6/3/2008 11:19:00 AM Customers make Winter's years enjoyable
HERALD PHOTO BY DAVE SIMPKINS
Gary Winter has been a familiar faced behind the pharmacy counter at Winter’s Main Street Drug for 22 years.
By Dave Simpkins
A drug store has stood at the southwest corner of Main Street and Sinclair Lewis Avenue in Sauk Centre for 120 years.
In that time the store has been called Hanson & Emerson, Corner Drug and Main Street Drug.
That retail tradition ended this week as pharmacist Gary Winter sold his business to Coborn's Grocery Store located on the southern edge of Sauk Centre.
Winter has maintained a cheerful, friendly feel of a small town store ever since he bought the store 22 years ago.
"It was a very, very, very difficult decision," said Winter. "People have been very good to us and it will be hard but I felt it was time."
He noted the pharmacist shortage and the difficulty finding someone to fill in for him as one reason for selling the business.
"There are so many pharmacies opening in so many stores today and only 140 pharmacists graduating from the University of Minnesota each year. My family has been so patient with me over the years that I just felt it was time to start spending more time with them," said Winter.
Winter grew up in Greenwald and graduated from Melrose High School and obtained his pharmacy degree from North Dakota State University.
He worked for Bushey Drug for eight years and Village Drug for four years before buying the Hanson-Emerson building.
He has made changes since the drug store opened.
He noted in the early days of the store a pharmacist may have only had 20 customers a day and spent as much as an hour mixing drugs that mostly treat symptoms.
Today drugs are on hand and they cure many ailments and diseases.
"There are drugs on the market that have saved millions of lives and made many people's lives much more livable. I find it ironic how angry people get at the pharmaceutical companies when something doesn't work," he said.
When Winter started most people paid cash for their drugs and there was a much closer relationship between pharmacist, doctor and patient.
Today insurance companies pay for drugs and dictate much of what is ordered.
Winter remodeled the building and changed the layout before he opened in 1986. He later added Main Street Photo and a durable medical equipment and a health foods area.
"I really want to say thank you to all the people who have been so good to us. There is always something different everyday and always someone coming in the door with a different story," concluded Winter.
