How many of you are on LinkedIn? If you are not familiar, LinkedIn is a professional networking website that’s been around since 2003. It’s kind of like Facebook for business professionals. You get connection requests regularly from people that would like to become part of your network. I was on LinkedIn recently and noticed I had a lot of messages. People were congratulating me on my work anniversary. I looked and it turned out it was my 40th year working for the drugstore!
Forty years sure seems to have gone by in a hurry, but as I thought about it, an awful lot has happened since 1979!
Working at Oswald’s Pharmacy in 1979
After graduating from college, I had no plans to come back and work for the family business. In 1979 I had just quit a job I had welding aluminum out in Wheatland Industrial Park. My Dad asked if I could work the front register for a while as he had just lost his candy and tobacco buyer. I agreed to fill in until he found a replacement.
At that time my brother Tres was splitting time co-managing Oswald’s and Paradise Bookshop (soon to become Anderson’s). When another Oswald’s manager decided to leave the store, my Dad asked if I wanted to take over the position. My brother soon moved into full-time management of the new bookstore in Downers Grove. Before I knew it, my part-time register job had turned into a fulltime management spot.
What We Sold in the Seventies
In the late seventies, the pharmacy still had a huge cosmetics section. We carried a lot of what I call “sundries” and general merchandise – gardening items in the Spring, charcoal grills in the Summer, small appliances in the Fall and all sorts of Holiday decorations at Christmas. Cameras and photofinishing were also big business. The front of the store was home to 12 feet of freezers for half gallons of ice cream and novelties.
We had the best candy selection in town, which included Fannie May and Russell Stover – the premium brands of the day. We carried tons of cigars, cigarettes, pipes and pipe tobacco. Every Wednesday night we would sell a couple of hundred copies of the Naperville Sun. Our greeting card section was the best in town (some things haven’t changed) and school supplies were an important piece of the store. The first day of school was always one of the busiest days of the year as moms raced to get their kids set for the upcoming year. The pharmacy was always busy with the clack of the typewriters filling out prescription labels.
40 Years Later
It’s fascinating to see how much has changed from the seventies to the present. We are no longer downtown, and the store is almost three times larger. The cosmetic section is a shadow of its former self. We sell very little general/household merchandise. Digital cameras and cell phones have all but killed the photo business. We stopped selling all tobacco products years ago. The Naperville Sun now comes out three times a week, but we probably only sell five or six copies per issue.
On the other hand, our card, gift, and toy sections have grown into Naperville’s best. Our expanded medical equipment department is the finest in the entire Chicagoland region. The pharmacy department is much larger, and you now hear the clack of computer keyboards in place of typewriters. One thing that has not changed though, is how we take pride in being able to serve our wonderful customers. Thank you so very much for supporting Oswald’s over all these years – and here’s to the next forty!
