willow Springs, Missouri. In 1974 Boone Jr. sold Ava Drug to his two sons, and they were
then equal partners in both drug stores. Boone Jr. passed away in 1985, and in 1991, Ava Drug was sold to
Bill Mackey, who had worked in the store as a teen and then later as a pharmacist. David purchased Coday
Pharmacy in Mansfield, which became Norman Drug, and in 2003, he bought back Ava Drug from Bill Mackey.
Returning to the store of his childhood and the place where three generations of Normans had filled prescriptions,
David decided to return the store, as much as possible, to its 1950 appearance. Renovation has begun on the
soda fountain, which should be completed sometime in 2004. Other renovations are planned.
Although Boone Sr. was not a registered pharmacist, he was the first in this family's line of drug store
owners. Boone Jr. graduated from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 1943, followed by his sons in 1967
and 1972. David is once again the owner of Ava Drug Company, and Stephen continues to be at Ferguson Drug in
Willow Springs.
We love Ava Drug and the town that surrounds it and invite everyone to join us at the soda fountain
soon where we still will be selling coffee for 5 cents.
|
|
|
| |
