On May 11, 1935, a new pharmacy was born in Lexington. It was to become known as Theatre Pharmacy and was formed for"...the purpose of conducting a drug store business for retail trade." The brand new store opened its doors at 1792 Massachusetts Avenue(at the present site of Wales Copy Shop) under the ownership of Ettore P. Venier, R. Ph.
Throughout the depression years, the store prospered, even in competition with seven other pharmacies in town. Mr. Venier always emphasized efficient, personal service combined with low prices.
During the years of World War II, much of Lexington's youth was off to war, leaving behind the town where they grew up. When they returned, Theatre Pharmacy was there to cater to their prescription needs. Throughout the "Baby Boom" years, many returned to Theatre pharmacy with children of their own, to introduce a new generation of customers.
On August 25, 1950, the pharmacy opened it's new location at 1800 Massachusetts Avenue(at the present site of Signature Stationers). While the store was twice the square footage, the personal service remained. The new location had all the things you might expect in a pharmacy at that time, a soda fountain, a candy counter, tobacco counter and of course, the prescription counter.
Lexington has always been an interesting place and you never know whom you might run into. Baseball legend Ted Williams was a regular customer at the soda fountain and was in often for his usual quart of vanilla ice cream.
In 1962, Chris Venier graduated pharmacy school and represented the next generation at Theatre Pharmacy.
Business began to grow and in August of 1971, Theatre Pharmacy moved to it's present location at 1784 Massachusetts Avenue. While the soda fountain and the tobacco and candy counters are long gone, Theatre Pharmacy remains a part of what Chris Venier like to call "Main Street America".
In this new era of chain pharmacies and mail order prescriptions, Theatre Pharmacy is still a place where personal service is still a way of life. The signs in the window say it all "Traditional Service and Low Prices." To this day, Theatre Pharmacy is one of those places where old-fashioned "Main Street America" still exists.
Today, many of our customers represent the third generation of our customers. For many, their grandparents wre amongst the pharmacy's first customers.
The tradition lives on.
