Ma and Pa drug stores struggled in Sioux Falls. Mills Pharmacy was no different: Looking Back
Back in the days of the neighborhood pharmacy, little Ma and Pa pharmacies dotted the map in Sioux Falls. One such place was Mills Pharmacy, at 1509 E. 10th St.
Mills Pharmacy was the second baby of Tom and Marie Mills, the first being Ken.
Tom Mills was born Aug. 21, 1921 in Tiffin, Ohio. He grew up in Normal, Illinois, and graduated from University High School in 1939. From there, he entered the pharmacy program at South Dakota State College, which would later become SDSU. He left school in 1942 to serve in World War II. After his discharge from the service, he returned to Brookings to continue his studies and met Marie LaCraft, who was also pursuing a pharmacy degree. Both graduated in 1947, at which point Tom took a job at Haggar Drug in Watertown.
On Aug. 30, 1947, Tom and Marie were married in Huron, where Marie was born and raised. In 1950, the young family, newcomer Ken included, moved to Sioux Falls, where Tom honed his craft in local pharmacies until he could launch his own concern.
On Nov. 11, 1952, Tom and Marie held the grand opening of Mills Pharmacy in the new shopping center on the south side of 10th Street, between Wayland and Blauvelt Avenues. As this new shopping center was unnamed, the grand opening festivities included a contest to choose a name for it.
The Mills Pharmacy was stocked with all of the usual drug store items in demand the time – makeup, jewelry, toiletries, a camera department, veterinary supplies, baby needs, and a year-round toy department (bring the tots, and the parents will follow), and a soda fountain. Free prescription delivery was available from the beginning. Prescriptions would come with a butterscotch or peppermint candy in the bag. Just a little treat to sweeten the transaction.
The winning entry for the naming contest was announced on Nov. 8. Mrs. Georgia Krohn won a television for her suggestion to name the shopping center for Moneer Assam, the son of Hamad, whose grocery was across the street. Moneer was a promising young man who died when an army transport plane, in which he was a passenger, crashed in 1944 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The shopping center was named Moneer Heights, and for a time, that part of 10th Street was referred to as Moneer Heights.
More: This Argus Leader contest once offered newspaper carriers trips around the world: Looking back
Meanwhile, Ron Park, who graduated from SDSC in 1950, was making his way in the pharmaceutical space as well. Fresh out of school, he took a job at Dunning Drug, where he sharpened his pharmaceutical skills for a year before buying Valley Drug in Valley Springs. In the five years that followed, he learned the business of running a drug store. In September of 1956, he returned to Sioux Falls and bought into Mills Pharmacy, partnering with the Mills. In 1959, the store was renamed Mills-Park Drug, and it became a Rexall franchise.
Mills-Park Drug hired Cliff Van Hove in 1962, just as a new location was planned in the McGreevy Clinic, just south of the McKennan Hospital campus. Cliff would spearhead this new business, which was to be named the Mills-Park Prescription Shop. The Prescription Shop opened Jan. 2, 1963. In June 1965, a similar shop opened in a medical building near Sioux Valley Hospital. It was called the Mills-Park Medicine Chest. This venture was short-lived and ended up being abandoned by November of the same year.
In 1973, Tom and Ron sold the Prescription Shop to Cliff, who renamed it the Van Hove Prescription Shop. Ron Park bought out Tom’s half of the business and renamed it Ron Park Drug. Tom and Marie opened a new shopping center, called Valli-Hi Plaza, at 900-904 E. 41st St. The first tenant announced was Valli-Hi Drug, run by Tom and Marie. The new plaza didn’t do well, and Valli-Hi Drug closed in 1977. Tom then took a job as pharmacist and assistant store manager at Lewis Drug.
More: Crawford's brought 'topmost in quality' men's wear to Sioux Falls for decades: Looking back
Ron kept Ron Park Drug going until 1995, when he sold the business to Lewis Drug. Ron wasn’t retiring, though. He would take a job at Lewis, and would bring one of the pieces of ma and pa drugstores with him; Lewis would add a piece of candy to prescriptions.
These days, Ma and Pa drugstores have a hard time succeeding in this town. Stores like Lewis, Hy-Vee, and Walgreens have more buying power and are able to provide lower prices and greater convenience. Something is lost with the passing of the family-owned drug store, and we are poorer for it.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Ma and Pa drug stores struggled in Sioux Falls. Mills Pharmacy was no different: Looking Back
