The last day of the La Conner Drug Store

The La Conner Drug Store opened for the last time Monday, Jan. 22, but there were few customers shopping and not much on the shelves to purchase – though that was a years long reality. Late morning, customers were trickling in to pick up prescriptions or transfer their accounts to Rite Aid, the new owner. There was the air of a failed garage sale that was devoid of bargain hunters because there were no bargains to hunt for.

Resident Lysa Sherman wandered through with an armful of products, seemingly the only one taking advantage of the 50% off pricing.

Town anchor Maureen Harlan was picking up a prescription refill. She was reflective, hugging a grown man who had been her student decades ago at La Conner Schools. The drug store was on First Street when she was a child growing up here, her father working at the Puget Sound Mail for his brother, Publisher Pat O'Leary. George Olsen was the druggist and owner of La Conner Drugs in the 1940s, she recounted.

A Skagit County sheriff's deputy and Swinomish police officer came in to take one final look and say their good byes.

More than one person asked whether the glass cabinet display of historical pharmaceutical memorabilia that Fred Martin collected decades ago and had exhibited when he was the owner was being preserved by the Skagit County Historical Museum. In this modern age, someone took out his cell phone and called museum director Jo Wolfe. She replied yes, she had several inquiries and that collections manager Mari Densmore was pursuing obtaining it.

Martin moved the store to Morris Street after he bought the business from Olsen.

Island Drug staff had taped a La Conner Drug Store history to the front door the last week or so. It started: "Since the early 1890s La Conner Drugs has been proud to serve the La Conner community and Swinomish Tribe. Being the oldest running pharmacy currently in the state of Washington, it is with regret that we will be closing our doors. This lovingly old pharmacy will permanently be closed on 1/22/2024."

The four longtime employees deserve having their names printed and recognition: Wenona Knippers spent eight of her 12 years with Island Drug in La Conner. Andy Biondi, pharmacy manager for the company and rotating to Clinton and Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island, kept regular shifts here for at least the last three years. Erica Rush spent two years in La Conner. Pharmacist Debrah Claus is the only employee that Rite Aid has definitely hired at press time. She had two years filling prescriptions in La Conner.

The weight and disappointment of the store closing – as much as losing their jobs – was apparent in the eyes, body language and demeanor of every employee. Biondi was wistful. He needed perhaps five-plus years to retire with Island Drug. He took his position over employment in the Seattle area because of the dynamics of working in smaller communities and the personal relationships staff develop with customers.

This reporter was not around at 6 p.m. for the click of the key in the door as the last time employees locked the La Conner Drug Store's front door, closing it for good.