Throwback Thursday Spotlight | People's Drugs
DuPont Circle...where chess players, crazy drivers, tourists, casual diners and infamous snowball tossers all all converge at one of the busiest intersections in the entire region. And, of course, there are all of the buildings. Amongst the array of structures that house such DC staples as associations, book nooks and museums, there is one building - and one 24 hour business that stands out amongst the crowd. The CVS that lies on the Circle. Why is this corporate giant worthy of a Throwback Thursday (#tbt) mention?
In 1905, People's Drugs was formed by an ambitious transplant to the area named Malcolm Gibbs. He succeeded at rewriting the drug store script. Instead of filling prescriptions like the apothocaries of the time, he diversified the product offering and advertised his business. Eventually, People's Drugs grew from it's humble DC beginnings into a regional powerhouse. According to streetsofwashington.com you could find People's Drugs "squatting on street corners in almost every neighborhood" in the DC region. It's success was such that in just 50 years, People's Drugs held 155 stores in 7 states. And before their reign was over, there were over 500 stores stretching from Georgia to Ohio (wikipedia).See amazing turn of the century photos of People's and DC residents (thanks to Shorpys.com).